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Old 01-15-2015, 12:36 PM   #4
Charlie Hough
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Your results seem extreme, but keep in mind this fact: from 1936 through 1964, the New York Yankees won 20 out of 27 pennants. They also finished second four times and never finished worse than third.

Then you have to keep in mind that several of the seasons when they didn't win the pennant were during the war years, when the Yankees lost players like Joe DiMaggio to military service. This was the only time that the Yankees went more than one season without winning the pennant.

The loss of players to the war was the only thing that could stop the Yankees, so if players had never gone into the service, they may have easily won a couple more pennants and nearly achieved the type of dominance you have seen.

Also, consider the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1947 through 1966. During a 20-year span, they won the pennant 10 times, finished second five times, and only finished worse than third twice. That is nothing compared to the dominance of the Yankees, but it's another hugely impressive run that spanned multiple decades.

Neither of these cases matches the results that you saw, but the real life Yankees are pretty close, and it's important to note that both of these examples are from the reserve clause era.

Interestingly, both of these runs came to an end right around the same time, just as the draft was first instituted. This is partly coincidental, but the advent of the draft seemed to help break up the dominance that these teams had enjoyed.
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