The 1993 San Francisco Giants and The Florida Marlins
Three years ago, the San Francisco Giants set a franchise record by winning 107 games during the regular season and won the NL West. In the last 60 years, there
was exactly one other instance where the Giants won at least 103 games: in 1993, the Giants won 103 games. Incredibly, they didn't make the
playoffs that year.
How did that happen? Major League Baseball (MLB) consists of two leagues: American League (AL) and National League (NL). From 1969 to 1993,
there were two divisions in each league for a total of four divisions. Each of the division winners made it to the playoffs so four MLB teams
made the playoffs each year. The Giants were in the same division in 1993 as the Atlanta Braves (NL West) and the Braves won 104 games. So,
the Braves made it to the playoffs and the Giants didn't. The 1993 Giants are the last MLB team to win over 100 games, yet not make the
playoffs.
Why has it been so long since a MLB team won over 100 games yet didn't make the playoffs? Near the end of the 1993 season, MLB owners voted
27-1 to expand the number of divisions in each of the two leagues from two to three starting
with the 1994 season. Additionally, the best team from each league that didn't win one of the three divisions was awarded a playoff spot (Wild Card).
So, the number of playoff teams went from four to eight (six division winners and two Wild Cards).
The lone dissenting vote was George W. Bush, the owner of the Texas Rangers. (Yes, that's the same George W. Bush who
later served as the President of the United States.) He was opposed to realignment
because he was a traditionalist. With more teams making it to the playoffs each year, it
is more likely that Bush will publicly express support for Donald Trump than a 100+ win team not making it to the playoffs (like the 1993 Giants)
sometime in the future.
As a result of the realignment, the Braves moved from the NL West to the NL East. The Braves won the first World Series in 1995 after re-alignment.
(The 1994 World Series was canceled due to the players' strike.) They made the playoffs that year after winning the NL East.
Since the Braves won the first World Series in 1995, how many times has the
NL East Division winner won the World Series? Only twice! The Braves won the World Series
in 2021 and the Philadelphia Phillies
won the World Series in 2008 after winning the NL East. Aside from the Braves and the Phillies, there are three additional teams in the NL East:
the Washington Nationals, the New York Mets, and the Miami Marlins. (The past three Nationals managers (Dave Martinez, Dusty Baker, and Matt Williams)
were members of the 1993 Giants.) Since realignment, the Braves have won the NL East seventeen (!!) times, the Phillies have won
the NL East five times, the Nationals have won the NL East four times, the Mets have won the NL East two times, and the Marlins have won the NL East zero times.
The Miami Marlins (who started playing in 1993) have never won the NL East, but have won the Wild Card four times (1997, 2003, 2020, and 2023). In the first two years
they won the Wild Card, they also won the World Series.
Only one other NL East team has won the World Series as a Wild Card: four years ago (2019), the Nationals defeated the Astros in the World Series. In the third year they
won the Wild Card, the Marlins won the first playoff series and lost the second. In the fourth year, the Marlins lost in the first round. In all, they have won seven playoff series and lost just two. By comparison,
every other NL East team has lost at least four playoff series since 1998.
I remember both Marlins' World Series victories well because they defeated the San Francisco Giants in the first round of the playoffs during both
their trips to the World Series. (The 2003 NLDS ended on this memorable play.) In the second round of
the 2003 playoffs, they defeated the Chicago Cubs
with assistance from fan Steve Bartman (see picture above).
The Marlins' six consecutive playoff series wins from 1997 to 2003 was the
longest such streak by an NL team until it was broken by the Giants. After losing to the Marlins in
the playoffs in 2003, the Giants won an NL-record eleven consecutive playoff series
from 2010 to 2016. In the tenth of those eleven playoff series victories, the Giants won Game 7 of the 2014 World Series on the road. In the Giants' first World Series after moving to
San Francisco and in their most recent one, the road team won Game 7 on the road.