Rank 'Em: Franchise (BLB History)

[Clay]

So... the Shavermetrics and other talk of rankings got me thinking about some potential long form discussion threads. Figure these could be thrown up from time to time for people to mess with, discuss, etc...

My submission.... RANK 'EM.... Rank the BLB Franchises in order from 1 to 24 based on the entire life of the BLB (78-Present).

While #1 is likely going to be Maine on anyone and everyone's list.... and Morgantown may be a popular #24.... I'd like to see how everyone else sees the pack.

Does Carolina's 1 Championship in 2 playoff appearances out rate Philly's 6 playoffs with a ring?

Does the recent success for teams like Virginia, Cali and Pawtucket bump them up the list at all?

Anyway... just something I thought to throw out there.

[liquidcrash]

1. Maine
2. Washington
3. Windy City
4. Wilmington
5. Los Lunas
6. Carolina
7. Denver
8. Philadelphia
9. Davenport
10. Virginia
11. Baltimore
12. Sin City
13. Hyundai
14. California
15. Mississippi
16. Syracuse
17. Indianapolis
18. Hartford
19. Pittsburgh
20. Dallas
21. Pawtucket
22. Los Alamos
23. Batavia
24. Morgantown

[Matt]

We'd be close to the bottom. Since we arrived in '84 though we do have more wins than Pawtucket, LA, Sin City, Morgantown, and Hyundai. We're also 15 wins from passing Carolina, Davenport, Pittsburgh, and Hartford...and we should pass a few of those this year. That should count for something in our limited and handicapped expansion market.

[Carlos]

Whoa, Clay with another ingenious way to get the boards bumping. Can't wait to see the friends and enemies that develop from this one. ;)

I'm interested in setting up a list as well. But, now you have me wanting to develop a more scientific way to go about it than personal opinion (I'm gonna give one of those too).

[Clay]

I would like to hear about people's logic when they post 'em.

[funclown]

I would like to hear about people's logic when they post 'em.

Just doing top #5, bottom #5. The middle if just to open for debate.

TOP 5

1) Maine- 13 playoff/ 6 champ. Wow! Make it more impressive this wasnt a high payroll team! Well done.

2) Windy City- 8 playoff/ 1 champ. Might of been n#1 with a larger market and a few more championships.

3) Washington- 8 playoff/ 2 champ. A nice market to work with, but unlike Pawtucket used the money wisely.

4) Wilmington- 6 playoff/ 1 champ. Midmarket team consistent competing thru the years.

5) Philly- 6 playoff. Big market team thats been above .500 since 1983. Bumped Los Lunas due to recent sucess.

Honorable mention: Virginia 1990- present. Could see the Brewmasters for the third straight year!!


Crap 5

24) Morgantown - 0 playoff/ 4 straight 100 loss seasons. Broke the 100 loss trend last year, but has to be hard on the fans.

23) Los Alamos- 1 playoff, but only 3 +.500 seasons for a original franchise. Not much direction at the moment.

22) Batavia- 0 playoff and ZERO +.500 seasons. Stays competitive, but that can only get you by for so long.

21) Pawtucket- 1 playoff, also 4 seasons in the 100 loss column. Did I mention this is a large market team!!! Could of easily been my vote for worst franchise until last season.

20) Pittburgh- Toss up between Dallas. Yes a great 3 year run sandwiched between some real shity years.

Honorable shitty Mention : California from 1979-1983!! Lol, wow. Talk about a drunk captain at the helm.

[Clay]

Nice breakdown. Well done.

[Pat]

1 - Maine

2 - D.C.

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Everyone else.









As for a Top 10:

1 - Maine
2 - DC
3 - WC
4 - Wilmington
5 - Los Lunas
6 - Philly
7 - Denver
8 - Carolina
9 - Virginia
10 - Davenport

[Lintyfresh85]

1. Maine
2. Washington
3. Windy City
4. Wilmington
5. Denver
6. Carolina
7. Baltimore
8. Los Lunas
9. Philadelphia
10. Davenport
11. Hyundai
12. Syracuse
13. Hartford
14. Virginia
15. Pittsburgh
16. Indianapolis
17. Mississippi
18. Sin City
19. Los Alamos
20. Dallas
21. Pawtucket
22. Batavia
23. Morgantown
24. California

[Z]

Despite posting a .521 winning percentage, Carolina's only been to the playoffs twice. Compare that to, say, Davenport, who has a .512 winning percentage, but five playoff appearances.

And it's not as if Davenport had a string of awful seasons tarnishing an otherwise strong legacy, or a bunch of really strong seasons either. Hell, they set a franchise record with 100 wins in 1979, and missed out on the playoffs by three games.

[Matt]

If all these lists are is win total +/- a whimsical change we should have just posted this.

Cumulative Team Wins <table class="sortable" width="935px" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"><thead><tr class="headline"><td class="hsc2">Rank</td><td class="hsc2_l">Team</td><td class="hsc2">Years</td><td class="hsc2 sorttable_sorted">W ▾</td></tr></thead> <tbody> <tr class="s1"><td>1</td><td class="s1_l">Maine Guides</td><td>1978-1991</td><td>1417</td></tr><tr class="s2"><td>2</td><td class="s2_l">Washington Bats</td><td>1978-1991</td><td>1305</td></tr><tr class="s1"><td>3</td><td class="s1_l">Windy City Playboys</td><td>1978-1991</td><td>1231</td></tr><tr class="s2"><td>4</td><td class="s2_l">Wilmington Wildcats</td><td>1978-1991</td><td>1199</td></tr><tr class="s1"><td>5</td><td class="s1_l">Denver Bulls</td><td>1978-1991</td><td>1193</td></tr><tr class="s2"><td>6</td><td class="s2_l">Carolina Tobs</td><td>1978-1991</td><td>1183</td></tr><tr class="s1"><td>7</td><td class="s1_l">Baltimore Bulldogs</td><td>1978-1991</td><td>1179</td></tr><tr class="s2"><td>8</td><td class="s2_l">Los Lunas Javelinas</td><td>1978-1991</td><td>1176</td></tr><tr class="s1"><td>9</td><td class="s1_l">Davenport Brawlers</td><td>1978-1991</td><td>1161</td></tr><tr class="s2"><td>10</td><td class="s2_l">Philadelphia Freedom</td><td>1978-1991</td><td>1156</td></tr><tr class="s1"><td>11</td><td class="s1_l">Hyundai Dinos</td><td>1978-1991</td><td>1128</td></tr><tr class="s2"><td>12</td><td class="s2_l">Syracuse Slammers</td><td>1978-1991</td><td>1115</td></tr><tr class="s1"><td>13</td><td class="s1_l">Hartford Whalers</td><td>1978-1991</td><td>1109</td></tr><tr class="s2"><td>14</td><td class="s2_l">Virginia Colonials</td><td>1978-1991</td><td>1093</td></tr><tr class="s1"><td>15</td><td class="s1_l">Pittsburgh Millers</td><td>1978-1991</td><td>1083</td></tr><tr class="s2"><td>16</td><td class="s2_l">Sin City Gamblers</td><td>1978-1991</td><td>1080</td></tr><tr class="s1"><td>17</td><td class="s1_l">Dallas Snappers</td><td>1978-1991</td><td>1076</td></tr><tr class="s2"><td>18</td><td class="s2_l">Los Alamos Mayhem</td><td>1978-1991</td><td>1057</td></tr><tr class="s1"><td>19</td><td class="s1_l">Pawtucket Patriots</td><td>1978-1991</td><td>1013</td></tr><tr class="s2"><td>20</td><td class="s2_l">California Kodiacs</td><td>1978-1991</td><td>987</td></tr><tr class="s1"><td>21</td><td class="s1_l">Indianapolis Clowns</td><td>1982-1991</td><td>781</td></tr><tr class="s2"><td>22</td><td class="s2_l">Mississippi Storm</td><td>1982-1991</td><td>774</td></tr><tr class="s1"><td>23</td><td class="s1_l">Batavia Muckdogs</td><td>1984-1991</td><td>597</td></tr><tr class="s2"><td>24</td><td class="s2_l">Morgantown Mohawks</td><td>1984-1991</td><td>510</td></tr></tbody></table>

[Jake]

Denver in the top 5? My math must be wrong. How many points are you guys taking off for Pedro Zamarida?

[liquidcrash]

Despite posting a .521 winning percentage, Carolina's only been to the playoffs twice. Compare that to, say, Davenport, who has a .512 winning percentage, but five playoff appearances.

And it's not as if Davenport had a string of awful seasons tarnishing an otherwise strong legacy, or a bunch of really strong seasons either. Hell, they set a franchise record with 100 wins in 1979, and missed out on the playoffs by three games.

Yet Davenport hasn't won the IL, Carolina has 2 IL Championships and a Brewmaster's title. I've also had more seasons above .500 than Davenport. Can't say I feel bad about them winning 100 and missing out in 1979 when my team won 103 in 1980 and suffered the same fate.

[Z]

Yet Davenport hasn't won the IL, Carolina has 2 IL Championships and a Brewmaster's title. I've also had more seasons above .500 than Davenport. Can't say I feel bad about them winning 100 and missing out in 1979 when my team won 103 in 1980 and suffered the same fate.

Oh, I'd rank Carolina higher on my list.

I just find it interesting that Davenport's won quite a few more games without having nearly as many trips to the postseason.

[Carlos]

Denver in the top 5? My math must be wrong. How many points are you guys taking off for Pedro Zamarida?

I'm just as confused as you.

I know there is some real good recent success. Some good early success. All of that sandwiched around three bad seasons of rebuilding. But, Denver's never won a DL Championship.

Maybe I'm being too hard on my team since there aren't many with DL Championships thanks to Maine, but I have a hard time seeing the Denver franchise as 5th all-time.

That being said, we should jump to 4th in All-Time Wins this season.

edit: I am, however, noticing that since I took over this franchise (1982), we are fourth all-time in wins behind the obvious Maine, Washington and Philadelphia. But Clay is sneaking up behind.

edit2: I'm wrong. I ran the settings for AFTER 1982. So I reset to AFTER 1981 to see the years from 1982-1991 and Syracuse is fifth. Virginia is still a bit away.