Lead Story - 1/24/2026

Season 19 Preview

When the schedules were drawn and the bats leaned quietly against the wall, there was a feeling — not of noise, but of gravity.

Season 19 did not arrive shouting. It arrived knowing.
For this is not a season of hopeful maybes or sentimental favorites. This is a season where the arithmetic has already whispered its truths, and the field must now decide whether the whispers were prophecy or presumption.

The Standard-Bearer: 2022 Dodgers

There is no polite way to say it: the Dodgers enter as the measure of all things.

They do not bludgeon the league so much as constrict it, tightening the game inning by inning until oxygen itself feels optional. Their run prevention is not dramatic — it is merciless. Balls disappear into gloves. Runners die lonely deaths between bases. Pitch counts climb while hope declines.

They do not require miracles. They manufacture inevitability.

A Pythagorean record brushing 100 wins over 154 games is not bravado — it is a ledger. And ledgers, unlike dreams, rarely lie.
If they have a weakness, it is philosophical:
Can a team built on control still summon chaos when chaos is required?
The rest of the league will attempt to answer that question with desperation.

The Silent Titan: 1958 Indians

If the Dodgers are modern steel, the ’58 Indians are granite.

They do not advertise themselves. They simply remain, absorbing blows, returning just enough force to break the attacker’s will. Their greatness is not theatrical. It is structural.

A +150 run differential does not sparkle — it endures.
In a short series, they are terrifying. In a long one, they are suffocating. The Indians do not chase momentum. They wait for it to tire.

The Aristocrats: 1940 Yankees

They carry themselves as if history itself cleared a path.
The ’40 Yankees do not feel pressure. Pressure is something they apply. Their offense is balanced, their pitching disciplined, their defense tidy — like a well-cut suit worn by a man who does not check the mirror.
They will not overwhelm you in one inning. They will simply be better than you in six.
And when the dust settles, you will wonder how it felt inevitable so early.

The Firebrands: 2011 Rangers & 1974 Reds

Here is where the season acquires heat.

The 2011 Rangers swing as if the game owes them something. They are not elegant, but they are relentless — a lineup that asks the pitcher to survive rather than succeed. Their flaw is that they must outscore their sins, and sins have a way of lingering.

The 1974 Reds, by contrast, are controlled combustion. They burn hot, but with purpose. They can run, they can wait, they can punish. Their weakness is not talent but exposure — if forced into a low-scoring knife fight, they can bleed like anyone else.
Both teams can win the season.
Both can also lose it in three bad innings.

The Calculated Threats: 1998 Red Sox & 2008 Rays

These are teams that do not shout, but calculate.

The ’98 Red Sox are precision instruments — dangerous when allowed to play on their terms, vulnerable when dragged into ugliness. Their margins are thinner than they appear.

The ’08 Rays, meanwhile, may be the league’s great paradox:
A modest offense guarded by a defensive intelligence so sharp it borders on clairvoyance. They win by subtraction. They survive by denial.
In a tournament, they are the team you never want to face when tired.

The Ghosts and Warnings

The 1926 Pirates remind us that solid teams often go unnoticed until they are already standing over you.
The 1911 Giants and 1931 A’s serve as cautionary tales: greatness by reputation does not guarantee greatness by arithmetic. They can win games. They can even win series. But they must outrun their own vulnerabilities to do it.

And the 1988 Twins — champions once — arrive as a reminder that banners do not swing bats, and nostalgia does not turn double plays.

The Season’s Question

Season 19 is not asking who is best.
The numbers have already spoken on that.
It is asking something older, and more dangerous:
Can inevitability be interrupted?
Can power be unsettled?
Can a season shaped by balance sheets still be decided by nerve?

Soon enough, the answers will stop being written in columns and begin appearing in box scores.
And when the final out falls, we will remember once again:

“For when the One Great Scorer comes
To mark against your name,
He writes — not that you won or lost —
But how you played the game.”
Season 19 is ready.
Let the arithmetic argue with the grass.

1/1/2026

Season 19 draft order

Decade draft/Franchise Draft
1/12 JimGriddy 2022 Dodgers + Shohei Ohtani
2/11 CoachPappy17 1911 Giants + Barry Bonds
3/10 ndekar 2008 Rays + Kevin Kiermier
4/9 Davrogbro62 2011 Ranger + Pudge Rodriguez
5/8 Midget 1974 Reds + Joey Votto
6/7 bodell82 1998 Red Sox + Ted Williams
7/6 dalbpho8 1988 Twins + Rod Carew
8/5 Kingdude 1958 Indians + Jim Thome
9/4 ExpatBama 1968 Cardinals + Rogers Hornsby
10/3 Joshbonds25 1940 Yankees + Lou Gehrig
11/2 Revejb 1926 Pirates + Paul Skenes
12/1 Lordhawke 1931 Athletics + Vida Blue

7/8/2023

Team Year combos used

* = Division Winner

1900s
1900 Boston Beaneaters/Braves* (season 2)
1901 Pittsburgh Pirates
1902 Pittsburgh Pirates
1902 St. Louis Browns
1903 Boston Americans (Red Sox)
1904 New York Giants
1904 Philadelphia Phillies
1906 Chicago Cubs
1907 Chicago Cubs* (season 3)
1908 Chicago Cubs
1908 Philadelphia Athletics
1909 Philadelphia Athletics
1909 Chicago Cubs
1909 Pittsburgh Pirates
1909 Cleveland Naps
1909 Boston Red Sox


1910s
1910 Chicago Cubs* (season 5)
1910 Boston Red Sox
1910 Pittsburgh Pirates
1911 Chicago Cubs* (season 4)
1911 Philadelphia Athletics
1912 Philadelphia Athletics
1912 Chicago Cubs
1913 New York Giants
1914 Boston Red Sox
1915 Boston Red Sox
1915 Chicago White Sox
1916 Boston Red Sox
1916 Chicago White Sox
1917 Chicago White Sox
1918 New York Giants
1919 New York Giants* (season 6)
1919 Cleveland Indians
1919 Detroit Tigers

1920s
1920 Cleveland Indians
1920 New York Giants* (season 1)
1923 New York Giants
1923 Pittsburgh Pirates
1925 New York Yankees* (season 8)
1926 New York Yankees
1927 New York Yankees
1927 Philadelphia Athletics
1927 New York Giants
1927 Washington Senators
1928 New York Yankees
1928 Philadelphia Athletics
1928 St. Louis Cardinals
1928 New York Giants
1929 Philadelphia A’s
1929 New York Yankees

1930s
1930 Philadelphia A's
1930 Chicago Cubs
1930 New York Yankees
1931 Chicago Cubs
1931 New York Giants
1932 New York Giants
1932 New York Yankees
1933 St. Louis Cardinals* (season 3)
1934 St. Louis Cardinals
1934 New York Yankees
1936 Detroit Tigers* (season 8)
1936 New York Yankees
1937 New York Yankees
1938 New York Yankees
1939 New York Yankees* (season 1)
1939 St. Louis Cardinals

1940s
1941 St Louis Cardinals* (season 6)
1941 Boston Red Sox
1941 Brooklyn Dodgers
1942 St Louis Cardinals* (season 4)
1942 New York Yankees
1943 St Louis Cardinals
1944 St. Louis Cardinals
1947 New York Yankees* (season 2)
1947 St. Louis Cardinals
1947 Brooklyn Dodgers
1947 Cleveland Indians
1948 Brooklyn Dodgers
1948 Boston Red Sox
1948 Cleveland Indians
1949 Brooklyn Dodgers
1949 New York Yankees* (season 5)
1949 Cleveland Indians

1950s
1950 Cleveland Indians
1950 St Louis Cardinals
1951 New York Yankees
1953 Chicago Cubs
1955 Cleveland Indians
1955 Brooklyn Dodgers
1956 Cleveland Indians
1956 Brooklyn Dodgers
1957 Brooklyn Dodgers
1957 Milwaukee Braves
1958 Cleveland Indians
1958 Milwaukee Braves
1958 Los Angeles Dodgers
1959 San Francisco Giants
1959 Milwaukee Braves
1959 Los Angeles Dodgers
1959 Pittsburgh Pirates
1959 Chicago White Sox

1960s
1961 Los Angeles Dodgers* (season 6)
1962 Cincinnati Reds
1962 St. Louis Cardinals
1963 Detroit Tigers
1963 St. Louis Cardinals
1964 San Francisco Giants
1965 San Francisco Giants* (season 5)
1966 Baltimore Orioles
1967 Baltimore Orioles
1967 Chicago White Sox
1967 Detroit Tigers
1968 Detroit Tigers
1968 Baltimore Orioles
1969 Baltimore Orioles
1969 San Francisco Giants
1969 Chicago Cubs

1970s
1970 Baltimore Orioles* (season 1) **Champions
1970 Minnesota Twins
1971 Baltimore Orioles
1971 San Francisco Giants
1972 San Francisco Giants
1972 Oakland Athletics
1972 Baltimore Orioles
1972 Cincinnati Reds
1973 Detroit Tigers
1974 Boston Red Sox* (season 4)
1974 Cleveland Indians
1975 Cleveland Indians
1976 Philadelphia Phillies
1977 Cincinnati Reds
1977 Boston Red Sox
1978 Philadelphia Phillies
1979 New York Yankees* (season 3)

1980s
1982 California Angels* (season 2)
1983 California Angels
1984 Montreal Expos
1985 New York Mets
1985 California Angels
1985 St. Louis Cardinals
1986 Houston Astros
1986 New York Mets
1987 New York Mets
1987 Oakland Athletics
1988 Cincinnati Reds
1988 New York Mets
1988 Montreal Expos
1989 Oakland Athletics
1989 Seattle Mariners
1989 Montreal Expos* (season 8)
1989 Texas Rangers

1990s
1990 Oakland Athletics
1991 Houston Astros
1992 New York Mets
1993 Texas Rangers
1995 Cleveland Indians
1995 Atlanta Braves
1996 Atlanta Braves
1996 Seattle Mariners
1997 Atlanta Braves* (season 5) **Champions
1997 Seattle Mariners
1998 Atlanta Braves
1998 Houston Astros* (season 8) ** Champions
1998 Los Angeles Dodgers
1998 Seattle Mariners
1999 Atlanta Braves
1999 Arizona Diamondbacks

2000s
2000 Atlanta Braves
2001 Atlanta Braves
2001 St. Louis Cardinals
2001 Boston Red Sox
2002 Atlanta Braves
2003 Florida Marlins
2004 Boston Red Sox* (season 2) **Champions
2004 Houston Astros* (season 3) **Champions
2004 Angels
2006 Boston Red Sox
2006 Los Angeles Dodgers*(season 4) **Champions
2006 Minnesota Twins
2007 Boston Red Sox
2007 New York Mets
2008 New York Mets
2008 Los Angeles Dodgers* (season 1)
2009 Philadelphia Phillies

2010s
2010 Boston Red Sox
2012 Boston Red Sox
2014 Los Angeles Angels
2014 Detroit Tigers
2015 Detroit Tigers
2016 Washington Nationals* (season 6) ** Champions
2016 Toronto Blue Jays
2016 Chicago Cubs
2017 Washington Nationals
2017 Cleveland Indians
2017 Los Angeles Dodgers
2018 Los Angeles Dodgers
2018 Milwaukee Brewers
2018 Washington Nationals
2019 Houston Astros
2019 Los Angeles Dodgers
2019 Atlanta Braves

2020s
2021 Houston Astros
2023 San Diego Padres