The impossible task: Bob Costas picks his 20 greatest baseball teams of all time

Bob Costas was part of The Sporting News' 14-person panel who voted on the 25 greatest teams of all time as part of our celebration of our 140th year of publishing. Here are his thoughts on his ballot.

First, this is impossible. Too many eras, too many worthy teams. Some of which have to be left out. Here’s how I approached it. To make the list, a team had to win the World Series. So that eliminated incredible teams like the 116-win Mariners of 2001, the 111-win Indians of 1954, and the 1906 “Tinker to Evers to Chance” Cubs who had the best winning percentage ever, but lost the WS to the “Hitless Wonder” White Sox.

In the case of truly great teams like the “Boys of Summer” Brooklyn Dodgers, Earl Weaver’s Orioles, Tony La Russa’s A’s, and the 90's Braves, all of whom lost more WS than they won, I settled on the year they did win it all as a nod to their sustained excellence.

It also seems right to acknowledge the Negro Leagues. So the 1935 Pittsburgh Crawfords and the 1943 Homestead Grays made my list.

Still, if it’s fair to note (and it is) that the best MLB teams pre integration never faced the best black players, then, logically, and thru no fault of their own, neither did Josh Gibson face Bob Feller and Oscar Charleston never faced Lefty Grove, just as Babe Ruth never faced Satchel Paige.
So, to make some sense of that, the pre integration teams that made my list, are placed in the second tier of the top 20, with the 1927 Yankees as my best guess for the best of the group.

Honorable mention goes to the excellent Cardinal teams of the 40s, 60s and 80s, and the memorable “Curse Busters” Red Sox, White Sox, and Cubs of ‘04, ‘05, and ‘16.

One more thing: Yes, we know the Yankees won 5 straight WS from 1949- 1953. All 5 played better than .600 ball. All won nearly 100 games in a 154 game season. Some had DiMaggio. Some had Mantle. Only one had both. They all had Berra and Rizzuto. Only some had Ford. Go ahead and pick one. I couldn’t. Besides, the Yankees are pretty well represented on any of these lists.

Here we go.

SN 140: Top 25 teams of all time | SN's greatest players

Bob Costas' greatest teams of all-time

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Post integration

1 - 1998 Yankees. Won 114 games. Beat a terrific Cleveland team in the LCS. Then swept Padres in the WS. In a year and era of exploding home run numbers, Tino Martinez led a balanced attack with just 28. But the Yankees run differential was +309, among the best of the past century.
The pitching staff of David Cone, Andy Petitte, David Wells and Mariano Rivera contributed significantly to that.

2 - 1976 Reds. Big Red Machine. Back-to-back champs. Four pennants in seven years. Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez and Sparky Anderson all in HOF. Plus Pete Rose, of course.

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3 - 1970 Orioles. Jim Palmer, Dave McNally and Mike Cuellar all 20-game winners. Boog Powell MVP in his best season. Frank Robinson still a force. Superb defense led by Brooks Robinson at third, Mark Belanger at short, and Paul Blair in center. Earl Weaver at the helm.

4 - 1961 Yankees. Best of five straight pennant winners in the early 60s. Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle combine for 115 homers, the most ever by teammates. Whitey Ford wins 25 games. And the Cy Young Award.

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5 - 1955 Dodgers. Brooklyn went to the World Series six times between 1947 and 1956. The Yankees beat them five times. This was “Next Year”.  Seven Hall of Famers - Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Duke Snider, Gil Hodges, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax (2-2 as a rookie) and manager Walter Alston.

6 - 1989 A’s. Like the Orioles before them, how did this powerhouse lose 2 of the 3 consecutive World Series in which they appeared? Rickey Henderson, Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco. Carney Lansford and more. Dave Stewart the ace. Eckersley in the pen.

7 - 2025 Dodgers. Hall of Fame quality everywhere you look, although Blue Jays made them sweat for it. Best could still be ahead.

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8 - 1995 Braves. Five World Series in the decade. This is the one they won. And over a tremendous Cleveland team that had a shot at this list had it prevailed in ‘95 or ‘97. Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz as great a front three as the game has ever seen. Chipper Jones, and Bobby Cox join them in the HOF. (Andruw Jones was still a year away).

9 - 2018 Boston Red Sox. Won 108 games. Then went 11-3 in defeating 100-win teams in the Yankees, Astros and Dodgers in postseason. Mookie Betts sterling MVP season. JD Martinez 43 homers, 130 RBI.

10 - 1986 Mets. Maybe they should have won more than one World Series. Still, this team of Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Gary Carter and Keith Hernandez is unforgettable. Epic wins over Astros in LCS and Red Sox in World Series seal their place in history.

11- 1993 Blue Jays. Back-to-back world champs. Solid pitching staff. But that lineup -- John Olerud (.363). Plus Roberto Alomar, Paul Molitor, Rickey Henderson, all in Hall of Fame. Joe Carter, Devon White, Tony Fernandez were All-Star quality.

12 - 1984 Tigers. Wire to wire. Started 35-5. Won 104 and made quick work of the Royals and Padres in October. Kirk Gibson, Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker. Lance Parrish 33 homers. Jack Morris the ace. Dan Petry and Milt Wilcox strong complements. Willie Hernandez wins Cy Young and MVP out of bullpen. Another ring for Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson.

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Pre integration

13 -  1927 Yankees. Best of the first half of the 20th century. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, sure. But Earle Combs hit .356 with 23 triples! Bob Muesel .337 with 103 RBIs. Tony Lazzeri made the Hall of Fame, so did pitchers Waite Hoyt and Herb Pennock and manager Miller Huggins.
Back to Ruth and Gehrig. In addition to the 60 and 47 homers, they each hit over .350 and had an OPS well over 1.200. Murderer’s Row indeed.

14 - 1930 A’s. Jimmy Foxx, Mickey Cochrane, Al Simmons, Lefty Grove. (Check the numbers if you need convincing). Second of three straight pennants as they dethroned the Yankees in the American League and second straight World Series win as they beat the Cardinals. Lost the '31 World Series to Redbirds in seven games, just missing three titles in a row.

15- 1935 Pittsburgh Crawfords. Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston, Cool Papa Bell. Would have ranked with the very best of any league at any time.

16 - 1939 Yankees. Went 106-45-1. Astounding run differential of +411. Won pennant by 17 games. Then swept the Reds in World Series. DiMaggio hit .381, which led MLB. Yanks won four straight WS from ‘36-‘39, and the '39 team is generally thought to be the best. Lou Gehrig played only eight games prior to his diagnosis of ALS. Earlier in that run of titles, he and DiMaggio were a powerful post-Ruth 1-2 punch.

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17 - 1943 Homestead Grays. Negro League stats are incomplete. But this team had Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard and Cool Papa Bell. Had to be pretty damn good. And pretty damn entertaining as well. As would any of the teams Satchel Paige pitched for.

18 - 1934 Cardinals. Gas House Gang. Pepper Martin. Frankie Frisch. Rip Collins. Joe Medwick. Dizzy Dean won 30 and brother Paul chipped  in with 19. Won a wild World Series against an excellent Tigers team in seven games.

19 -1905 Giants. Hey, it was the Dead Ball Era. For all I know, they were using a rock wrapped in a sock. But Christy Mathewson went 31-9 with an ERA of 1.28. Then threw 3 complete game shutouts in Games 1, 3, and 5 of the WS vs the A’s. Good enough for me.

20 - Any of the A’s of 1910, 11, or 13. Connie Mack’s squads with Hall of Famers Eddie Collins, Home Run Baker, and a pitching staff led by Jack Coombs, Eddie Plank, and Chief Bender. Or, any of the Red Sox World Series winners of 1912, 15, and 16. Tris Speaker, Smoky Joe Wood, eventually Babe Ruth..

Last note: Ty Cobb’s Tigers won three pennants in a row from 1907-09. But lost all 3 World Series. The last to the Pirates with Cobb’s counterpart as the National League’s greatest player, Honus Wagner.

There you have it. All subject to debate. Which is the point of all this, right?

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