And We'll Never Be Orioles

It's baseball playoff time, so you know I'm going to drop statistical knowledge on you when I get the urge.  I got the urge last night.  When I woke up this morning, it was still there, burning deep inside me like a stubborn bout of chlamydia.  

Long Time Coming

As you may know, the Royals and the Orioles are playing in the ALCS, which I think is awesome because it's nice to see teams other than the Yankees, Red Sox, Rangers, and Tigers playing in the ALCS.  The last time the Royals played in the ALCS was 1985, when they won the World Series.  The last time the Orioles played in the ALCS was 1997, and their last World Series win came in 1983.

That means it has been 29 years since the Royals won a Worlds Series and 31 since the Orioles won.  Since the MLB began playing the League Championship Series in 1969, this is only the fourth time that two teams will be playing in the ALCS or NLCS where both teams have not won a World Series in at least 25 years.  Here is each time it has happened, with the number of years since the last World Series title in parentheses. (Note that for expansion teams, I calculated the year they entered the MLB as their first year of not winning a World Series, so, for instance, although the Mets had technically never won a title in their first NLCS appearance in 1969, they were only around for 7 years at that point, so they would not be included on the list):

2014 ALCS:  Royals (29), Orioles (31)

2011 ALCS:  Tigers (27), Rangers (50 (never))

1989 NLCS:  Giants (35), Cubs (81)

1986 ALCS:  Angels (25 (never)), Red Sox (68)

AL Central Dominance

With their sweep of the Angels, the Royals become the fifth AL Central team to make it to the ALCS since 2002, making the AL Central the only division in baseball in which all five teams have played in the LCS since 2000 while being a member of the division (the Astros made the NLCS as a member of the NL Central, but have not made the ALCS since moving to the AL West last year).  If the Nationals can pull off an improbable comeback and with the next three games against the Giants, then the NL East would join the same club. 

Here are the MLB divisions and each team's LCS appearances since 2000:

AL Central

Chicago White Sox:  2005

Cleveland Indians:  2007

Detroit Tigers:  2006, 2011-2013

Kansas City Royals:  2014

Minnesota Twins:  2002

AL East

Baltimore Orioles:  2014

Boston Red Sox:  2003-2004, 2007-2008, 2013

New York Yankees:  2000-2001, 2003-2004, 2009-2010, 2012

Tampa Bay Rays:  2008

Toronto Blue Jays:  none

AL West

Houston Astros:  none as member of AL West

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim:  2002, 2005, 2009

Oakland Athletics:  2006

Seattle Mariners:  2000-2001

Texas Rangers:  2010-2011

NL Central

Chicago Cubs:  2003

Cincinnati Reds:  none

Houston Astros:  2004-2005

Milwaukee Brewers:  2011

Pittsburgh Pirates:  none

St. Louis Cardinals:  2000, 2002, 2004-2006, 2011-2013

NL East

Atlanta Braves:  2001

Miami Marlins:  2003

New York Mets:  2000, 2006

Philadelphia Phillies:  2008, 2010

Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos:  none

NL West

Arizona Diamondbacks:  2001, 2007

Colorado Rockies:  2007

Los Angeles Dodgers:  2008-2009, 2013

San Diego Padres:  none

San Francisco Giants:  2002, 2010, 2012

MLB Parity

Amazingly, since the 2000 season, only 5 of the 30 MLB teams have not advanced to an LCS.  In that span (starting with the 1999-2000 season for the other sports), that is the lowest percentage of franchises in the four major sports leagues that has failed to make it to the conference championship game.  Here's how the four major sports leagues stack up in that respect (with the percentage of teams that haven't made a conference championship and the list of the teams for each league):

1.  MLB:  16.7%  (5 of 30 – Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Toronto, Washington)

2.  NHL:  20% (6 of 30 - Columbus, Florida, Nashville, New York Islanders, Washington, Winnipeg/Atlanta)

3.  NBA:  26.7% (8 of 30 - Atlanta, Charlotte, Golden State, Houston, Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans, Toronto, Washington)

4.  NFL:  28.1% (9 of 32 - Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Kansas City, Miami, Washington)