I was looking at the final 2014 MLB standings and noticed that the Padres had the worst record of all the third-place teams. Meaningful? Barely, if at all! But it did seem notable enough to throw together a bar graph, something I hadn't done in a while.
Mariners fans can take solace in knowing that Seattle's 87-75 record was best among all third-place teams. I don't think any of them will take solace in that, but they can. The Braves and Mets tied for second in the NL East at 79-83, which was not only worst -- by far -- amongst second-place teams, but nearly bad enough for worst of the thirds. So close.
Of first-place teams, the Angels led with 98 wins, while the Tigers and Cardinals tied for the fewest with 90. The Royals paced all runners-up with 89 wins, a full ten more than the Mets and Braves. Both Florida teams tied to lead all fourth-place teams with 77 wins, while the Phillies and Cubs led all the cellar-dwellars with 73 victories apiece. The Rockies and Diamondbacks both had the worst records in their positions, fourth and fifth, respectively.