Greatest Teams Ever

Every year a team wins the championship, but some teams are more legendary than others.  These are among the greatest to ever take the field.  One rule for the list is the teams will not be considered twice.  For example, the Utes won four championships from 1994 to 1998, but I will consider that the same team and pick their best season, the 1995 team.

Best of all is the 1995 Utes.  With 117 regular season wins, they won 12 more in the postseason and also won the all star game where Utes filled the majority of lineup positions.  For pitched they had Hall of Famers Mike Langford and Tom Groovine, each with 21 wins.

For batting they had Conan (57 homers, 183 RBI), Zamuda (.392) and Holmes (.360), but also so much more all through the lineup.

In chronological order, the other contenders for the greatest list:

1987 Shockers.  They mostly won with dominant pitching, as Sand Storm struck out 324 batters and every pitcher with more than 10 innings had an ERA below 3.00.  On offense they had power with Rod Prime, Shockwave, and Astrotrain all over 20 homers, speed with Blurr (83), Prime (46) and rookie of the year Jeffrey Lewis (30) stealing bases.  Their defense was strong all over the diamond, but especially up the middle with Lewis in center field, Hound at short, and Doc Ratchet behind the plate.

1992.1 Decepticons.  They held the record with 109 regular season wins until the Utes passed them, then won a thrilling 7 game world series against Mars, one of the greatest series ever.

Galvatron led the way 49 homers and 52 steals, barely missing the 50-50 club.  The lineup was strong from top to bottom with Skullgrin, Jose Ramirez, Sonic Russell, Link, and Chris Berman leading the way.  For pitching they had two of the greatest seasons ever with Chillingworth (26-3) and John Terry (25-2).  Leading the way out of the bullpen was Bernie Grayson, who pitched 120 innings and struck out 166 batters, a record for relief pitchers that stands to this day.

2011 Miami Stars.  They won 100 regular season games.  The Stars have passed 100 wins in several seasons since then, but this is their only team of the era to win a championship, which they did by sweeping the Denver Rabbits.  2011 was Mighty Joe Young's first season in Miami, and he won the MVP award with a .365 average and 35 homers.  Joining Young for the championship run was Bud McNamara (.303, 15 homers) at catcher, and holdover Brian Kaat (.318, 63 steals, gold glove defense in center.)

Tom Vercetti (18 wins) and Tim Sullivan (16) led the pitching staff, but were not as dominant as the aces of other teams on this list, so while Miami might make the cut, they are clearly the 5th best team of the group.

2019 Cobra

With 109 wins and a third consecutive championship, the Cobra put themselves on the list.  This is something the 2018 team could not have done, as their weak offense and reliance on pitching reminded people more of the 1988 Dodgers than the 1998 Yankees.

Stephen Hamburg won 20 and struck out 279 batters.  Silvanos Tonka went 16-4 with a 1.97 ERA.  On offense, 5 players passed the 30 homer mark and the team hit 285 in total, breaking a record set by the 1990 Hawaii Cubs (current New York owner Brad hit 47 for that team.)

In Summary, the 1995 Utes are the greatest, with the 2011 Stars earning 5th spot on the list.  Spots 2-4 are very much up for debate, but it is some combination of the 1987 Shockers, 1992.1 Decepticons, and this year's Cobra.