Baseball's postseason history is chock-full of legendary performances, mysterious happenings, amazing plays and epic failures. Now, for the first time, fans can vote on the players, coaches, teams and moments that have stood out the most over countless Octobers as part of ESPN.com's Hall of Fall.
In yet another close vote, the 2001 Seattle Mariners proved to be the biggest playoff underachievers of all time -- at least, according to a large minority of SportsNation. 116 wins evidently meant a lot more than it did back in 1906. The terrible twosome of Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire came in a very close second. Seeing two mighty sluggers humbled so drastically in the playoffs may have given SportsNation cause to "support" them.
Note: The ESPN research team of Mark Simon, Mike Lynch, Dan Braunstein, Greg Dohmann, Gregg Found, Jeremy Lundblad, Justin Havens, David Schoenfield and Rob Neyer contributed to this project.
1906 Chicago Cubs: At 116-36, the 1906 Cubs still hold the NL record for wins, despite only playing 152 games. Their .763 winning percentage is easily the highest since 1900. Led by Mordecai Brown, the pitching staff had a 1.75 ERA, third-lowest of the modern era. However, in the World Series against the White Sox, the Cubs hit just .196 in a stunning defeat to the "Hitless Wonders."
1954 Cleveland Indians: The Indians finished the regular season with the best record in baseball (111-43), but were swept by the Giants in the World Series. The Indians' .724 winning percentage is the third-highest of the World Series era. The team featured three future Hall of Famers in its starting rotation (Early Wynn, Bob Lemon, Bob Feller), not to mention another in its bullpen (Hal Newhouser). However, the offense scored just nine runs and hit .190.
2001 Seattle Mariners (WINNERS): After setting an American League record with 116 wins, the Mariners didn't even reach the World Series. Led by Ichiro Suzuki, who won the Rookie of the Year and MVP awards, and Bret Boone, the Mariners had the highest-scoring offense in the AL. Four different starters won 15 games, as the pitching staff had the best ERA in the majors. However, the bats died in the ALCS against the Yankees, scoring just eight runs in their four losses.
Ty Cobb: Cobb played in three World Series with the Tigers from 1907-1909. He was the AL batting champ each season, but hit just .262 with nine RBI in 17 games. The Tigers lost all three times and Cobb was famously outplayed by Honus Wagner in 1909 in a matchup of baseball's two best players. Cobb won eight more batting titles but never returned to the World Series.
The Bash Brothers: Jose Canseco's postseason totals: a .184 average with seven homers and 18 RBI in 30 games. His partner in bashing was even worse: Mark McGwire hit .217 with only five homers and 14 RBI in 42 games. The pair combined to go 2-for-36 in the 1988 World Series loss to the Dodgers.
Comments that include profanity, or personal attacks, or antisocial behavior such as "spamming" or "trolling," or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our terms of use. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
"SportsNation" on ESPN2!
WE'RE OFF UNTIL MONDAY, NOV. 30! BUT KEEP SENDING US WEIRD WEB CLIPS!
SPORTSNATION GRIDIRON CENTRAL
-
- NFL Coach Ratings
- Week 10: Bill Belichick drops about 30 percentage points
-
- NFL Pick'Em Week 11
- SN last week: 9-6
SN this season: 99-45
-
- NFL Power Rankings
- Colts return to No. 1
Jets down to No. 21
-
- NFL MVP Watch
- Last week's notables
No. 1 Drew Brees
No. 7 Ben Roethlisberger
-
- College Football Fan Top 25
- TCU holds at No. 4
USC down to No. 20
-
- College Football Pick'Em
- SN last week: 17-5
SN this season: 187-38
-
- Heisman Watch
- This week's notables
No. 2: Toby Gerhart
No. 4: C.J. Spiller
Send us weird Web clips, vote on the best of the month and visit the archive.
FEATURED FAN
THIS WEEK'S CHATS
- 10:00 AMYour Take on First Take
- 10:00 AMThe Morning Buzz
- 11:00 AMFantasy Injuries
- 11:00 AMNFL with Len Pasquarelli
- 12:00 PMCowboys' Igor Olshansky
- 12:00 PMMLB Insider Rob Neyer
- 12:00 PMNFL blogger Matt Mosley
- 1:00 PMNBA Insider Chad Ford
- 1:00 PMESPNChicago MLB Chat
- 1:00 PMNCAAF w/Graham Watson
- 2:00 PMNCAA FB with Pat Forde
- 2:00 PMNFL blogger Kevin Seifert
- 2:00 PMNASCAR with Terry Blount
- 3:00 PMESPNDallas' Tim MacMahon
- 3:00 PMNHL with EJ Hradek
- 4:00 PMESPN's Kenny Mayne
- 10:00 AMYour Take on First Take
- 10:00 AMThe Morning Buzz
- 11:00 AMNFL with Chris Mortensen
- 11:00 AMFantasy Football Focus
- 12:00 PMNBA Insider David Thorpe
- 12:00 PMNFL with Matt Williamson
- 1:00 PMFootball guru Mel Kiper
- 1:00 PMMMA Live host Jon Anik
- 1:30 PMActor Taylor Lautner
- 2:00 PMESPNChicago Hawks Chat
- 2:00 PMNCAA FB with Ivan Maisel
- 2:00 PMMLB with Jim Callis
- 2:00 PMNASCAR w/David Newton
- 3:00 PMNCAA FB with Bennett
- 3:00 PMScouts' football recruiting
- 3:00 PMFantasy NASCAR Focus
- 3:00 PMFantasy Sports Focus
- 4:00 PMNCAA FB with Beano Cook
- 10:00 AMThe Morning Buzz
- 10:00 AMYour Take on First Take
- 11:00 AMFantasy Football Focus
- 11:30 AMESPNChicago Bears Chat
- 12:00 PMNBA with John Hollinger
- 12:00 PMESPNBoston on Pats
- 12:30 PMMMA's Dan Henderson
- 1:00 PMESPN Radio's Van Pelt
- 1:00 PMNCAA FB with Tim Griffin
- 1:00 PMNFL blogger Mike Sando
- 1:30 PMPoker's Joe Cada
- 2:00 PMNFL with Bill Williamson
- 2:00 PMNFL analyst Lomas Brown
- 2:30 PMInside College Hockey
- 3:00 PMNASCAR with K. Lee Davis
- 3:00 PMNCAA FB with Ted Miller
- 3:00 PMESPN's Hockey Night
- 3:00 PMESPNDallas' Richard Durrett
- 4:00 PMFootball Scientist KC Joyner
- 4:00 PMNCAA FB with Rittenberg
- 4:00 PMFirst Take's Skip Bayless
- 6:00 PMStuart Scott's Two-Way
- 10:00 AMThe Morning Buzz
- 10:00 AMYour Take on First Take
- 11:00 AMFantasy Injuries
- 11:00 AMESPNDallas' Ed Werder
- 12:00 PMTennis star Andre Agassi
- 12:00 PMBoxing with Dan Rafael
- 1:00 PMNFL with Pat Yasinskas
- 1:00 PMMLB Insider Keith Law
- 1:30 PMNFL HOFer Anthony Munoz
- 1:30 PMChris Forsberg on Celtics
- 2:00 PMRecruiting w/Paul Biancardi
- 2:00 PMNCAAF with Bruce Feldman
- 3:00 PMNBA with J.A. Adande
- 3:30 PMCowboys with Calvin Watkins
- 4:00 PMHeisman with Ryan McCrystal
- 4:00 PMMLG's APG
- 10:00 AMThe Morning Buzz
- 10:00 AMYour Take on First Take
- 11:00 AMFantasy Football Focus
- 12:00 PMNCAA FB with Bennett
- 12:00 PMNCAA with Heather Dinich
- 1:00 PMNFL with Jeremy Green
- 1:00 PMNCAA FB with Chris Low
- 2:00 PMNASCAR with Ryan McGee
- 2:00 PMNCAA FB with Schlabach
- 3:00 PMFantasy Sports Focus
- 3:00 PMNBA with Chris Sheridan
- 3:00 PMBCS with Brad Edwards
- 4:00 PMNHL with Scott Burnside
- 4:00 PMNFL with Gary Horton
FEATURED GROUPS
FEATURED PHOTOS
GREATEST HITS ALBUM
-
- Friday, November 13
- LeBron says the No. 23 should be off-limits. What should his new number be?
-
- Thursday, November 12
- Does the Nintendo Game Boy deserve a spot in the toy Hall of Fame?
-
- Wednesday, November 11
- SportsNation salutes our Veterans with pictures posted by fans in uniform.
-
- Wednesday, November 11
- Do Gold Gloves matter? Jeter might want to put on earmuffs for this answer.



Member comments together with Member Names may be used on TV and other ESPN media platforms.