Lucky in Sports: The Redskins and The Yankees
As many/most of you may know, I follow two sports pretty seriously, baseball and football. My Dad was not a serious sports fan; he occasionally followed the Redskins but really wasn't much of a fan and even that level of interest dwindled away years ago. My (twin) brother and I were largely left to our own in this as in many other things; we really became aware of professional sports with the tremendous local excitement about George Allen's "Ramskins" (aka the "Over-the-Hill Gang"). Although disappointed with the team's loss to the Dolphins in Super Bowl VII, we've both stuck with the Redskins ever since.
The path to baseball fandom was very different. Neither of our parents were baseball fans, and although my maternal grandmother followed the St. Louis Cardinals that didn't really make an impression on us. Although I was alive when the Senators were in town, I have no memory of the team at all. Despite the fact that we came relatively late to the sport, once we found baseball my brother and I were entranced. Being geeks, as soon as we developed a love of baseball we immediately began reading everything we could get our hands on about the sport. And if you're reading about baseball, you're reading about the New York Yankees. So we became Yankee fans. This notwithstanding one important fact: this was the early 1970's and the team wasn't very good at all. In fact the Baltimore Orioles were much better at the time, and (as hard as this may be to believe today) the tender years of junior high and early high school were spent under the thumb of overbearing Baltimore Orioles fans. But we had our team, and our loyalty has remained unshakeable since.
So since 1971 or so (and yes, I know most of those reading this weren't born at the time - hush), my sports calendar has largely revolved around baseball and football season, focusing in particular on the Yankees and Redskins. As one season has blended into another I began to notice an odd inverse correlation: either the Yankees or the Redskins are good; rarely are they both bad and even more rarely are they both good. The George Allen Redskins faded just as the "Bronx Zoo" Yankee teams were rising. 1981 became a transition back as the Yankees lost the World Series and the Redskins hired Joe Gibbs. From 1982 to 1992 the Redskins were the best team in football while the Yankees wandered in the wilderness. After the 1992 season Gibbs retired, and the Redskins headed for the oblivion where they have largely lived to this day. This happened just as the Yankees got going in the right direction under Buck Showalter, starting the amazing run of 13 straight playoff seasons that Joe Torre led to their apogee during the 1996-2003 run of six pennants and four championships in eight years:
Year Washington Redskins // New York Yankees
1971: 9-4-1, 0-1 Playoffs // 82-80, DNP
1972: 11-3, 2-1, L SB VII // 79-76, DNP
1973: 10-4, 0-1 // 80-82, DNP
1974: 10-4, 0-1 // 89-73, DNP
1975: 8-6, DNP // 83-77, DNP
1976: 10-4, 0-1 // 97-62, AL, L WS
1977: 9-5, DNP // 100-62, AL, W WS
1978: 8-8, DNP // 100-63*, AL, W WS
1979: 10-6, DNP // 89-71, DNP
1980: 6-10, DNP // 103-59, L ALCS
1981: 8-8, DNP // 59-48, AL, L WS
1982: 8-1, 4-0, W SB XVII // 79-83, DNP
1983: 14-2, 2-1, L SB XVIII // 91-71, DNP
1984: 11-5, 0-1 // 87-75, DNP
1985: 10-6, DNP // 97-64, DNP
1986: 12-4, 2-1 // 90-72, DNP
1987: 11-4, 3-0, W SB XXII // 89-73, DNP
1988: 7-9, DNP // 85-76, DNP
1989: 10-6, DNP // 74-87, DNP
1990: 10-6, 1-1 // 67-95, DNP
1991: 14-2, 3-0, W SB XXVI // 71-91, DNP
1992: 9-7, 1-1 // 76-86, DNP
1993: 4-12, DNP // 88-74, DNP
1994: 3-13, DNP // 70-43, No Playoffs Held
1995: 6-10, DNP // 78-65, L ALDS
1996: 9-7, DNP // 92-70, AL, W WS
1997: 8-7-1, DNP // 96-66, L ALDS
1998: 6-10, DNP // 114-48, AL, W WS
1999: 10-6, 1-1 // 98-64, AL, W WS
2000: 8-8, DNP // 87-74, AL, W WS
2001: 8-8, DNP* // 95-65, AL, L WS
2002: 7-9, DNP // 103-58, L ALDS
2003: 5-11, DNP // 101-61, AL, L WS
2004: 6-10, DNP // 101-61, L ALCS
2005: 10-6, 1-1 // 95-67, L ALDS
2006: 5-11, DNP // 97-65, L ALDS
2007: 9-7, 0-1 // 94-68, L ALDS
2008: 8-8, DNP // 89-73, DNP
*in 2001 I became a Redskins season ticket holder, upgrading to club seats in 2002. The team has only made the playoffs twice in that time, and hasn't had a home playoff game at all
The bottom line is through no design of my own I've been very, very fortunate as a sports fan. Over 38 seasons of following team sports, "my" teams have either been in the World Series or the Super Bowl 15 times, winning nine championships. Until this year, I've never had to go more than four seasons between a Super Bowl or World Series appearance by one of "my" teams; hopefully one of the teams (I'm thinking the Yankees have the best shot) will step up and stop that streak in 2009. The odd zero-sum nature of the teams means that during those same 38 seasons there have only been four seasons where both teams made the playoffs and only one, 1999, where both advanced beyond the first round. On the flip side there have only been eight seasons where neither the Yankees nor the Redskins made the playoffs. Even that is misleading, because the Redskins managed to miss the playoffs despite going 10-6 in three of those seasons (1979, 1985, and 1989), and in another the Yankees had the best record in baseball but the postseason was canceled due to labor strife (1994). I was stunned to note that during the entire time that I've been following professional sports there has never been a season where both "my" teams were .500 or below.
And THAT, my friends, is blind luck.
The path to baseball fandom was very different. Neither of our parents were baseball fans, and although my maternal grandmother followed the St. Louis Cardinals that didn't really make an impression on us. Although I was alive when the Senators were in town, I have no memory of the team at all. Despite the fact that we came relatively late to the sport, once we found baseball my brother and I were entranced. Being geeks, as soon as we developed a love of baseball we immediately began reading everything we could get our hands on about the sport. And if you're reading about baseball, you're reading about the New York Yankees. So we became Yankee fans. This notwithstanding one important fact: this was the early 1970's and the team wasn't very good at all. In fact the Baltimore Orioles were much better at the time, and (as hard as this may be to believe today) the tender years of junior high and early high school were spent under the thumb of overbearing Baltimore Orioles fans. But we had our team, and our loyalty has remained unshakeable since.
So since 1971 or so (and yes, I know most of those reading this weren't born at the time - hush), my sports calendar has largely revolved around baseball and football season, focusing in particular on the Yankees and Redskins. As one season has blended into another I began to notice an odd inverse correlation: either the Yankees or the Redskins are good; rarely are they both bad and even more rarely are they both good. The George Allen Redskins faded just as the "Bronx Zoo" Yankee teams were rising. 1981 became a transition back as the Yankees lost the World Series and the Redskins hired Joe Gibbs. From 1982 to 1992 the Redskins were the best team in football while the Yankees wandered in the wilderness. After the 1992 season Gibbs retired, and the Redskins headed for the oblivion where they have largely lived to this day. This happened just as the Yankees got going in the right direction under Buck Showalter, starting the amazing run of 13 straight playoff seasons that Joe Torre led to their apogee during the 1996-2003 run of six pennants and four championships in eight years:
Year Washington Redskins // New York Yankees
1971: 9-4-1, 0-1 Playoffs // 82-80, DNP
1972: 11-3, 2-1, L SB VII // 79-76, DNP
1973: 10-4, 0-1 // 80-82, DNP
1974: 10-4, 0-1 // 89-73, DNP
1975: 8-6, DNP // 83-77, DNP
1976: 10-4, 0-1 // 97-62, AL, L WS
1977: 9-5, DNP // 100-62, AL, W WS
1978: 8-8, DNP // 100-63*, AL, W WS
1979: 10-6, DNP // 89-71, DNP
1980: 6-10, DNP // 103-59, L ALCS
1981: 8-8, DNP // 59-48, AL, L WS
1982: 8-1, 4-0, W SB XVII // 79-83, DNP
1983: 14-2, 2-1, L SB XVIII // 91-71, DNP
1984: 11-5, 0-1 // 87-75, DNP
1985: 10-6, DNP // 97-64, DNP
1986: 12-4, 2-1 // 90-72, DNP
1987: 11-4, 3-0, W SB XXII // 89-73, DNP
1988: 7-9, DNP // 85-76, DNP
1989: 10-6, DNP // 74-87, DNP
1990: 10-6, 1-1 // 67-95, DNP
1991: 14-2, 3-0, W SB XXVI // 71-91, DNP
1992: 9-7, 1-1 // 76-86, DNP
1993: 4-12, DNP // 88-74, DNP
1994: 3-13, DNP // 70-43, No Playoffs Held
1995: 6-10, DNP // 78-65, L ALDS
1996: 9-7, DNP // 92-70, AL, W WS
1997: 8-7-1, DNP // 96-66, L ALDS
1998: 6-10, DNP // 114-48, AL, W WS
1999: 10-6, 1-1 // 98-64, AL, W WS
2000: 8-8, DNP // 87-74, AL, W WS
2001: 8-8, DNP* // 95-65, AL, L WS
2002: 7-9, DNP // 103-58, L ALDS
2003: 5-11, DNP // 101-61, AL, L WS
2004: 6-10, DNP // 101-61, L ALCS
2005: 10-6, 1-1 // 95-67, L ALDS
2006: 5-11, DNP // 97-65, L ALDS
2007: 9-7, 0-1 // 94-68, L ALDS
2008: 8-8, DNP // 89-73, DNP
*in 2001 I became a Redskins season ticket holder, upgrading to club seats in 2002. The team has only made the playoffs twice in that time, and hasn't had a home playoff game at all
The bottom line is through no design of my own I've been very, very fortunate as a sports fan. Over 38 seasons of following team sports, "my" teams have either been in the World Series or the Super Bowl 15 times, winning nine championships. Until this year, I've never had to go more than four seasons between a Super Bowl or World Series appearance by one of "my" teams; hopefully one of the teams (I'm thinking the Yankees have the best shot) will step up and stop that streak in 2009. The odd zero-sum nature of the teams means that during those same 38 seasons there have only been four seasons where both teams made the playoffs and only one, 1999, where both advanced beyond the first round. On the flip side there have only been eight seasons where neither the Yankees nor the Redskins made the playoffs. Even that is misleading, because the Redskins managed to miss the playoffs despite going 10-6 in three of those seasons (1979, 1985, and 1989), and in another the Yankees had the best record in baseball but the postseason was canceled due to labor strife (1994). I was stunned to note that during the entire time that I've been following professional sports there has never been a season where both "my" teams were .500 or below.
And THAT, my friends, is blind luck.