Winning streaks in baseball are more than just a statistical anomaly. In a season that spans from February to October, winning streaks are showcases of dominance, chemistry, will and determination.
Over the course of a 162-game season, even the best teams can expect to lose 60 or 70 games. So when a team rips off 10 or 20 victories in a row, it's even more impressive.
In this post, we're taking a look back at the longest winning streaks in MLB history.
The Longest Winning Streaks in MLB History
An asterisk denotes that the winning streak included a tie game, which MLB does not count as breaking a winning streak.
Below, you can find a breakdown of some of the more notable streaks.
New York Giants – 26 Games (1916)
While technically the longest winning streak in MLB history, this included a tied ballgame. MLB does not count ties as breaking a streak, so the Giants' run remains officially intact in historical records.
However, a month-long winning streak wasn't even for New York to win the pennant as the team finished fourth in the National League in 1916.
Cleveland Guardians – 22 Games (2017)
The 2017 Guardians (then Indians) were already a contender in late August. But from Aug. 24 to Sept. 14, Cleveland turned into a juggernaut.
The team won 22 straight games, which remains an American League record. Cleveland's streak featured seven shutout victories and José Ramírez and Francisco Lindor were swinging red-hot bats.
Cleveland outscored its opponents 142–37 during the streak, but lost in the ALDS to the New York Yankees.
Chicago Cubs – 21 Games (1935)
Chicago was 2 ½ games out of first place on Sept. 4, but that afternoon the Cubs won. The following day, they won again. This continued all the way until Sept. 28. The team won 21 straight games and ended up winning the NL pennant.
Powerful bats throughout the lineup drove the Cubs to success, as the team featured Gabby Hartnett, Billy Herman and Chuck Klein.
The Cubs made it all the way to the World Series, but fell short and lost to the Detroit Tigers.
Oakland Athletics – 20 Games (2002)
This is probably the most well-known streak in baseball history, considering Michael Lewis's book Moneyball became so popular that it eventually became a movie starring Brad Pitt.
From Aug. 14 to Sept. 4, the A's won 20 straight games. At the time, it was an AL record.
Oakland's payroll was one of the lowest in baseball, but GM Billy Beane began using sabermetrics/advanced analytics to identify players who excelled in certain areas. As a result, the team found key contributors on the cheap to add to the core of Eric Chavez, Miguel Tejada, Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito.
Chicago White Stockings – 21 Games (1880)
The 1880 White Stockings were a dominant force, winning 14 of their first 15 games of the season before ripping off a 21-game win streak (albeit with a tie) from June 2 to July 8.
Four players hit at least .300 for the White Stockings that season: George Gore (.360), Cap Anson (.337), Abner Dalrymple (.330) and Tom Burns (.309). On the mound, two players dominated usage. Larry Corcoran and Fred Goldsmith each had a sub-2.00 ERA and combined for 64 of the team's 67 victories.
New York Yankees – 19 Games (1947)
While the 1947 Yankees are often considered to be a step behind some of the teams of the late 1990s and the 'murderer's row' teams of the ’20s, this team had a remarkable accomplishment in a 19-game winning streak.
Beginning on June 27 and ending on July 17, the Yankees just kept winning. Perhaps most impressive is that most of these wins came on the road and the streak included six different doubleheader sweeps.
When it ended, 11 different pitchers had picked up at least one victory for New York.
The Longest Postseason Winning Streaks in MLB History
The Yankees, unsurprisingly, dominate the record book when it comes to consecutive postseason victories. The franchise has won a record 12 straight playoff games twice, once in the late 1920s and early ’30s, then again in the late ’90s.
The Kansas City Royals have the longest gap, with their 11 straight wins coming in 1985 and then nearly 30 years later in 2014.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Longest Winning Streaks in MLB History.