There’s no denying the Phillies have fallen hard. But have they fallen fast compared to most World Series winners?
Five years after winning it all, they fell below .500. Six years after winning it all, they hit last place in 2014.
As a fan, it’s easy for me to gripe. But do I notice how fast other teams have fallen. I’ve had the sneaking suspicion it isn’t that rare for a team to fall this far, this quickly. So I decided to look at all the world Series winners since free agency began.
Since the first free agents hit the market, 38 World Series have been played.
Let’s look at how fast it has taken those champions to fall below .500 or into last place.
Interestingly, in the 40 years of free agency, eleven teams (79 Pirates, 83 Orioles, 84 Tigers, 87 Twins, 88 Dodgers, 89 Athletics, 91 Twins, 93 Blue Jays, 1997 Marlins, 03 Marlins, 07 Red Sox and the 13 Red Sox) have gone from first to worst in five years or fewer.
That’s 31.5 percent. So about 68 percent of the teams take longer than that.
But if you look at six year out, you’ll see a slight uptick in the number thanks to the 76 Reds and 08 Phillies to 36.8 percent.
So yes, falling to last place this quickly is not that normal, but it’s not that odd either.
Here’s where things get interesting.
Of the 38 teams, 27 (Every champion from 1978-1993, 97 Marlins, 01 Diamondbacks, 02 Angels, 03 Marlins, 05 White Sox, 06 Cardinals, 07 Red Sox, 08 Phillies, 10 Giants, 12 Giants and 13 Red Sox) fell below .500 at some point in the immediate five years after winning it all.
That’s .71 percent.
That’s an astounding. I never would have guessed it would be that high.
In the same time span, eight teams (82 Cardinals, 85 Royals, 88 Dodgers, 97 Marlins, 02 Angels, 06 Cardinals, 12 Giants, 13 Red Sox) fell below .500 the year after winning the World Series.
That’s 21 percent.
I was really shocked by that.
Only the 1997 Marlins fell to last place the season after winning it all.
That’s not so shocking.
Here’s a look at the teams that found ways to remain successful – or at least not horrible – after winning it all.
Only nine teams took more than a decade to fall into last place: 77-78 Yankees, 1981 Dodgers, 1985 Royals, 1995 Braves, 1996, 1998-2000 Yankees, the 2002 Angels and the 2006 Cardinals.
Nineteen teams (77 Yankees, 78 Yankees, 80 Phillies, 82 Cardinals, 87 Twins, 88 Athletics, 89 Athletics, 92 Blue Jays, 95 Braves, 96 Yankees, 98 Yankees, 99 Yankees, 01 Yankees, 04 Red Sox, 06 Cardinals, 07 Red Sox, 10 Giants, 11 Cardinals and the 12 Giants) made it back to the World Series within the next five years.
That’s 50 percent.
Amazingly, the 90 Reds, 1995 Braves, 2002 Angels and 06, 10 Cardinals have yet to finish in last place since winning it all.
And of course the Yankees (1996, 1998-2000, 2009) have yet to fall below .500 or into last place since any of those championships.
Here’s a year-by-year look.
The 1976 Cincinnati Reds won at a .630 clip. Just six years later they fell under .500 as well as into last place with a .377 clip in 1982.
The Yankees won back-to-back World Series in 1977-78 as the first team to capitalize on free agency. They won 103 games in 1980 (.636) and a pennant in 1981, but were below .500 by 1982 (.488), but didn’t hit last place until 1990.
The 1979 Pirates (.605) fell fast, hitting under .500 by 1981 (.451) and last by 1984 (.463).
The 1980 Phillies (.562) returned to the World Series in 1983, but fell under .500 by 1985 (.463)and were in last place in 1988 (.404).
The 1981 Dodgers (.573) took an interesting path, falling to .488 in 1984, winning it all again in 1988 and hitting last place in 1992 (.432)
The Cardinals had a strong decade, winning the World Series in 1982 (.568), falling to .481 in 1983 before winning two more pennants until they hit last place in 1990 (.432)
The 1983 Orioles (.605) fell below .500 in 1986 (.451) and lost 107 games (.335) by 1988.
The 1984 Tigers blew through the regular season (.667), but hit the skids, losing 103 games (.364) by 1989.
The 1985 Royals fell quick, but not hard. They dropped from 91 wins to 76 in 1986, but didn’t hit last place (.466) in 1996.
The beasts of the east New York Mets won .667 big in 1986, but fell to .478 in 1991 and, despite some big signings, last in 1993 (.364)
The 1987 Twins actually won more games in 1988 (.562) but were below .500 in 1989 and in last place in 1990 (.457)
As touched on before, the Dodgers won it all in 1988 (.584), but fell below .500 in 1989 and into last place by 1992 (.389)
The 1989 Athletics were in the midst of a dominant run and topped out at a .639 mark in 1990. By 1993, though, they were in last place with a .420 mark
The 1990 Reds won at a .562 clip but fell to .457 the next season. Interestingly, they have yet to finish in last place
The 1991 Twins (.579) had a quick fall, dropping below .500 in 1993 and into last place in 1995 (.389)
The Toronto Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series (a high water mark of .593 in 1992) and were under .500 in 1994 and in last by 1995.
The 1995 Braves (.625) continued to win division titles for a decade, falling to .488 in 2006. They have yet to finish in last place.
The 1996 Yankees have been quite the team, also not falling below .500 or into last place since winning.
The Marlins fell faster than anyone, dropping to .333 – and last – the year after winning it all.
Again, the 1998-2000 Yankees have yet to fall below .500 or into last place.
The year after winning the World Series in 2001 (.567), the Diamondbacks won more games. But by 2004, they had lost 111 games (.315)
The 2002 Angels fell to .475 after their World Series championship, but have yet to fall to last place.
The 2003 Marlins had a bit more staying power than the 1997 squad. A bit. They fell to .481 in 2006 and .438 the following season.
The 2004 Red Sox (.605) took awhile to fall, hitting below .500 and last place in 2012 (.426).
The 2005 White Sox (.611) dropped quickly to a .444 winning percentage, but didn’t hit last until 2013 (.369)
The 2006 Cardinals (.516) were pretty mediocre until they hit the postseason. They fell to .481 the next year, but have yet to hit last place since.
The 2007 Red Sox fell to last place in 2012.
The Phillies fell below .500 in 2013, hit last place in 2014.
The 2009 Yankees have yet to fall below .500 or into last place.
The 2010 San Francisco Giants fell below .500 in 2013, but won the World Series in 2014 and are hovering above .500 this year.
The 2011 Cardinals (.556) have yet to fall below .500 or hit last place.
The 2012 Giants fell below .500 the next year, then won the World Seris in 2014.
The 2013 Red Sox are currently sitting below .500 and in last place.
* The Reds, who start this list were repeat champions, but the first title came before free agency.
Call to the 'pen 