Though the National League has no DH (of course) and thus in principle I had more flexibility, I still decided to keep the teams to the DH era for consistency (with hobgoblins of little minds noted). I have no doubt that the Cubs, Pirates, and Cardinals, for instance, have better representatives from the pre-1972 time period, though I think the other teams here have a decent case to be made (in many cases because the teams themselves didn't exist pre-1972.
A case could be made to rearrange these teams (and the AL teams) into chronology-based divisions. But that's not what I did, at least not this time around...
NL East
1972 Pirates: As noted in another post, I pushed the allowable time range for this team, which had the best record of any Pirates team back to 1925 and the best Pythagorean record of any Pirates team going back to 1901. Since they only missed the cutoff by a year, that seemed fair enough. However, this team, though the reigning World Series winners, couldn't beat the Reds in the NLCS.
1976 Phillies: The start of a pretty successful run for Philadelphia, which eventually resulted in a World Series winner in 1980. This edition of the Phillies won 101 games, and had the best Pythagorean record in franchise history going back to 1883. The big stars were Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton, and Tug McGraw makes an appearance.
1986 Mets: I was a high-schooler when this team made its appearance, and growing up outside NYC (even as a Yankees fan) there was no getting away from them. The 1969 team may have more sentimental value, but this is clearly the best team in franchise history, led by Gooden, Strawberry, and Carter.
1994 Expos: One of the great what-if teams, they were on their way to cruising to a division title and possibly more when the strike hit and wiped out the rest of the season. They had two hall of famers, but the team was dismantled after the strike and the team moved within 10 years.
NL Central
1975 Reds: The Big Red Machine is generally considered one of the dominant dynasties in baseball history, and this was their best year. Their pitching staff wasn't famous, but their batters included Hall-of-Famers Bench, Morgan, and Perez, and some argue Pete Rose should also be in the Hall of Fame. I expect this team to do well.
2007 Rockies: This team had an absolutely bananas stretch run, winning 14 of their last 15 games to clinch a tie for the Wild Card, then went on a winning streak that took them to the World Series (where they got swept by the Red Sox). The Wild Card game was a legit classic, even if it ended on a dubious call. I honestly expect this team to do very poorly in this league, but it's just a gut feeling.
2013 Cardinals: The Cards have been in an extended period of success, with only a few years out of contention this century. The 2013 team has the best Pythagorean record by a little bit, and that's what I used to choose, but I could have gone with the 2004 or 1985 teams and not degraded team quality much if at all. The franchise seems to have a pattern of winning the World Series with mediocre teams (2006, 2011) and losing (usually to the Red Sox) when they have especially good teams (2013, 2004, 1985). Perhaps that's karma for 1946 and 1967. In any case, Pujols had moved on by this time, so it's a Beltran/Holliday team.
2016 Cubs: Not only was this team famous for breaking the long World Series drought for the Cubs (as maybe you'd heard), but they also are certainly the best Cubs team since the 1930s and possibly since the previous time they'd won the World Series. It seems silly to mention the main players since this was so recent, but for completeness the team was led by Bryant, Rizzo, and Lester.
A case could be made to rearrange these teams (and the AL teams) into chronology-based divisions. But that's not what I did, at least not this time around...
NL East
1972 Pirates: As noted in another post, I pushed the allowable time range for this team, which had the best record of any Pirates team back to 1925 and the best Pythagorean record of any Pirates team going back to 1901. Since they only missed the cutoff by a year, that seemed fair enough. However, this team, though the reigning World Series winners, couldn't beat the Reds in the NLCS.
1976 Phillies: The start of a pretty successful run for Philadelphia, which eventually resulted in a World Series winner in 1980. This edition of the Phillies won 101 games, and had the best Pythagorean record in franchise history going back to 1883. The big stars were Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton, and Tug McGraw makes an appearance.
1986 Mets: I was a high-schooler when this team made its appearance, and growing up outside NYC (even as a Yankees fan) there was no getting away from them. The 1969 team may have more sentimental value, but this is clearly the best team in franchise history, led by Gooden, Strawberry, and Carter.
1994 Expos: One of the great what-if teams, they were on their way to cruising to a division title and possibly more when the strike hit and wiped out the rest of the season. They had two hall of famers, but the team was dismantled after the strike and the team moved within 10 years.
NL Central
1975 Reds: The Big Red Machine is generally considered one of the dominant dynasties in baseball history, and this was their best year. Their pitching staff wasn't famous, but their batters included Hall-of-Famers Bench, Morgan, and Perez, and some argue Pete Rose should also be in the Hall of Fame. I expect this team to do well.
2007 Rockies: This team had an absolutely bananas stretch run, winning 14 of their last 15 games to clinch a tie for the Wild Card, then went on a winning streak that took them to the World Series (where they got swept by the Red Sox). The Wild Card game was a legit classic, even if it ended on a dubious call. I honestly expect this team to do very poorly in this league, but it's just a gut feeling.
2013 Cardinals: The Cards have been in an extended period of success, with only a few years out of contention this century. The 2013 team has the best Pythagorean record by a little bit, and that's what I used to choose, but I could have gone with the 2004 or 1985 teams and not degraded team quality much if at all. The franchise seems to have a pattern of winning the World Series with mediocre teams (2006, 2011) and losing (usually to the Red Sox) when they have especially good teams (2013, 2004, 1985). Perhaps that's karma for 1946 and 1967. In any case, Pujols had moved on by this time, so it's a Beltran/Holliday team.
2016 Cubs: Not only was this team famous for breaking the long World Series drought for the Cubs (as maybe you'd heard), but they also are certainly the best Cubs team since the 1930s and possibly since the previous time they'd won the World Series. It seems silly to mention the main players since this was so recent, but for completeness the team was led by Bryant, Rizzo, and Lester.
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