Can Any MLB Team Match the NBA's Golden State Warriors?
On Wednesday, April 13, the NBA's Golden State Warriors played their final game in the regular season, making history with a 104-125 win against the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Warriors' win broke the league's 20-year-old single-season record set by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. The team's 73-9 final record also set a new NBA winning percentage record at .890.
But while what Steph Curry and the rest of the Warriors have done in the NBA is undoubtedly phenomenal, it's probably not wise to compare what they've accomplished to any other player or team in any other competitive team sport, especially in the MLB.
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The kind of numbers racked up by the Golden State Warriors just isn't likely to be matched by any team in major league baseball.
As Sports Illustrated notes, the Warriors' .890 winning percentage would translate to 144 wins over the MLB season, which consists of 162 games. No MLB team has ever won more than 116. That recognition belongs to the Cubs, who set the record in 1906, which was matched by the Mariners in 2001. In major league history, only six teams have won 110 or more games. Apart from the Cubs and the Mariners, the list also includes the Yankees (in 1927), the Indians (in 1954), the Yankees again (in 1998), and the Pirates (in 1909).
In terms of winning percentage, it appears that no team in the MLB has ever or will ever match the Golden State Warriors' record. As HNGN notes, there are just too many variables in the world of baseball that hinder a team from being as consistent and unbeatable as the Warriors over a full 162-game MLB season. And unlike the world of basketball, where an excellent player like Curry or the Bulls' Michael Jordan could carry an entire team to greatness, a lone MLB star cannot singularly affect a team's output in such a major way.
Nevertheless, close watchers of the MLB are now saying that several major league teams are poised to bring in extreme win totals this season. The Chicago Cubs, with a 7-1 start, might just reclaim their single-season wins record while National League Central teams the Cardinals and the Pirates, both of which won at least 97 games last year, are expected to win triple-digit games this year.
