Red Sox now 15-2: How other MLB teams fared after historic starts
What to make of the Red Sox' best start in team history
The Red Sox continued the team’s best start in history on Wednesday with a 9-0 dismantling of the Angels. At 15-2, it’s a remarkable achievement for rookie manager Alex Cora.
Yet the defining attribute of baseball’s season is its length. Success in April is a long way from October. Still, the Red Sox are in rarified historical air. As ESPN noted, Boston’s 15-2 start has been matched by only six other teams since the beginning of the live-ball era in 1920.
For context, here’s a look at those other teams and how each fared over the course of the season.
1955 Brooklyn Dodgers: Already perched at 15-2 on May 1, the Dodgers won seven straight games (taking the team’s win streak to 11). The 22-2 start catapulted Brooklyn to a 9.5 game lead in the National League.
Despite falling back to earth with a 13-14 record in August, the Dodgers still won the pennant with a 98-55 record. Having lost five World Series against the Yankees since 1941, Brooklyn finally broke through in 1955. Behind Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, and Series MVP Johnny Podres, the Dodgers fast start culminated in a memorable championship.
1966 Cleveland Indians: Cleveland finished April with a 10-1 record, and was 15-2 by May 7. In a precursor of things to come, the Indians immediately lost three in a row.
Then, after topping the standings for much of the opening two months of the season, things got progressively worse. April and May were the only two months in which Cleveland posted a winning record, including an 11-19 mark in July. By season’s end, the team was in the middle of the pack with an 81-81 record.
1981 Oakland Athletics: Before the season paused for a labor stoppage, Oakland experienced a tale of two months. In April, the Athletics surged to an 18-3 record (including a 17-1 start). Things changed in a 13-17 May that included an eight game losing streak.
Following the two month strike, Oakland resumed its drive for a playoff spot, and had a 64-45 record. After sweeping the Royals 3-0 in the Division Series, Billy Martin’s team was swept in the ALCS by his old team, the Yankees.
1984 Detroit Tigers: Another team to start slightly better than Boston in 2018, the 1984 Tigers began 16-1. Sparky Anderson’s team kept its foot on the gas through 40 games, going 35-5.
A 16-15 August record proved the team’s most difficult stretch in a 104-win season. An ALCS sweep of the Royals was followed by a decisive 4-1 World Series win over the Padres.
1987 Milwaukee Brewers: Like the ’81 Athletics, the 1987 Brewers ran hot-cold in April and May. A 16-1 start (and an 18-3 record in April) was followed by a disastrous 6-18 May. The reversal of fortune included a 12-game losing streak that nearly cancelled out a season-opening 13-game winning streak.
Milwaukee posted a 20-9 September record, but it wasn’t enough to recover the ground lost in May and June. Finishing 91-71, the Brewers – despite winning six more games than the eventual World Series champion Twins – ended the season seven games adrift of the first place Tigers.
2003 San Francisco Giants: Like the 2018 Red Sox, the 2003 Giants also had a first year manager. The difference was that Felipe Alou, a decade-long veteran of managing in Montreal, was far from a rookie like Alex Cora. Starting 15-2, the Giants finished the first month with an NL-best 19-7 record.
San Francisco had other impressive months, going 19-8 in July and 18-8 in September to finish with 100 regular season wins. Yet in the NLDS, the Giants ran into a talented Florida Marlins team. Scoring a 3-1 series upset, the Marlins went on to win the pennant and defeat the Yankees in the World Series.
