I’ve upped my game with franchise rankings and introduced some new technology to the process — namely, Tableau. To see some other examples of me putting Tableau to good use, check out the Infographics section of my SportsPaper.info site.

Other than making things look snazzy, however, the methodology behind how I’m ranking all MLB franchises remains pretty much intact. So for those who don’t know the rules, here they are again:

The Criteria

The categories and point values are as follows:

• 20 points for a World Series title. Pre-1903 titles are not counted.
• 15 points for a league pennant.
• 6 points for a playoff series win (e.g. Division Series or Wild Card Game).
• 4 points for a division title.
• 3 points for a regular season winning percentage of .556 or higher, -3 points for a percentage of .444 or lower.
• 1 point for a winning season, -1 point for a losing season.
• Consecutive winning regular seasons are worth 2 points starting with the second, 3 points for the third, 4 points for the fourth, and so on. The counter is reset after any non-winning season. So if a team has three winning seasons in a row, they get a total of 5 points.

One thing that has changed is that thanks to Tableau, I’m able to dig into the numbers in different ways than before. Here’s the graph showing how all current franchises stack up after the 2015 season:

As has been the case ever since I started this project, the New York Yankees hold what looks to be an insurmountable lead over the rest of MLB. Despite losing the AL Wild Card Game to the Astros, the Yanks are still feasting on their incredible 23-year streak of winning seasons.

Here is the full top 10 for this year. For teams who have changed positions from last year, their previous spot is indicated in parentheses.

The Top 10

#1. New York Yankees — 23.23 pts.
#2. San Francisco Giants — 8.46 pts.
#3. St. Louis Cardinals (#4) — 7.77 pts.
#4. Boston Red Sox (#3) — 7.57 pts.
#5. Los Angeles Dodgers — 7.21 pts.
#6. Oakland Athletics — 5.68 pts.
#7. Atlanta Braves — 5.65 pts.
#8. Detroit Tigers — 4.85 pts.
#9. Pittsburgh Pirates — 4.75 pts.
#10. Chicago Cubs (#11) — 4.70 pts.

The Cubs’ Cinderella run to the NLCS allowed them to crack the top 10, sending the Arizona Diamondbacks into the middle tier.

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The Mediocre 10

#11. Arizona Diamondbacks (#10) — 4.60 pts.
#12. Toronto Blue Jays — 4.56 pts.
#13. Chicago White Sox — 3.74 pts.
#14. New York Mets (#16) — 3.61 pts.
#15. Cincinnati Reds (#14) — 3.57 pts.
#16. Kansas City Royals (#18) — 3.47 pts.
#17. Cleveland Indians (#15) — 3.37 pts.
#18. Baltimore Orioles (#17) — 2.97 pts.
#19. Miami Marlins — 2.45 pts.
#20. Philadelphia Phillies (#21) — 2.06 pts.

The World Series champion Royals moved up for the 2nd consecutive year, while the NL champion New York Mets went up two spots.

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The Bottom 10

#21. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (#20) — 2.06 pts.
#22. Houston Astros — 1.86 pts.
#23. Tampa Bay Rays (#24) — 1.85 pts.
#24. Minnesota Twins (#23) — 1.63 pts.
#25. Texas Rangers — 0.89 pts.
#26. Washington Nationals (#27) — 0.52 pts.
#27. Milwaukee Brewers (#26)  — 0.51 pts.
#28. San Diego Padres — 0.28 pts.
#29. Colorado Rockies — 0.01 pts.
#30. Seattle Mariners — -0.14 pts.

The Angels drop to the bottom third based on rounding, while in the rest of this group several teams swapped spots. The biggest point gainer was the Astros, whose run to the postseason netted them almost a quarter point.

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Team of the Decade (So Far)

Here’s a look at how the total scores are shaping up for the 2010s across all of MLB. Click on the chart to see the live version and play around yourself.

The Royals have propelled themselves past the league average for the decade, but so far it’s the San Francisco Giants’ title to lose. Hot on their heels are the Cardinals, with the Texas Rangers, Royals, and Detroit Tigers not far behind.

My NFL franchise ranking is now in its third year, despite the tardiness this season. So if you’ve read the 2013 or 2014 editions, you know what to expect here.

Also, be sure to check out all my other great sports lists as well!

The Criteria

The categories and point values are as follows:

• 25 points for a championship game/Super Bowl win, 15 points for a championship game/Super Bowl loss (starting in 1932).
• 5 points for a season with a playoff appearance (starting in 1967), and 8 points for a season with a playoff win.
• 1 point for a winning regular-season record, -1 point for a losing regular-season record.
• 3 points for any year with a regular-season winning percentage of at least .750, -3 points for a regular-season winning percentage of .250 or less.
• Consecutive winning regular seasons are worth 2 points starting with the second, 3 points for the third, 4 points for the fourth, and so on. The counter is reset after any non-winning season. So if a team has three winning seasons in a row, they get a total of 5 points.
• I apply a unique multiplier to a franchise’s all-time winning percentage, such that anything below .500 essentially incurs a penalty.

Feel free to share your thoughts on my rankings in the comments below. And as I did last year, I must give credit to two sites that helped form the basis of my own formulations — Bob’s Blog and Page 2.

All rankings are current through the end of the 2014 NFL season. Last year’s ranking in parentheses.

The Top 10

#1.  Dallas Cowboys (#1) — 15.26 avg.

#2. Baltimore Ravens (#2) — 11.93 avg.

#3. Green Bay Packers (#4) — 10.78 avg.

#4. Oakland Raiders (#3) — 10.67 avg.

#5. New England Patriots (#6) — 10.58 avg.

#6. San Francisco 49ers (#5) — 9.63 avg.

#7. Miami Dolphins (#7) — 8.94 avg.

#8. Indianapolis Colts (#10) — 8.28 avg.

#9. Chicago Bears (#9) — 8.04 avg.

#10. Minnesota Vikings (#8) — 8.00 avg.

The big gainer this year is Indy, which jumps ahead of the Bears and Vikings to claim the #8 spot, thanks to a great run to the AFC Championship.

More than a decade of futility is taking its toll on the Raiders, who have slipped to #4 behind the Packers. Same for the 49ers, who now enter a great period of uncertainty following Jim Harbaugh’s departure.

The Mediocre 12

#11. New York Giants (#11) — 7.87 avg.

#12. Denver Broncos (#13) — 7.22 avg.

#13. Cleveland Browns (#12) — 7.16 avg.

#14. Pittsburgh Steelers (#14) — 7.06 avg.

#15. Washington Redskins (#15) — 5.91 avg.

#16. Kansas City Chiefs (#17) — 5.88 avg.

#17. St. Louis Rams (#16) — 5.82 avg.

#18. Seattle Seahawks (#20) — 5.78 avg.

#19. San Diego Chargers (#18) — 5.34 avg.

#20. Tennessee Titans (#19) — 5.02 avg.

#21. Buffalo Bills (#21) — 4.62 avg.

#22. Philadelphia Eagles (#22) — 4.36 avg.

Lots of jostling in this group, mainly between teams moving by just tenths of a point. The Browns, Rams, Chargers, and Titans all moved down a spot while the Broncos, Chiefs, and Seahawks all moved up. Seattle jumped two spots and is up four altogether over the last few years.

The Bottom 10

#23. Carolina Panthers (#26) — 2.90 avg.

#24. New York Jets (#23) — 2.73 avg.

#25. Detroit Lions (#25) — 2.65 avg.

#26. Jacksonville Jaguars (#23) — 2.13 avg.

#27. Cincinnati Bengals (#27) — 1.79 avg.

#28. Atlanta Falcons (#28) — 1.33 avg.

#29. New Orleans Saints (#29) — 1.32 avg.

#30. Arizona Cardinals (#31) — 0.61 avg.

#31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (#30) — 0.48 avg.

#32. Houston Texans (#32) — -1.13 avg.

For winning their division (despite a losing record) and winning a playoff game the Panthers are rewarded by moving up three spots in the bottom tier. They’re not an imminent threat to crack into the next group, however, as they trail the Eagles by almost a point and a half.

The Texans finished with a winning record and almost made the playoffs, but are still the only franchise on this list with a negative per-year point average.

I like to get these franchise ranking lists out before the start of the season but that didn’t happen this year. But no matter, all the tabulations are complete and I’m ready to go with my updated rankings of all 30 active NHL franchises, from best to worst.

Last year’s list is here, and you can see all my great sports-related rankings and lists here.

The Criteria

The categories and point values are as follows:

• 25 points for a Stanley Cup championship (or an NHL title prior to 1927), and 15 points for a Stanley Cup Finals loss.
• 2 points for a playoff berth, counted only from the 1967-68 season forward.
• 3 points for each playoff round win, counted only from the 1967-68 season forward.
• 3 points for finishing the regular season with the most points.
• 1 point for a winning season.
• Consecutive winning regular seasons are worth 2 points starting with the second, 3 points for the third, 4 points for the fourth, and so on. The counter is reset after any non-winning season. So if a team has three winning seasons in a row, they get a total of 5 points.

The main goal of my system is to reward consistently good play in the regular season, and to not give older franchises too much of an advantage just by virtue of being around for so many years. I’ve always felt that using Stanley Cups alone to measure a franchise’s quality is taking too narrow a view.

That’s about it! Let’s get to the rankings, current as of the start of the 2015-16 NHL season.

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The Top 10

#1. Montreal Canadiens (#1 last year) — 18.18 avg.

#2. Philadelphia Flyers (#2) — 13.85 avg.

#3. Boston Bruins (#3) — 13.63 avg.

#4. Detroit Red Wings (#4) — 12.52 avg.

#5. Edmonton Oilers (#5) — 11.03 avg.

#6. New Jersey Devils (#6) — 10.63 avg.

#7. New York Islanders (#7) — 9.19 avg.

#8. Colorado Avalanche (#8) — 8.43 avg.

#9. Ottawa Senators (#9) — 8.32 avg.

#10. Pittsburgh Penguins (#10) — 8.19 avg.

No changes in the top 10 this year, and only the Red Wings and Penguins managed to increase the per-season point averages. The Oilers and Devils continue to have a hard go of things lately and continue to lose points at decent clip.

I opined last year that the Penguins could be poised to pass the Senators, but that didn’t happen. They have, however, closed the gap to just .13 points.

The Mediocre 10

#11. Toronto Maple Leafs (#10 last year) — 7.92 avg.

#12. Chicago Blackhawks (#14) — 7.90 avg.

#13. Dallas Stars (#12) — 7.51 avg.

#14. San Jose Sharks (#15) — 7.30 avg.

#15. Buffalo Sabres (#13) — 7.30 avg.

#16. Vancouver Canucks (#19) — 6.66 avg.

#17. St. Louis Blues (#16) — 6.62 avg.

#18. Anaheim Ducks (#18) — 6.57 avg.

#19. New York Rangers (#20) — 6.49 avg.

#20. Calgary Flames (#17) — 6.38 avg.

Lots of jostling in the middle of the pack, with only one franchise (Anaheim) staying put from last year’s rankings. Vancouver moved up more than any other team this year, thanks mostly to gaining 15 points thanks to not having a losing regular season since 1998-99.

Their western Canadian neighbors, the Calgary Flames, dropped three spots despite a winning record and a playoff round win last year.

The Bottom 10

#21. Washington Capitals (#21 last year) — 5.73 avg.

#22. Minnesota Wild (#22) — 5.43 avg.

#23. Los Angeles Kings (#24) — 4.72 avg.

#24. Tampa Bay Lightning (#25) — 4.64 avg.

#25. Nashville Predators (#23) — 4.44 avg.

#26. Carolina Hurricanes (#26) — 3.11 avg.

#27. Arizona Coyotes (#27) — 2.17 avg.

#28. Florida Panthers (#28) — 1.90 avg.

#29. Winnipeg Jets (#29) — 0.93 avg.

#30. Columbus Blue Jackets (#30) — -0.21 avg.

This was the least active group in terms of positioning, as only the Kings, Lightning, and Predators moved places from last year’s list. Tampa Bay, however, wins this year’s award for most improved team with a +1.21-point average increase. That puts them quite close to the Kings, who inched up just .05 points from the 2014 rankings.

The 2015-16 NBA season is upon us, so it’s time to take a look at the updated rankings for all 30 active franchises. To see last year’s list click here, and to see all my fantastic sports rankings and lists, go here.

The Criteria

The categories and point values are as follows:

• 30 points for a league championship, and 15 points for a Finals loss.
• 2 points for a playoff berth.
• 5 points for each playoff round win (does not include a win in the Finals).
• 4 points for a division title (starting in 1970-71).
• 1 point for a winning season, -1 point for a losing season.
• 3 points for a regular-season winning percentage better than .730 (60 wins with the current schedule), -3 points for a regular-season winning percentage worse than .270 (20 wins with the current schedule).
• Consecutive winning regular seasons are worth 2 points starting with the second, 3 points for the third, 4 points for the fourth, and so on. The counter is reset after any non-winning season. So if a team has three winning seasons in a row, they get a total of 5 points.

While I may tweak the formula in future years, I think this accomplishes my two most important objectives — to reward consistently good play in the regular season, and to not give older franchises too much of an advantage just by virtue of being around for so many years. I’ve always felt that using NBA titles alone to measure a franchise’s greatness (or badness) is taking too narrow a view.

One final note — as with the NBA, these rankings to not reflect records for teams while in the ABA or NBL.

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The Top 10

#1. Los Angeles Lakers (#1 last year) — 31.42 avg.

#2. Boston Celtics (#2) — 25.88 avg.

#3. San Antonio Spurs (#3) — 23.23 avg.

#4. Miami Heat (#4) — 15.89 avg.

#5. Chicago Bulls (#5) — 14.02 avg.

#6. Utah Jazz (#6) — 11.28 avg.

#7. Philadelphia 76ers (#7) — 10.92 avg.

#8. Oklahoma City Thunder (#9) — 9.10 avg.

#9. Portland Trail Blazers (#10) — 9.05 avg.

#10. New York Knicks (#8) — 9.01 avg.

Both the Thunder and Trail Blazers moved up a spot this year, mainly due to the Knicks turning in the worst season they’ve had (17-65) in their nearly seven decades in the NBA. In fact, every team in the top 10 saw their point-per-season average drop from last year’s list. The Heat dropped the most (.68 points), due in no small part to the loss of LeBron James.

The Mediocre 10

#11. Houston Rockets (#12) — 8.93 avg.

#12. Detroit Pistons (#11) — 8.53 avg.

#13. Dallas Mavericks (#13) — 8.40 avg.

#14. Milwaukee Bucks (#15) — 7.81 avg.

#15. Phoenix Suns (#14) — 7.80 avg.

#16. Golden State Warriors (#18) — 6.41 avg.

#17. Atlanta Hawks (#17) — 5.96 avg.

#18. Orlando Magic (#16) — 5.79 avg.

#19. Indiana Pacers (#19) — 4.95 avg.

#20. Denver Nuggets (#20) — 4.39 avg.

Thanks to their fantastic run all the way to the NBA title, the Golden State Warriors moved up two spots and boosted their per-season average by more than a point. Meanwhile, the Rockets are less than a tenth of a point away from knocking the Knicks out of the top 10, and if I were a betting man I’d say they’ll do it this season.

The Bottom 10

#21. Washington Wizards (#21) — 4.20 avg.

#22. Cleveland Cavaliers (#23) — 3.31 avg.

#23. Sacramento Kings (#22) — 3.44 avg.

#24. Brooklyn Nets (#24) — 2.77 avg.

#25. New Orleans Pelicans  (#25)— 0.42 avg.

#26. Charlotte Hornets (#30) — 0.43 avg.

#27. Toronto Raptors (#28) — -1.54 avg.

#28. Memphis Grizzlies (#29) — -1.85 avg.

#29. Los Angeles Clippers (#27) — -1.40 avg.

#30. Minnesota Timberwolves (#26) — -1.37 avg.

Several teams in the bottom third of the countdown improved their lots last season, most notably the Cavaliers (+.81 points), Raptors (+.86 points) and Grizzlies (+1.07 points). And thanks to their miserable 16-66 season the Minnesota Timberwolves are now the worst franchise in NBA history.

When we talk about “cursed” sports towns, it’s almost always in the context of things like postseason or championship droughts, heartbreaking losses, or just general futility. In other words, Cleveland. I kid, I kid.

But to my way of thinking there’s something even worse than falling just short of ultimate glory over and over again, and that’s losing a pro franchise entirely. Whether it’s the result of a greedy owner or a lack of fan interest, the death of a sports team is always at least a little sad.

And so I set out to document just with cities and states have lost the most professional teams from the four major leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL). I could expand it to other leagues as well, but I’m not sure that cities mourn the loss of indoor soccer teams quite like they do baseball or football franchises.

A few caveats are necessary. In the early history of pro leagues team movement was fairly common and it can be hard to differentiate between teams folding altogether or simply taking on new identities. Also, I have taken the liberty of lumping some geographic areas together that may get me into hot water with locals. So all the boroughs of New York City are counted as the same, as are other cities located in the same metropolitan area.

If I’ve made any noticeable blunders please let me know in the comments. Publication images courtesy my companion site, SportsPaper.info.

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Which State Has Lost the Most Pro Sports Teams?

This one was closer than I thought it would be but indeed, Ohio can rightly be considered the unluckiest state when it comes to pro franchises folding or moving. To date the Buckeye State has lost 20 teams from the four major leagues.

It started with the Cincinnati Reds (or Red Stockings), one of the charter members of baseball’s National League, who were kicked out of the league in 1880 and subsequently dissolved. Since then two other baseball teams, the Cleveland Blues and Spiders (1884 and 1899 respectively) have vanished.

Ohio has also suffered the loss of two NBA franchises. The Cleveland Rebels were a charter BAA franchise in 1946-47 but went out of business after just one season. The Cincinnati Royals, themselves already relocated from Rochester in 1957, departed the Queen City for Kansas City/Omaha in 1972. The team now plays in Sacramento as the Kings.

But it’s the NFL where Ohio has lost the most, which makes sense given that the league was founded there and was heavily concentrated in the Midwest for its first few decades. A whopping total of 14 NFL franchises have either moved or gone belly up in Ohio, although to be fair most of that movement was done by the mid-1930s.

Of note, however, are some notable franchises that were lost. The Canton Bulldogs, one of the great teams from the NFL’s first decade, were kicked out after the 1926 season. In 1946 the Cleveland Rams moved west to Los Angeles. Of course I don’t think I need to get into what happened with the Cleveland Browns in 1996 — and if you think that doesn’t count because the city was awarded a new Browns franchise in 1999, ask local residents how they feel about that.

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Coming in a surprisingly close second on this list is New York, which has seen 19 teams move or fold. Aside from the infamous moves of MLB’s New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers, the Empire State has lost three NBA teams, one NHL team, and nine NFL teams. New York City’s five boroughs alone account for 10 teams on this list.

Here’s the full Top 10:

1. Ohio (20 teams)
2. New York (19)
3. Missouri (14)
4. Indiana (9)
5(t). California, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin (8)
8. Illinois (7)
9(t). Maryland, Michigan (6)

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Which City Has Lost the Most Pro Sports Teams?

I guess I gave this one away already, but New York City has lost 10 pro sports teams in its history. Some people may take issue with lumping all five boroughs together, but this is my site so my rules.

The exodus began in 1876 when the New York Mutuals, a founding National League club, were expelled from the league as punishment for refusing to make a late-season road trip. Things remained calm for several decades, but the wild and woolly early NFL days brought a host of teams in and out of New York City.

Between 1921 and 1951 a total of six APFA/NFL teams vanished — the New York Brickley Giants (1921), Brooklyn Lions (1926), New York Yankees (1928), Staten Island Stapletons (1932), Brooklyn Dodgers/Tigers (1944), and finally the New York Bulldogs/Yanks (1951).

(See programs for more defunct NFL teams.)

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Just behind New York City in the loss column are St. Louis and Cleveland, who have each seen nine teams go away. St. Louis most recently saw the NFL’s Cardinals move to Arizona in 1988 and the NBA’s Hawks fly to Atlanta in 1968. More recently, all signs point to the St. Louis Rams returning to their longtime home in Los Angeles soon, at which point the city will tie New York for this infamous honor.

In addition to the Browns’ move to Baltimore, Cleveland lost an entire league when the NHL’s Barons merged with the Minnesota North Stars in 1978.

Here’s the full top 10:

1. New York City (10 teams)
2(t). Cleveland, St. Louis (9)
4(t). Baltimore, Detroit, Washington D.C. (6)
7(t). Kansas City, Milwaukee, Philadelphia (5)
10(t). Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Louisville, Minneapolis (4)

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What Team Name Has Been the Unluckiest?

Just for fun, I decided to look at what nickname has been associated with the most defunct/relocated franchises. For this exercise, I only counted the name of a team when it went away, even if was known by another name for a longer period. This part is more art than science, unfortunately.

With that said, history indicates that the nicknames that most often portend doom are Maroons, Senators, and Tigers. There have been five teams each that had this name and then were no more.

The most recent Maroons team is probably the most well known, the Montreal Maroons of the NHL (1924-38), winners of two Stanley Cups. Three NFL teams bore the moniker and were from Kenosha, Wisconsin, Pottsville, Pennsylvania, and Toledo, Ohio.

All but one of the Senators teams were based out of Washington D.C., the exception being the original Ottawa Senators of the NHL. Three separate MLB franchises used the name, folding or moving in 1899, 1961, and 1972. Only hardcore NFL history junkies would know about the Senators that played just one season in the APFA/NFL (1921).

As for the Tigers, the last of them to go extinct was the NFL squad known for most of its existence (1930-44) as the Brooklyn Dodgers. Three other NFL teams were known as the Tigers and were from Chicago, Detroit, and Columbus. The latter of these was also known as the Panhandles.

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"https://www grayflannelsuit net/blog/what-city-and-state-has-lost-the-most-sports-teams"

The 2015 NFL season is still about three months away, so pigskin junkies have to do all we can to keep the fires stoked. To that end, here’s a little gem from the pre-merger days that I hope you’ll all enjoy.

This is the opening theme/bumper to The NFL Today on CBS, as used during at least the 1969 NFL season. This particular version aired during the NFL Championship between the Cleveland Browns and Minnesota Vikings, played on January 4, 1970. Let’s all soak this in:

This has just about everything a fan of old-school NFL could want. Those tasty late-’60s era team logos, the crude (by our modern standards) TV graphics, and that unmistakable martial music that made you want to strap a helmet on and go hit someone. And all narrated by Don Criqui.

Simply glorious. And if you want more of that game broadcast, by all means check it out on YouTube while you can.

I wanted to get the latest list of Major League Baseball franchise rankings done before the start of the 2015 season, but obviously that didn’t happen. But that’s OK, right?

Last year I split the list into two posts ranking the best and worst teams in MLB history, but in keeping with the other sports lists I maintain I’m putting all 30 active franchises in one place. So with that  out of the way, here are how the rankings are compiled:

The Criteria

The categories and point values are as follows:

• 20 points for a World Series title. Pre-1903 titles are not counted.
• 15 points for a league pennant.
• 6 points for a playoff series win (e.g. Division Series or Wild Card Game).
• 4 points for a division title.
• 3 points for a regular season winning percentage of .556 or higher, -3 points for a percentage of .444 or lower.
• 1 point for a winning season, -1 point for a losing season.
• Consecutive winning regular seasons are worth 2 points starting with the second, 3 points for the third, 4 points for the fourth, and so on. The counter is reset after any non-winning season. So if a team has three winning seasons in a row, they get a total of 5 points.
• A multiplier is included, which is based on a franchise’s all-time regular-season winning percentage.

Here we go with this year’s updated rankings. Previous year ranks are in parentheses.

The Top 10

#1. New York Yankees (#1) — 23.45 avg.

#2. San Francisco Giants (#2) — 8.67 avg.

#3. Boston Red Sox (#3) — 7.75 avg.

#4. St. Louis Cardinals (#4) — 7.69 avg.

#5. Los Angeles Dodgers (#5) — 7.23 avg.

#6. Oakland Athletics (#7) — 5.73 avg.

#7. Atlanta Braves (#6) — 5.72 avg.

#8. Detroit Tigers (#9) — 4.93 avg.

#9. Pittsburgh Pirates (#10) — 4.75 avg.

#10. Arizona Diamondbacks (#8) — 5.44 avg.

Not much movement in this group except toward the bottom. The Diamondbacks continue their tumble toward the middle 10, having lost more than half a point from their all-time franchise average from 2013. In fact Arizona is just one of two teams to drop more than one spot this year, the other being Philadelphia.

The World Series champion Giants boosted their average by a league-best .35 points in 2014 but aren’t even within reach of the Yankees. Let’s just say that I don’t see NY relinquishing the top spot during my lifetime.

The Mediocre 10

#11. Chicago Cubs (#11) — 4.64 avg.

#12. Toronto Blue Jays (#12) — 4.20 avg.

#13. Chicago White Sox (#13) — 3.83 avg.

#14. Cincinnati Reds (#14) — 3.64 avg.

#15. Cleveland Indians (#15) — 3.39 avg.

#16. New York Mets (#16) — 2.944 avg.

#17. Baltimore Orioles (#17) — 2.938 avg.

#18. Kansas City Royals (#23) — 2.24 avg.

#19. Miami Marlins (#18) — 2.09 avg.

#20. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (#20) — 2.05 avg.

The big shakeup here is from the Royals, who rode a Cinderella season all the way to an American League pennant and rose five spots in this list as a result. Taking their place in the bottom-feeder section are the aforementioned Phillies.

The Bottom 10

#21. Philadelphia Phillies (#19) — 2.03 avg.

#22. Houston Astros (#21) — 1.63 avg.

#23. Minnesota Twins (#22) — 1.58 avg.

#24. Tampa Bay Rays (#24) — 0.95 avg.

#25. Texas Rangers (#25) — 0.61 avg.

#26. Milwaukee Brewers (#26) — 0.40 avg.

#27. Washington Nationals (#27) — -0.0268 avg.

#28. San Diego Padres (#28) — -0.0270 avg.

#29. Colorado Rockies (#29) — -0.25 avg.

#30. Seattle Mariners (#30) — -0.57 avg.

The poor didn’t get a whole lot poorer this year, but neither did they get much better except for Kansas City. Both the Astros and Twins dropped one spot, while the Rays, Rangers, Brewers, Nats, Padres, Rockies, and Mariners stayed right where they were last season.

I guess there’s something to be said for consistency at least.

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"WORST MLB FRANCHISES"

The opening kickoff of the 2015 Major League Soccer season is nearly upon us, and now that MLS is celebrating its 20th anniversary I think they’ve earned the honor of having their franchises ranked by yours truly.

For those unfamiliar with my other franchise rankings, the idea is simple. I come up with a point system for various categories for each team and do some simple math. Teams are then ranked according to average points earned per year, not total points.

The idea is to introduce some objectivity to the exercise, and also to allow teams that perform well but may not have a bunch of titles to be rewarded for that. Likewise, teams that win it all once or twice but otherwise stink are not unfairly rewarded. And this also allows for older franchises to not be able to just pile up points and take an insurmountable lead.

Note: As Chivas USA is no longer an active franchise, they are not included in these rankings. Likewise, obviously it’s too early to rank New York City FC or Orlando City SC.

For more rankings, check out my Sports Lists page.

The Criteria

The categories and point values are as follows:

• 25 points for an MLS Cup win, 15 points for a loss.
• 10 points for a Supporters’ Shield (best regular season record).
• 5 points for a conference title (division title for the 2000-01 seasons).
• 3 points for a postseason berth.
• 2 points for a playoff round win (not including knockout games).
• I apply a unique multiplier to a team’s average seasonal goal differential, rewarding franchises that have a higher number.

Feel free to share your thoughts on my rankings in the comments below. And check out my Sports Lists page for more franchise rankings.

All rankings here are as of the end of the 2014 MLS season. Although I did not publish a list for the 2013 season, I did the calculations and each team’s 2013 ranking is shown in parentheses.

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The Best (1-6)

#1. Los Angeles Galaxy (#1) — 19.69 avg.

#2. Houston Dynamo (#2) — 15.00 avg.

#3. D.C. United (#3) — 12.89 avg.

#4. Seattle Sounders (#8) — 8.88 avg.

#5. Sporting Kansas City (#5) — 8.69 avg.

#6. Chicago Fire (#4) — 8.63 avg.

Middle of the Road (7-12)

#7. Real Salt Lake (#6) — 7.97 avg.

#8. San Jose Earthquakes (#7) — 7.32 avg.

#9. New England Revolution (#9) — 7.17 avg.

#10. Columbus Crew (#10) — 5.98 avg.

#11. New York Red Bulls (#12) — 4.82 avg.

#12. Colorado Rapids (#11) — 4.48 avg.

The Worst (13-18)

#13. FC Dallas (#13) — 3.07 avg.

#14. Portland Timbers (#14) — 2.50 avg.

#15. Vancouver Whitecaps (#17) — 0.00 avg.

#16. Philadelphia Union (#16) — -0.36 avg.

#17. Toronto FC (#18) — -2.95 avg.

#18. Montreal Impact (#15) — -3.17 avg.

 

Spring Training for the 2015 Major League Baseball season is upon us! So even if you’re still sitting under a blanket of snow, you know that relief is on the way.

To help you get warmed up and to take an excuse to look at some great vintage sports ephemera, here’s a hand-picked gallery slideshow of some of my favorite Spring Training program and scorecard art from teams like the Dodgers, Red Sox, Angels, and Pirates. All of these and more are available for perusal at The Press Room, and clicking on any image will take you to its own page.

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