If they do it will bode well for their World Series chances.
Is 100 games absurd to expect? Maybe, but if the Red Sox stay healthy in 2011, then there is no reason they could not break their all-time team record of 105 wins.
Boston has eclipsed the century mark for wins three times in team history (1912, 1915 and 1946) and won the World Series in both ’12 and ’15. The ’46 team which boasted the likes of Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr and Johnny Pesky made it to the World Series, but lost a heartbreaking seven-game series to the St. Louis Cardinals.
100 wins would bode well for the Red Sox WS chances if you use the three examples of it occurring in team history. But sample size but it’s not really true across all 83 teams that hit the 100-win mark. Through the 2010 season, 34 teams have won 100+ games in the regular season and gone on to win the World Series the same year.
But in the last 30 years, it has happened only 4 times — twice by the Yankees (’98, ’09)
So that begs the question; despite all the excitement, hype and hope, does it matter if they win 100 games? It would feel good for the summer, but if the 2010 New England Patriots reminded us of anything it’s that winning in the postseason is the only thing that matters. If the Red Sox run rampant on the American League winning 105 games only to get bounced by the Yankees in the ALCS, I think I might develop PTSD.
I hear people talking about it a lot. 100 games. The century mark and an emphatic stamp of regular season dominance. It would be great, but I just don’t think it’s as important to win 100 times as it would be to win the AL East and stick around Fenway Park this fall.
Of course 100 wins would probably secure it but at the rate things look now, 96 wins will probably do the same in the East.
In the 1970’s it seemed to be if you won 100 games you were probably winning the World Series.
50% of the teams that won the WS in that decade achieved the 100-game mark.
1970 Baltimore Orioles – 108-54
1975 Cincinnati Reds – 108-54
1976 Cincinnati Reds – 102-60
1977 New York Yankees – 100-62
1978 New York Yankees – 100-63
The 80’s gave us two 100-game World Series champion teams:
1984 Detroit Tigers – 104-58
1986 New York Mets – 108-54
But ever since the Mets crushed Red Sox fans hearts in 1986, only two teams meet the criteria in the last 25 years. Again it’s the Yankees both times. That’s pretty terrible to look at. The ’86 Mets and the ubiquitous Yankees. Maybe I do want the Red Sox to break this little data point apart…
So what do you think? Will the Red Sox win 100 games this year? I’ve seen models projecting them for 97-99 wins so we are probably right on the cusp if health aligns.
Do you want to see 100 wins or are you somewhat jaded to the regular season?