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Milwaukee Brewers - Manny Piña
The Brewers’ recent success and the struggles of their closest rivals have left them in an unprecedented position in franchise history, and a relatively rare one in recent MLB history.
A loss to the Reds on the final day before the All Star break left the Brewers with a four game lead in the NL Central at the end of baseball’s unofficial halfway point, but they’re 38-19 since while the Reds have gone just 29-31 to back out of the NL Central race and nearly out of the postseason chase altogether. The red-hot Cardinals have won eight in a row to pass the Reds and now hold the NL’s last Wild Card but waited too long to get started if they were going to chase down the Brewers.
As such, the Brewers’ divisional lead has been as large as 14 games this month, the largest in baseball this season and easily the biggest in franchise history. They could clinch a division championship as soon as Tuesday night, leaving only the question of how large their final lead will be.
Over the last decade there have only been five seasons where one or more teams won a division by 14 games or more. Their postseason results are something of a mixed bag:
2019: Dodgers (21 games)
One of the best regular season teams in MLB history, the Dodgers dominated the NL West on their way to a 106-56 regular season record and clinched the division on Sept. 10 with 17 games left to play. They were nine games better than any other team in the National League, and on the final day of the regular season FanGraphs gave them a 39% chance to represent the league in the World Series.
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What followed was, at least on paper, one of the biggest upsets in modern postseason history. The Wild Card Nationals, who had eliminated the Brewers the previous week, fell behind 2-1 in the NLDS but won Games 4 and 5 to eliminate the NL’s best team. They went on to sweep the Cardinals in the NLCS and win the World Series.
2017: Astros (21 games), Nationals (20 games) and Cleveland (17 games)
2017 was a year of dominant regular season performances, with three teams winning their divisions by 17 games or more and also three teams (Cleveland and the Astros again, plus the Dodgers) winning 100 or more games. Two of the big division winners, however, struggled to carry their success over to the postseason: Cleveland and the Nationals were both eliminated in the Division Series round.
The Astros, however, continued their dominance with series wins over the Red Sox, Yankees and Dodgers to clinch a World Series championship that has been widely remembered for other reasons.
2016: Cubs (17.5 games)
The NL Central didn’t provide much of a challenge for a Cubs team that appeared to be on the brink of a dynasty: They clinched a division championship with a walkoff win over the Brewers on Sept. 16. Kris Bryant sat out that day, a rare break on his way to being the National League MVP in his first full season in the majors.
The Cubs won 103 games in the regular season and carried that momentum into the postseason, beating the Giants, Dodgers and Cleveland to win their first World Series in 108 years.
2014: Nationals (17 games)
The 2014 Nationals didn’t face much of a push from the other teams in the NL East, so their 96 wins gave them a big advantage over a field of teams that finished well below .500. Matt Williams won the Manager of the Year Award for his team’s performance, their second of four division championships in a span of six years.
Unfortunately, all four of those seasons ended the same way: With a loss in the NLDS. The Giants eliminated Washington that season with three wins in four games, each of them by exactly one run. One of those losses was a classic in postseason history, a 2-1, 18 inning game.
2011: Tigers (15 games)
Much like the 2014 Nationals, the 2011 Tigers were a very good team that ran away from a weak division. With all of their rivals below .500, their 95 wins were the third most in the American League but enough to easily coast to a postseason appearance.
Unlike the 2014 Nationals, however, the Tigers did make some noise in October: They unseated the Yankees, owner of the American League’s best record, in the ALDS before losing the ALCS to the Rangers.
