Baseball's Best Decade by Carroll Conklin Read Free Book Online Page B

for any decade in the Twentieth Century), scoring among all major league teams increased by 18.8% over the 1950s. This was no doubt partly due to the fact that there were more teams and more games played, as average runs per game dropped by 9%. The Minnesota Twins’ power-laden offense made it the highest scoring team in the majors for the decade, leading the American League in scoring 4 different seasons. The Cincinnati Reds led the National League in scoring 3 seasons, with the San Francisco Giants and Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves each topping the senior circuit in runs scored twice.
    Who almost made the list? Boston Red Sox at 6,851, Pittsburgh Pirates at 6,785, Baltimore Orioles at 6,756.
    1970s – Scoring in the 1970s increased by 27.4% over the previous decade, mostly because the majors now had 24 teams playing the full 10 seasons. However, total runs scored per game dropped 3.6% from the 1960s. The two teams that led the majors in home runs during the 1970s also set the pace in runs scored. The Boston Red Sox led the American League in scoring 3 times during the decade, as did the Baltimore Orioles. In the National League, the Cincinnati Reds led all other teams in scoring only during their world championship seasons of 1975 and 1976.
    Who almost made the list? Los Angeles Dodgers at 6,960, New York Yankees at 6,908, Baltimore Orioles at 6,902.
     

    The Top Scoring Teams for Each Decade (1980s-2000s)
     
    1980s
Boston Red Sox
7,586
New York Yankees
7,372
Detroit Tigers
7,347
Milwaukee Brewers
7,208
Oakland Athletics
7,087
     
     
    199 0s
Cleveland Indians
7,970
Texas Rangers
7,946
New York Yankees
7,877
Seattle Mariners
7,756
Chicago White Sox
7,657
     
     
    2000s
New York Yankees
8 ,834
Boston Red Sox
8,647
Texas Rangers
8,468
Colorado Rockies
8,319
Cleveland Indians
8,192
     
    1980s – In line with a trend that began in the 1950s, total major league scoring in the 1980s increased again, this time by 6.0% over the total number of runs scored in the 1970s. The difference almost certainly would have been slightly greater if not for the strike-shortened, split-season of 1981. The Boston Red Sox repeated as baseball’s best offensive team, 3 times leading the American League – which produced all of the top 5 scoring teams in the 1980s. In the National League, the Philadelphia Phillies led the league for the decade with 6,633, ranking thirteenth among all major league teams. Was all this increased output due to the first full decade of the designated hitter?
    Who almost made the list? California Angels at 7,077, Toronto Blue Jays at 7,056, Baltimore Orioles at 7,001.
     
    1990s – The 1990s were the first decade when major league teams scored over 200,000 runs combined, averaging 8.97 runs per game, the highest per-game average since the 1930s. The top 11 teams all played in the American League, led by the Cleveland Indians who set the pace in American League scoring by leading the league 3 times. The team that ranked number 12, the Milwaukee Brewers, spent the first 7 years of the decade in the American League. The highest ranking “true” National League team was the Atlanta Braves at number 14 among major league teams.
    Who almost made the list? Detroit Tigers at 7,599, Baltimore Orioles at 7,568, Oakland Athletics at 7,554.
     
    2000s – Major league teams scored a record 230,982 runs during the 2000s, the highest total for any decade and 26.7% more than they scored in the 1990s. In terms of total runs per game, games in the 2000s averaged 8.92 runs, the highest average since the 1930s, when major league games averaged 9.86 runs per game. The New York Yankees led the American League in scoring 4 times during the decade, and the Boston Red Sox were the league leaders in scoring 3 times. The Philadelphia Phillies scored the most runs among National league teams 3 times.
    Who almost made the list? Chicago White Sox at 8,125, St. Louis Cardinals at 8,039, Philadelphia Phillies at 7,978.

    Individual Slugging Leaders