ANGELS: .549 Winning % for 6 Straight Years

OK, so, the other day I pointed out that the Angels, with their 89th win this year, became 1 of only 8 franchises in ML history to chalk up 89 wins in 6 consecutive seasons. As commenters rightly pointed out, this wasn't exactly a fair fight for those quality teams who played less than 162 games in a season (everyone before '61, and then also '72, '81, '94, and '95). So, I decided to take our baseline winning percentage, and see how many teams since 1901 have, like the Angels, strung together at least 6 consecutive seasons with a .549 or higher record.

Here are the results of that search, in order of length of streak. For flavor, I put in parenthesis the names of everyone who played for that franchise throughout the duration of the streak. And, on the occasions that the same manager was at the helm all the way through, I indicated that after a colon. Here goes:

Yankees 1926-1943

Yankees 1946-1958 (Yogi Berra)

Pirates 1901-1912 (Honus Wagner, Tommy Leach: Fred Clarke)

Cardinals 1939-1949 (Enos Slaughter, Max Lanier)
Cubs 1903-1913 (Johnny Evers)

Braves 1991-2000 (Tom Glavine, John Smoltz: Bobby Cox)
Giants 1916-1925 (George Kelly: John McGraw)

Yankees 2001-2009 (Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada)
Indians 1948-1956 (Bob Lemon, Bob Feller, Al Rosen, Dale Mitchell, Jim Hegan)
Pirates 1921-1929 (Pie Traynor)

Braves 1953-1960 (Eddie Mathews, Warren Spahn, Joe Adcock, Lew Burdette, Del Crandall, Johnny Logan, Bill Bruton, Bob Buhl, Joey Jay, Mel Roach) 
Dodgers 1949-1956 (Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese, Gil Hodges, Carl Furillo, Don Newcombe, Carl Erskine, Ralph Branca)
A's 1925-1932 (Lefty Grove, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, Mickey Cochrane, Max Bishop, Jimmie Dykes, Eddie Rommel, Rube Walberg: Connie Mack)

Orioles 1977-1983 (Eddie Murray, Jim Palmer, Ken Singleton, Mike Flanagan, Dennis Martinez, Scott McGregor, Al Bumbry, Rich Dauer, Tippy Martinez, Rick Dempsey)
Cubs 1932-1938 (Gabby Hartnett, Billy Herman, Stan Hack, Frank Demaree, Billy Jurges, Charley Root)

Angels 2004-2009 (Guerrero, Lackey, Figgins, Shields, Quinlan: Mike Scioscia)
Yankees 1994-1999 (Bernie Williams, Paul O'Neill)
Yankees 1976-1981 (Willie Randolph, Graig Nettles, Ron Guidry, Lou Piniella)
A's 1970-1975 (Reggie Jackson, Rollie Fingers, Sal Bando, Vida Blue, Bert Campaneris, Joe Rudi, Gene Tenace, Blue Moon Odom) 
Giants 1933-1938 (Mel Ott, Carl Hubbell, Hal Schumacher, Jo-Jo Moore, Gus Mancuso, Harry Danning, Blondy Ryan, Sam Leslie: Bill Terry)
Yankees 1919-1924 (Wally Pipp, Bob Shawkey, Fred Hofmann: Miller Huggins)
A's 1909-1914 (Eddie Collins, Frank Baker, Eddie Plank, Chief Bender, Harry Davis, Jack Barry, Stuffy McInnis, Jack Coombs, Amos Strunk, Rube Oldring, Ira Thomas, Jack Lapp: Connie Mack)
Giants 1908-1913 (Christy Mathewson, Larry Doyle, Rube Marquard, Buck Herzog, Fred Merkle, Hooks Wiltse, Doc Crandall, Red Ames, Josh Devore, Art Wilson: John McGraw)

OK, so now we're 1 of 22, not 1 of 8.

Still, note who remains not on this list...

• The Big Red Machine
• Ty Cobb's Tigers
• George Brett's Royals
• Mike Schmidt's Phillies
• anybody's goddamned Red Sox
• Billy Beane
• Tommy Lasorda
• Tony LaRussa
• the repeat-champ Blue Jays
• the coke-whore Mets
• Killebrew's and Puckett's Twins
• the Clemente/Stargell Pirates
• the Mays/Marichal/McCovey/Cepeda Giants

...and on and on. We are in phenomenal company, ladies and gents, even if we're at the very bottom of this particular barrel (at least until next year).

Note, too, that each and every one of these dynasties featured a Hall of Fame player who lasted the entire run, with the exception of the 1919-24 Yankees, the 1976-81 Yankees (so far, anyway), and the 1994-99 Yankees (ditto). Remember that next time someone tries to tell you the HoF has a pro-Yankee bias. Our HoFer, obviously, will be Vlad.

Finally, every one of those teams won at least 1 World Series, with the exception of the 1932-38 Cubs (who lost 3), the 1908-13 Giants (ibid), the modern day Yankees...and our Angels. The law of averages is on our side, or something!

And just to twist the knife into less-lucky fans, here are the last seasons in which various franchises have even made it to .549:

2008: Cubs, Mets, Rays, Brewers
2007: Indians, D-Backs
2006: White Sox, Tigers, Twins, A's
2005: Braves, Astros
2004: Rangers, Giants
2003: Mariners, Marlins
1999: Reds
1998: Padres
1997: Orioles
1994: Royals, Nats/Expos
1993: Blue Jays
1992: Pirates

Good times, etc.