Prime Nine Expansion Era Teams

To qulaify for my Prime Nine, expansion era teams had to have won at least 100 games and then gone on to win the World series.  My Prime Nine are, from 9 all the way to 1, as follows:

9.  1969 New York Mets - The unlikliest of Met teams was also one of the best.  They had key clutch hitting to go with four of the best young pitchers - Seaver, Koosman, Gentry, and Ryan - in baseball.  They demolished the Atlanta Braves in the first-ever NLCS and then did the same to the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series.

8.  1968 Detroit Tigers -  Led by the last 30-game winner in major league history, Denny McClain, the Tigers also had had good power hitters (Kaline, Horton, Northrup, etc) and upset a heavily favored Cardinals team in the World Series.  While McClain wasn't at his best in the series, the slack was picked up by Mickey Lolich who 3 games in the '68 Fall Classic.

7.  1967 St. Louis Cardinals - Probably the best of the "El Birdos" teams of the 1960's.  The Cardinals had outstanding pitching with Gibson, Carlton, and Nelson Briles.  Orlando Cepeda was the best power hitting First Baseman in baseball and capped off 1967 by winning the National League MVP.  Led by the base running of Lou Brock, the Cardinals topped the Boston Red Sox in a classic seven-game World Series.

6.  1984 Detroit Tigers - Outstanding pitching led by Jack Morris and 1984 AL MVP Guilleromo Hernandez and one of the best double plays combinations in history in Alan Trammell and "Sweet" Lou Whitaker helped the Tigers get off to 35-5 start through their first 40 games.  They never looked back as thye went on to win the Al East wire-to-wire and then steamroll the San Diego Padres in the World Series.

5.  1986 New York Mets - They took First Place in the NL East with an 11-game winning streak in April and were never pressed from then on.  Kieth Hernandez, Darryl Strawberry, and Gary Carter provided the timely hitting.  The pitching, in typical Mets' fashion, was outstanding, led by Dwight Gooden, Ron Darling, and 18-game winner, Bobby Ojeda.  Surviving two postseason scares, they cemented their place in baseball history by winning the World Series in seven games over the Boston Red Sox.

4.  1970 Baltimore Orioles -  Though they won one less game than their 1969 predecessors, this team had everything - outsanding pitching with Jim Palmer, Dave McNally, and Mike Cuellar, outstanding hitting with Frank Robinson and Boog Powell, and outstanding defense with Shortstop Mark "The Blade" Belanger and, perhaps, the best Third Baseman in baseball history, Brooks Robinson.  Where the 1969 Orioles failed, the 1970 Orioles succeeded, dispatching the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series in five games.

3.  1975 Cincinnati Reds - Though there were no 20-game winners, the pitching staff was deep enough to help the Reds record 108 wins.  There were outstanding hitters at every position led by All-Time Hit King, Pete Rose and future Hall-of-Famers, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, and Tony Perez.  Their future Hall-of-Fame manager, Sparky Anderson led the Reds to their first World Championship since 1940, though their opponents, the Boston Red Sox didn't go quietly, losing in seven games in, quite possibly, the greatest World Series ever played.

2.  1961 New York Yankees - Coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1960 World Series, which led to longtime Yankee skipper Casey Stengel's dismissal, the Yankees responded to new manager Ralph Houk by winning 109 games.  The pitching was led by 25-game winner, White Ford and the expansion era's first great relief specialist, Luis Arroyo.  Yogi Berra had pretty much given way to Elston Howard behind the plate, but he could still hit.  The infield was solid with "Moose" Skowron at First, Bobby Richardson at Second, Tony Kubek at Short, and Clete Boyer at Third.  Then there were the "M & M Boys" - Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, who hit 115 combined home runs, The team had six players - Maris, Mantle, Howard, Berra, Skowron, and reserve catcher/outfielder Johnny Blanchard - who hit 20 or more home runs enroute to a then-record 240.  They also made quick work of the Cincinnati Reds in five games in the World Series.

1.  1998 New York Yankees -  The 1998 Yankees broke fast out of the gate enroute to winning a then-American league record 114 ball games.  The starting pitching was deep with Andy Pettitte, David Wells, David Cone, and Cuban defector Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez.  Mariano Rivera was emerging as one of the best Closers in baseball.  The hitting, led by Paul O'Neill, Tino Martinez, Bernie Williams, and Derek Jeter, was so good that that Darryl Strawberry was relegated to the DH role.  The team lived up to its advanced billing  by sweeping the San Diego Padres in the World Series.

That's my Prime Nine What's yours?