Mordecai Brown by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview
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Mordecai Brown
Page 118
The league was extremely top heavy. The top three franchises won 200 more games than the bottom three.
National League Run Differential, 1901–1910
Runs Scored – Runs Allowed, decade totals
Rank Franchise R S R A R Diff
1 Chicago Orphans/Cubs 6,747 4,704 +2,043 2 Pittsburgh Pirates 6,829 5,146 +1,683 3 New York Giants 6,624 5,423 +1,201 4 Philadelphia Phillies 6,097 6,143 −46 5 Cincinnati Reds 5,830 6,300 −470 6 Brooklyn Superbas/Dodgers 5,657 6,350 −693 7 St. Louis Cardinals 5,350 6,987 −1,637 8 Boston Beaneaters/Doves 5,251 7,207 −1,956
What does the run differential ranking show? That Chicago's dominance was overwhelming. A +2,043 differential over ten seasons with the fewest runs allowed is staggering. The Cubs' 1906-1910 run is one of the greatest sustained peaks in baseball history.
Pittsburgh was elite but not quite Chicago. The Pirates' +1,683 is enormous, but Chicago's pitching/defense gap was even larger.
New York was strong but streaky. McGraw's Giants had explosive offenses but more variance year to year.