Hick Planet magazine
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an unperiodical:
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Sunday, 2023 Febuary 12th
issue 14

special edition

of championship runs, great championship runs, & championship dynasties

League Championships during a Streak as the Percentage of the Average Team’s

a cursory glance at streaks in North American big-league sports

As we look at championship runs, we note that in this cursory glance, we will only look at streaks in which a team won at least three league championships in a relatively brief period.

In determining what benchmark of consistency will be used to consider that a championship streak was or is being maintained, we next note that the default will be that there have been no more than three seasons in a row without the team winning the championship of their league during any such championship run.

We first take a look at two historically lengthy championship streaks.


Dodgers Roster (in part) during the 1947-1966 Streak A player is included who: both was the starting pitcher in at least 24 games per season for at least 1 season during this streak, and, in their career, had at least 70 decisions; or both pitched in at least 50 games per season for at least 4 seasons during this streak, and, in their career, both was the starting pitcher in fewer than 40 games, and pitched at least 1,000 innings; or played in at least 108 games per season for at least 1 season during this streak. 1947       : league champions;     Mgr: manager;     SP: starting pitcher;     RP: relief pitcher; 1957       : not league champions;     C,F: catcher, infielder, or outfielder; : All-star;     HoF: Hall of Fame member number of games managed or played in (also, for pitchers: number of games pitched in, when fewer than games played in) per season 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 Mgr Clyde Sukeforth 2 Mgr Burt Shotton 153 81 156 155 SP Ralph Branca 43 36 34 43 42 16 7 SP Joe Hatten 42 43 (42) 39 (37) 27 (23) 11 SP Vic Lombardi 36 (33) C,F Jackie Robinson HoF 151 147 156 144 153 149 136 124 105 117 C,F Dixie Walker 148 C,F Eddie Stanky 146 C,F Pee Wee Reese HoF 142 151 155 141 154 149 140 141 145 147 103 59 C,F Bruce Edwards 130 96 64 50 17 C,F Spider Jorgensen 129 31 53 2 C,F Carl Furillo 124 108 142 153 153 134 132 150 140 149 119 122 50 8 C,F Pete Reiser 110 64 C,F Gene Hermanski 79 133 87 94 31 C,F Duke Snider HoF 40 53 146 152 150 144 153 149 148 151 139 106 126 101 85 80 C,F Gil Hodges HoF 28 134 156 153 158 153 141 154 150 153 150 141 124 102 109 Mgr Leo Durocher HoF 73 Mgr Ray Blades 1 SP Preacher Roe 34 30 36 34 27 25 15 C,F Billy Cox 88 100 119 142 116 100 77 C,F Roy Campanella HoF 83 130 126 143 128 144 111 123 124 103 SP Carl Erskine 17 22 22 46 34 (33) 43 (39) 39 (38) 42 (31) 32 (31) 21 32 10 SP Don Newcombe 39 (38) 40 40 31 (29) 57 (34) 52 (38) 34 (28) 11 SP Billy Loes 10 40 (39) 32 28 22 1 RP Clem Labine 1 14 26 (25) 37 47 60 62 58 52 56 13 Mgr Chuck Dressen 158 155 155 SP Russ Meyer 34 36 18 SP Johnny Podres 34 (33) 38 (29) 32 (27) 35 (31) 42 (39) 34 34 32 40 37 2 27 1 C,F Jim Gilliam 151 146 147 153 149 147 145 152 144 160 148 116 111 88 Mgr Walter Alston HoF 154 154 154 154 154 156 154 154 165 163 164 162 162 C,F Don Zimmer 24 88 17 84 127 97 22 SP Roger Craig 21 35 32 9 29 21 40 SP Sandy Koufax HoF 12 16 34 40 35 37 42 28 40 29 43 41 SP Sal Maglie 28 19 SP Don Drysdale HoF 26 (25) 37 (34) 47 (44) 46 (44) 41 40 43 42 40 58 (44) 46 (40) C,F Gino Cimoli 73 142 109 C,F Charlie Neal 62 128 140 151 139 108 C,F Don Demeter 3 43 139 64 15 C,F John Roseboro 35 114 118 103 128 128 135 134 136 142 SP Stan Williams 27 35 38 41 40 C,F Norm Larker 99 108 133 97 C,F Ron Fairly 15 118 14 111 147 152 150 158 117 C,F Frank Howard 8 9 117 92 141 123 134 C,F Wally Moon 145 138 134 95 122 68 54 C,F Maury Wills 83 148 148 165 134 158 158 143 C,F Tommy Davis 1 110 132 163 146 152 17 100 C,F Willie Davis 22 128 157 156 157 142 153 SP Phil Ortega 3 4 24 1 35 (34) RP Ron Perranoski 53 70 69 72 59 55 C,F Larry Burright 115 C,F Wes Parker 124 154 156 SP Claude Osteen 42 (40) 39 C,F Jim Lefebvre 157 152 C,F Lou Johnson 131 153 C,F John Kennedy 104 125 SP Don Sutton HoF 38 (37)

Here we see that, over a 20-year stretch that ended in 1966, the Dodgers won half of all the championships of their league (10 out of 20).

And ending just a couple of years earlier, another team had a streak that lasted more than twice as long.   For a period of more than four decades, the Yankees won essentially two thirds of the league’s championships (29 out of 44).


Yankees Roster (in part) during the 1921-1964 Streak A player is included who: both was the starting pitcher in at least 24 games per season for at least 1 season during this streak, and, in their career, had at least 70 decisions; or both pitched in at least 50 games per season for at least 4 seasons during this streak, and, in their career, both was the starting pitcher in fewer than 40 games, and pitched at least 1,000 innings; or played in at least 108 games per season for at least 1 season during this streak. 1923       : league champions;     Mgr: manager;     SP: starting pitcher;     RP: relief pitcher; 1933       : not league champions;     C,F: catcher, infielder, or outfielder; : All-star;     HoF: Hall of Fame member number of games managed or played in (also, for pitchers: number of games pitched in, when fewer than games played in) per season 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 Mgr Miller Huggins HoF 153 154 152 153 156 155 155 154 143 SP Carl Mays 51 (49) 35 (34) 23 SP Waite Hoyt HoF 43 37 37 46 46 40 36 42 30 8 SP Bob Shawkey 38 39 36 38 33 29 19 C,F Wally Pipp 153 152 144 153 62 C,F Aaron Ward 153 154 152 120 125 22 C,F Babe Ruth HoF 152 110 152 153 98 152 151 154 135 145 145 133 137 125 C,F Bob Meusel 149 121 132 143 156 108 135 131 100 C,F Roger Peckinpaugh 149 C,F Wally Schang 134 124 84 113 73 SP Sad Sam Jones 45 39 36 46 (43) 44 (39) SP Bullet Joe Bush 39 38 (37) 61 (39) C,F Everett Scott 154 152 153 22 C,F Whitey Witt 140 146 147 31 C,F Joe Dugan 60 146 148 102 123 112 94 SP Herb Pennock HoF 35 40 47 40 34 28 27 25 25 22 23 SP George Pipgras 8 9 29 46 39 44 36 32 4 C,F Lou Gehrig HoF 13 10 126 155 155 154 154 154 155 156 152 154 149 155 157 157 8 C,F Earle Combs HoF 24 150 145 152 149 142 137 138 144 123 63 89 SP Urban Shocker 41 41 31 1 C,F Paul Wanninger 117 SP Dutch Ruether 13 (5) 35 (27) C,F Tony Lazzeri HoF 155 153 116 147 143 135 142 139 123 130 150 126 C,F Mark Koenig 147 123 132 116 21 C,F Bill Dickey HoF 10 130 109 130 108 130 104 120 112 140 132 128 106 109 82 85 54 Mgr Art Fletcher 11 C,F Lyn Lary 80 117 155 92 52 2 C,F Samuel Byrd 62 92 115 105 86 106 Mgr Bob Shawkey 154 SP Lefty Gomez HoF 15 40 37 35 38 34 31 34 32 26 9 23 13 SP Red Ruffing HoF 52 (34) 48 (37) 55 (35) 55 (35) 45 (36) 50 (30) 53 (33) 54 (31) 45 (31) 44 (28) 33 (30) 38 (23) 30 (24) 21 (11) 8 C,F Ben Chapman 138 149 151 147 149 140 36 Mgr Joe McCarthy HoF 155 156 152 154 149 155 157 157 152 155 156 154 155 154 152 35 C,F Joe Sewell HoF 130 125 135 SP Johnny Allen 33 25 13 23 C,F Frankie Crosetti 116 136 138 87 151 149 157 152 145 50 74 95 55 130 28 3 17 SP Johnny Broaca 26 29 37 7 C,F Red Rolfe 89 149 135 154 151 152 139 136 69 C,F George Selkirk 46 128 137 78 99 128 118 70 42 SP Monte Pearson 33 22 28 22 16 SP Bump Hadley 31 29 29 26 25 C,F Joe DiMaggio HoF 138 151 145 120 132 139 154 132 141 153 76 139 116 SP Spud Chandler 12 23 11 27 28 24 30 1 4 34 17 C,F Tommy Henrich 67 131 99 90 144 127 150 142 146 115 73 C,F Babe Dahlgren 1 27 144 155 C,F Joe Gordon HoF 127 151 155 156 147 152 112 SP Marius Russo 21 30 28 9 24 10 (8) C,F Charlie Keller 111 138 140 152 141 44 150 45 83 60 2 SP Tiny Bonham 12 23 28 28 26 23 18 C,F Phil Rizzuto HoF 133 144 126 153 128 153 155 144 152 134 127 81 31 C,F Johnny Sturm 124 SP Hank Borowy 25 29 35 18 C,F Buddy Hassett 132 C,F Johnny Lindell 27 122 149 41 102 127 88 78 7 SP Charles Wensloff 29 SP Tommy Byrne 13 (11) 14 (4) 4 31 35 (32) 34 (31) 9 7 (5) 45 (27) 44 (37) 35 (30) C,F Billy Johnson 155 85 132 127 113 108 15 C,F Nick Etten 154 154 152 108 C,F Bud Metheny 103 137 133 3 C,F Snuffy Stirnweiss 83 154 152 129 148 141 70 7 C,F Oscar Grimes 9 116 142 14 SP Monk Dubiel 31 (30) 26 SP Bill Bevens 8 29 31 28 C,F Hersh Martin 85 117 Mgr Bill Dickey HoF 105 Mgr Johnny Neun 14 SP Vic Raschi 2 15 36 38 33 35 31 28 C,F Yogi Berra HoF 7 83 125 116 151 141 142 137 151 147 140 134 122 131 120 119 86 64 C,F Bobby Brown 7 69 113 104 95 103 29 28 Mgr Bucky Harris HoF 155 154 SP Allie Reynolds 38 41 (39) 37 (35) 36 (35) 43 (40) 41 42 (41) 36 C,F George McQuinn 144 94 SP Eddie Lopat 34 (33) 31 36 (35) 31 20 26 (25) 26 16 C,F Cliff Mapes 53 111 108 45 C,F Hank Bauer 19 103 113 118 141 133 114 139 147 137 128 114 C,F Joe Collins 5 7 108 125 122 127 130 105 100 79 Mgr Casey Stengel HoF 155 155 154 154 151 155 154 154 154 155 155 155 C,F Jerry Coleman 128 153 121 11 8 107 43 80 72 C,F Gene Woodling 112 122 120 123 125 97 C,F Johnny Mize HoF 13 90 113 78 81 SP Whitey Ford HoF 20 33 (32) 34 39 31 24 30 35 33 39 38 38 39 C,F Billy Martin 34 52 109 149 20 121 43 C,F Gil McDougald 131 152 141 126 141 120 141 138 127 119 C,F Mickey Mantle HoF 96 142 127 146 147 150 144 150 144 153 153 123 65 143 C,F Irv Noren 93 109 125 132 29 C,F Andy Carey 16 51 122 135 132 85 102 41 4 C,F Bill Skowron 87 108 134 122 126 74 146 150 140 SP Bob Turley 36 27 32 33 33 34 15 24 SP Tom Sturdivant 33 32 28 15 7 SP Johnny Kucks 29 34 37 34 9 C,F Elston Howard 97 98 110 103 125 107 129 136 135 150 C,F Bobby Richardson 11 5 97 73 134 150 162 161 151 159 SP Ralph Terry 3 7 24 35 31 43 40 27 C,F Norm Siebern 54 134 120 SP Art Ditmar 46 38 38 36 12 C,F Tony Kubek 127 138 132 147 153 45 135 106 C,F Hector Lopez 112 131 93 106 130 127 C,F Clete Boyer 47 124 148 158 152 147 SP Bill Stafford 12 (11) 36 35 28 31 C,F Roger Maris 136 161 157 90 141 Mgr Ralph Houk 163 162 161 SP Al Downing 5 1 24 40 (37) C,F Tom Tresh 9 157 145 153 SP Jim Bouton 38 (36) 40 38 C,F Phil Linz 71 72 112 C,F Joe Pepitone 63 157 160 Mgr Yogi Berra HoF 164

Next we look at a couple of one team’s championship runs, one following shortly after the other.


Canadiens Roster (in part) during the 1953-1960 and 1965-1979 Streaks A player is included who: was the goalie in at least 50 games per season for at least 1 season during one of these streaks; or either played in at least 63 games per season for at least 1 season, which ended before 1975, during one of these streaks, or played in at least 72 games per season for at least 1 season, which ended after 1974, during one of these streaks. 1957       : league champions;     Cch: coach;     G: goalie; 1967       : not league champions;     D,F: defenseman or forward; : All-star;     HoF: Hall of Fame member number of games coached or played in per season 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 Cch Dick Irvin HoF 70 70 70 G Gerry McNeil 66 53 9 G Jacques Plante HoF 3 17 52 64 61 57 67 69 40 70 56 D,F Tom Johnson HoF 70 70 70 64 70 66 70 64 70 62 42 D,F Maurice Richard HoF 70 70 67 70 63 28 42 51 D,F Dick Gamble 69 32 12 D,F Doug Harvey HoF 69 68 70 62 70 68 61 66 58 D,F Paul Meger 69 44 13 D,F Bert Olmstead HoF 69 70 70 70 64 57 D,F Floyd Curry 68 70 68 70 70 42 D,F Bernie Geoffrion HoF 65 54 70 59 41 42 59 59 64 62 51 55 D,F Ken Mosdell 63 67 70 67 2 D,F Butch Bouchard HoF 58 70 70 36 D,F Dollard St. Laurent 54 53 58 46 64 64 D,F Dickie Moore HoF 18 13 67 70 70 70 70 62 57 57 67 D,F Jean Beliveau HoF 3 44 70 70 69 55 64 60 69 43 69 68 58 67 53 59 69 63 70 D,F Eddie Mazur 67 25 D,F Don Marshall 39 66 70 68 70 70 70 66 65 G Charlie Hodge 14 12 2 1 30 62 53 26 37 D,F Jean-Guy Talbot 3 66 69 55 69 69 70 70 70 66 67 59 68 Cch Toe Blake HoF 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 74 D,F Henri Richard HoF 64 63 67 63 70 70 53 67 66 53 62 65 54 64 62 75 78 71 75 16 D,F Claude Provost 60 67 70 69 70 49 70 67 68 70 70 64 73 73 65 D,F Bob Turner 33 58 66 68 54 60 D,F Andre Pronovost 64 66 70 69 D,F Phil Goyette 14 70 63 65 62 69 32 D,F Ralph Backstrom 3 2 64 64 69 66 70 70 70 67 69 70 72 72 16 D,F Marcel Bonin 66 57 59 65 33 D,F Albert Langlois 1 48 67 61 D,F Ab McDonald 69 68 D,F Bill Hicke 43 70 70 70 48 17 D,F J.C. Tremblay 11 30 70 69 70 68 60 60 73 75 58 76 76 D,F Gilles Tremblay 45 70 60 61 26 70 62 71 44 D,F Bobby Rousseau 15 70 62 70 66 70 68 74 76 72 D,F Jean Gauthier 4 12 65 1 2 2 4 D,F Lou Fontinato 54 63 D,F Red Berenson 4 37 69 3 23 D,F Terry Harper 14 70 62 69 56 57 21 75 78 52 D,F Jacques Laperriere HoF 6 65 67 57 61 72 69 73 49 73 58 42 D,F Claude Larose 4 21 69 64 69 42 64 77 73 39 8 G Gump Worsley HoF 8 19 51 18 40 30 6 D,F Dave Balon 70 63 45 48 D,F John Ferguson 59 69 65 67 61 71 48 60 D,F Jimmy Roberts 15 70 70 63 51 77 67 79 74 45 D,F Yvan Cournoyer HoF 5 55 65 69 64 76 72 65 73 67 67 76 71 60 68 15 D,F Ted Harris 4 68 53 65 67 76 74 D,F Dick Duff HoF 40 63 51 66 68 17 G Rogie Vachon HoF 19 39 36 64 47 1 D,F Serge Savard HoF 2 67 74 64 37 23 74 67 80 71 78 77 80 D,F Jacques Lemaire HoF 69 75 69 78 77 77 66 80 61 75 76 50 D,F Mickey Redmond 41 65 75 40 Cch Claude Ruel 76 76 23 D,F Guy Lapointe HoF 1 5 78 69 76 71 80 77 77 49 69 D,F Pete Mahovlich 35 78 75 61 78 80 80 76 17 D,F Marc Tardif 18 76 75 76 D,F Rejean Houle 8 66 77 72 65 76 66 Cch Al MacNeil 55 G Ken Dryden HoF 6 64 54 56 62 56 52 47 D,F Pierre Bouchard 51 60 41 60 79 66 73 59 D,F Frank Mahovlich HoF 38 76 78 71 D,F Chuck Lefley 1 16 65 74 18 D,F Bob Murdoch 1 11 69 Cch Scotty Bowman HoF 78 78 78 80 80 80 80 80 D,F Guy Lafleur HoF 73 69 73 70 80 80 78 80 D,F Murray Wilson 52 72 73 59 60 12 D,F Steve Shutt HoF 50 70 77 80 80 80 72 D,F Larry Robinson HoF 36 78 80 80 77 80 67 D,F Yvon Lambert 1 60 80 80 79 77 79 D,F Bob Gainey HoF 66 80 78 80 66 79 D,F Doug Risebrough 64 80 78 72 48 D,F Mario Tremblay 63 71 74 56 76 D,F Don Awrey 56 72 D,F Doug Jarvis 80 80 80 80 D,F Bill Nyrop 19 74 72 D,F Pierre Mondou 71 77 D,F Gilles Lupien 46 72

We see that, over an eight-year period ending in 1960, the Canadiens won three quarters of the championships (6 out of 8).   Then after four consecutive seasons without one, they won two thirds of the league championships over a decade-and-a-half stretch (10 out of 15).

And then we see a couple of streaks separated by a longer stretch.


Celtics Roster (in part) during the 1957-1969 and 1981-1986 Streaks A player is included who: played at least 2,000 minutes per season for at least 1 season, which ended before 1961, during one of these streaks, or played at least 2,250 minutes per season for at least 1 season, which ended after 1960, during one of these streaks. 1957       : league champions;     Cch: coach;     P: player;   1967       : not league champions; : All-star;     HoF: Hall of Fame member number of games coached or of minutes played per season 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 Cch Red Auerbach HoF 72 72 72 75 79 80 80 80 80 80 P Bill Sharman HoF 2,403 2,214 2,382 1,916 1,538 P Bob Cousy HoF 2,364 2,222 2,403 2,588 2,468 2,114 1,975 P Tom Heinsohn HoF 2,150 2,206 2,089 2,420 2,256 2,383 2,004 2,040 1,706 P Bill Russell HoF 1,695 2,640 2,979 3,146 3,458 3,433 3,500 3,482 3,466 3,386 3,297 2,953 3,291 P Frank Ramsey HoF 807 2,047 2,013 2,009 2,019 1,913 1,541 1,227 P Sam Jones HoF 594 1,466 1,512 2,028 2,388 2,323 2,381 2,885 2,155 2,325 2,408 1,820 P K.C. Jones HoF 609 1,274 1,605 2,054 1,945 2,424 2,434 2,710 2,446 P Tom Sanders HoF 1,084 2,325 2,148 2,370 2,459 1,896 1,926 1,981 2,184 1,616 121 1,631 423 P John Havlicek HoF 2,200 2,587 2,169 2,175 2,602 2,921 3,174 3,369 3,678 3,698 3,367 3,091 3,132 2,598 2,913 2,797 P Larry Siegfried 261 996 1,675 1,891 1,937 2,560 2,081 P Don Nelson HoF 1,765 1,202 1,498 1,773 2,224 2,254 2,086 1,425 1,748 2,052 943 Cch Bill Russell HoF 81 82 82 P Bailey Howell HoF 2,503 2,801 2,527 2,078 P Don Chaney 209 839 2,289 2,275 2,488 2,258 2,208 702 1,074 523 Cch Tom Heinsohn HoF 82 82 82 82 82 82 82 82 34 P Jo Jo White HoF 1,328 2,787 3,261 3,250 3,238 3,220 3,257 3,333 1,641 1,455 P Dave Cowens HoF 3,076 3,186 3,425 3,352 2,632 3,101 1,888 3,215 2,517 2,159 P Paul Silas 2,618 2,599 2,661 2,662 P Charlie Scott HoF 2,913 1,581 1,080 P Sidney Wicks HoF 2,642 2,413 Cch Tom Sanders 48 14 P Dave Bing 2,256 P Cedric Maxwell 1,213 2,969 2,744 2,730 2,590 2,252 2,502 1,495 Cch Dave Cowens HoF 68 P Chris Ford 2,629 2,115 2,723 1,591 P Tiny Archibald HoF 1,662 2,864 2,820 2,167 1,811 Cch Bill Fitch 82 82 82 82 P Larry Bird HoF 2,955 3,239 2,923 2,982 3,028 3,161 3,113 P Robert Parish HoF 2,298 2,534 2,459 2,867 2,850 2,567 P Kevin McHale HoF 1,645 2,332 2,345 2,577 2,653 2,397 P Danny Ainge 564 2,048 1,154 2,564 2,407 Cch K.C. Jones HoF 82 82 82 P Dennis Johnson HoF 2,665 2,976 2,732

Over more than a dozen-year stretch that ended in 1969, the Celtics won all but a couple of the championships (11 out of 13).   Then during the next eleven years, they twice went four seasons in a row without any, after which they garnered half of the championships in a half-dozen-year period (3 out of 6).

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Along with further observations on these that we have already seen, we’ll take a look at quite a few more championship-winning runs ( more to come on this ).

[ graphs by the editor ]

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