The AL West is on the verge of making a kind of history that no full-season division champion has ever achieved. After Tuesday night’s games, both the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros found themselves tied for first place in the division with identical 78-79 records. Think about that: a division winner with a sub-.500 record. It’s truly wild.
This Is How You Back Into October
Historically, a losing record has been a no-go for the postseason, with just a few exceptions from temporarily expanded playoff formats. We saw it in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, where both Milwaukee and Houston got in at 29-31. Then way back in 1981, the Kansas City Royals went 50-53 overall, but they snagged the AL West’s second-half title after the strike, so they were in. And who could forget 1994? The Rangers led a dreadful AL West at 52-62 when the season ended prematurely due to a players’ strike, but no postseason was played that year. MLB expanding the postseason to 12 teams in 2022 definitely raised the chances of a sub-.500 club sneaking in, and here we are. It seemed like the American League could have multiple losing teams in this year’s playoffs just weeks ago, but the AL Central’s Cleveland Guardians and Chicago White Sox both hit 81 wins, so that’s not happening there. Still, the AL West could absolutely crown a division champ with a losing record.
Proof That Records Aren’t Everything
Even if the AL West *does* produce a sub-.500 champ, history shows us that sometimes these “weak” teams can surprise everyone. Take the 1973 New York Mets, for example. They finished 82-79 with a +20 run differential, first in the NL East. Their rallying cry was “Ya gotta believe!” Can you even imagine? They were in last place on August 30th, then went on a ridiculous 21-8 tear to win the division by 1 1/2 games. Tom Seaver, still at his peak with a 19-10 record, a 2.08 ERA, and 18 complete games, was just dominant. The Mets held the Cincinnati Reds to eight runs in five games in the NLCS, a series famously remembered for a brawl involving Bud Harrelson and Pete Rose. New York even led the World Series 3-2 with Seaver starting Game 6, but they just couldn’t close out the Athletics.
Then there are the 1984 Kansas City Royals, who barely limped into the postseason at 84-78 with a minus-13 run differential, first in the AL West. They were 11 games under .500 in mid-July! George Brett had his worst average in a 14-year span, hitting .284, and he was one of only two All-Stars. The other was closer Dan Quisenberry, who racked up 44 saves while throwing a whopping 129 1/3 innings and finished second in the Cy Young race. They lost to Detroit 3-0 in the ALCS. The Royals kind of won the division by default that year, but they went on to win 91 games and the World Series the very next year.
With just a few days left in the regular season, the Rangers and Astros are playing for more than just a division title; they’re playing to avoid an unwanted historical footnote. Even if one of them backs into the playoffs, those historical weak teams show us that sometimes, you just gotta believe.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Fox Sports.
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