BwM's Dynasty Criteria 10/16/18

Hey baseball fans!

The Astros and Dodgers are both one step closer to making it back to the World Series for the second consecutive year! We could possibly see a dynasty forming with one or both of these teams, or will we? In this post, I will try to define what a dynasty is because let's be honest: it's one of the most overused vocabulary words when talking about sports. Here's what I believe it takes:

In Terms of Championships:
Obviously, winning the World Series is the most important part of being called an MLB dynasty, but how many championships does a team need?

• 3 championships in 3 years (1972-1974 Oakland A's)
• At least 3 championships in 4 years (1952-56 New York Yankees)
• At least 3 championships in 5 years (2010-2014 San Francisco Giants)

In Terms of Players:

A dynasty needs to have the same core. For example, those many championship years of the Yankees from the late 1940s to the early 1960s can be broken up into a couple of increments because the core changed. In the aforementioned 3-in-4 dynasty from 1952-1956, the Yankees were led by a young Mickey Mantle, not Joe DiMaggio, who was part of the club for an earlier dynasty from 1947-1951, when the team won 4 Fall Classics in 5 years. 

In Terms of Appearances:

Just because a team didn't win in all of their appearances doesn't mean they aren't worthy of the "dynasty" label.

• 3 appearances in 3 years with at least one championship (1976-1978 New York Yankees)
• At least 3 appearances in 4 years with at least one championship (1921-1924 New York Giants)
• At least 4 appearances in 5 years with at least one championship (1991-1996 Atlanta Braves, pictured below)

In Terms of Contention: 

I think dynasties last roughly 5 years because after half a decade, it's not the same team. That's why contention isn't a factor for me in calling a team a dynasty. However, there are other words to use, depending on a team's level of success.

• A consistently good team that makes the playoffs almost every year that just can't win the big one: try-nasty
• A very good team that always chokes in the late stages of the playoffs: cry-nasty
• A team that's very bad for a very long time: die-nasty
• A team in a postseason drought: dry-nasty
• A team with a bird name that's good for a long time: fly-nasty
• A team that finishes in a middle spot every year, as expected: sigh-nasty
• A team that somehow sneaks its way into the playoffs in what seems like every year: sly-nasty

What do you think of my dynasty criteria? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below. Thanks for reading this post and I hope you enjoyed it. Check back soon for more of "all the buzz on what wuzz."