Without looking it up, I seem to recall a year back when only division winners went to the playoffs when both the Braves and Giants won 100 games, but only one went to the playoffs. Can't remember now who was in and who was out. Just guessing, I'll say it was the Giants that were left out, no idea who was the manager. Now I gotta go look it up!

Sounds like nice work, if you can get it.

Expos 1994 would have been the guess if not for the same-name qualifier. Has to be someone from the 1981 strike season, right?

The O's in the 1981 strike season.

Pete - Watch out for all of those turtle crossings down in Florida this year.

'81 O's strike season, Weaver mgr. Correct?

Somebody is a strike year. It can't be the expos because they don't place in the same place/name.

The Reds had the best overall record in baseball during a season split into two halves due to a strike. It was '80 or '81. McNamara was the manager. The reason I recall this is because the Reds have always been my favorite NL team. I'm a bit fuzzy on the year of the mid-season players strike.

I had the team right -- Cincy Reds -- but I'll admit I had to look up the manager. They finished 2nd in both halves of the 1981 strike season.

I found it was John McNamara, the same poor sap who suffered through the '86 Red Sox and Bill Buckner.

Enjoy the trip -- I look forward to hearing about the few surprises left this Spring.

I think there was a team back in the early 1900's that refused to play the league-leading Yankees in a World Series. I think it was another team from New York, Giants maybe.

From The Sporting News:
History of the World Series - 1904
There was no World Series in 1904 because John T. Brush, president of the National League champion New York Giants, refused to allow his team to compete against Boston, the representative of the "inferior" American League.

At least, that's the official reason.

However, the fact that the teams did not meet probably had to do more with Giants manager John McGraw's personal hatred for American League president Ban Johnson than any National League sense of superiority. In the winter, however, Brush proposed the idea for an annual matchup between the league champions.

His about-face spawned the "Brush Rules," a set of guidelines relating to the on-field play and off-field finances of the World Series which exists to this day.

See you when you get down here. The sun is finally out and it is warming up for you.

See you when you get down here. The sun is finally out and it is warming up for you.

Mark Marcopolis, the Giants aren't in NY anymore...

'81 St Louis Cards... best divisional record at least, held out bc of the idiotic strike play off rules.

They played 6 fewer games than the Expos who made the playoffs over them.

There should be a 2011 MLB Tribute to that season. Patches, jerseys, jumbled schedules... it will be a blast!

Orioles in '81

Orioles in '81

Dear Trolls,

http://wnst.net/wordpress/drewforrester/2010/02/14/it-takes-20-minutes-the-internet-critics-and-people-in-disguise/

The Brad Bergeson situation is hopefully not the beginning of a sad career-limiting injury. This provides an opportunity however to beat a drum once again - Jim Johnson should be stretched out as a starter whether or not he breaks camp in the rotation. He is the one arm in the bullpen that has the pitches and stamina to become a workhorse on the staff. Currently he is being wasted as a set-up/matchup "8th-inning" guy in Dave Trembley's house of horrors bullpen.

Starting the season with Berken or Hernandez, who both showed they need a full season in Triple-A, as the 5th starter is hardly a recipe for success. Another option: perhaps Troy Patton is fully healed and should be given first crack at the spot balancing the rotation as the 2nd left-hander.

Major league rotation (without Bergy):

Millwood
Guthrie
J. Johnson
Matusz
Tillman

Triple-A Rotation:
Hernandez
Berken
Patton
Arrieta
A. Simon

The 1981 Cincinnati Reds had a combined .611 winning percentage but they were a half-game out in the first half and 1.5 games out of the second half. The Orioles were third in the AL alone that year behind the Athletics and Brewers.

The 1994 Expos had a better record than the Yankees of that year. The Expos are no longer in Montréal, however.

NOT SO FAST, LAMB CHOP

If you take the trivia question literally, there is no correct answer. The Question was Which major league team, which still bears the same name and plays in the same location, had the best record in baseball for an entire season and did not play in the postseason?

(I added the question mark, nice guy that I am.)

Indeed the Reds still play in Cincinnati. However, they now play at Great American Park as they have since 2003, but they were playing at Riverfront Stadium in 1981.

Now, I am quite sure Peter is going to say the GABP was built in an area called "the wedge" and part of Cinergy Field (the renamed Riverfront) even had to be torn down such that the GABP could be finished, but that is not exactly the same location.

In fact, the GABP's address was 100 Main Street and later changed to 100 Joe Nuxhall Way. Riverfront/Cinergy's address was 201 East Pete Rose Way. In fact, 201 E PR Way is now listed as an empty lot.

For the GPS fans, Riverfront/Cinergy was 39°5'48"N / 84°30'30"W whereas the GABP is 39°5'51"N / 84°30'24"W. They're close -- even seconds away in GPS terms -- but not the same location.

However, y'all can banter over it's manager in 1981 if you like.

waspman, nice work looking up the info on wikipedia.

I didn't read all of Drew's long-winded whatever-it-was. If I'm writing to Drew, Roch, Peter or anyone else, they can have my name. Indeed, I wrote to Drew once or twice and Peter two or three times.

Not only do they have my real e-address -- the same I log onto here -- they have my real name, too. And when I say real e-address, I mean the one I use to conduct business and pleasure all of the time, not some hotmail, gmail or yahoo rendition.

I simply would not ever post here if I had to give my real name or have my real e-address published.

Why? Not because I don't want to "man-up." But because I don't know any of you and, therefore, I don't trust any of you.

WNST headed by their head honcho as been on a campaign "evaluating" local sportscasters. I sent a reply after Nestor's first of five War and Peace installments without taking the stupid unscientific poll there. I was waspman there, too, and my email address is there if they care to respond to me one-on-one (or "man-up").

Bottom line:

I don't care if you're "more Baltimore" than me (no one is unless they're a native who is older) or an import. I don't care if you posed in Playboy or just look at the pictures. I don't care if you played or coached a sport. I don't care who employs you.

Those things certainly influence your perspective. It may influence what you will say and won't say.

It does not make you right or wrong or better or worse.

I do care what someone brings to the table whether it is in print of if someone bestows a microphone your way. I will then consider the substance and draw my own conclusion.

While Peter, Drew and similar characters are on record for their work, I'm not. I am not going to subject my family to the potential nut-cases that are out there. If that means I'm not manning-up, so be it. The conclusion I draw is I disagree with you and care little else what you have to say on the matter.

(It does make me wonder an "Anonymous" makes a pro-WNST posting ... but, hey, maybe that's just me.)

Some info was on wikipedia, like location of stadia. I tend to avoid it because anyone can go in there and make changes. It's good but it is not gospel.

I would not have posted except afterp already posted the correct answer -- including the manager, which I did not notice the first time. If the game were live, I would have just waited.

For the record, I thought a 19th Century National League team might be the correct answer. Names like Bridgerooms, Beaneators, Temple Cup and such came up instead. I thought the Expos were the correct answer for '94 and '81.

Sorry if it came off as me trying to say I knew all of this stuff. I'll leave trivia by the boatloads to Phil Wood. I make my living in a different way.

I think the answer is 1981 the Orioles that year they won 101 and the Yankee won 104. The Orioles and the Yankees had four game series in Memorial Stadium that was a record for a four game series of over 208, 000. The old stadium at the time could seat 52,000.

The Orioles won 3 out of 4 but needed sweep to win the division.

I read your question again and It was the season the strike and the records did not matter because the World Series and the play offs were canceled. That was 1994 and the team was Expos

Well said, Waspman. If you read some of the discourse that occurred on this blog over the weekend, the Scorpio Killer may be a regular poster. You are absolutely justified in sheltering your family from some of these manic depressive deviants.

Nestor Aparicio and Drew Forrester are both blowhards who coined the phrase "Planning to Lose" when discussing the Orioles outlook for the last several years. They constantly say the team "stinks". It is one thing to post such thoughts as a pastime to break the boredom, it is another to engage in a constant drumbeat of negativity towards our local professional baseball team when you have the bully pulpit. Forrester is merely trying to deter differing opinion by threats and coercion, as a regular on this blog has tried to do.

Real Men of Genius,

Hey, Genius... the team DOES stink. duh! Maybe you should listen to a voice of reason for a change.

I am assuming that location refers to the city, and not the stadium. Because if it is the stadium that is a different answer.

Otherwise:

The New York Yankees. Still play in NY and did not make the World Series in 1994 due to the fact there was no world series that year.

Montreal had the best record, but the team is not still in Montreal so they are. disqualified.

For manager, either Torre, Dent or another I can't think of. Without looking it up I'll go with Torre...I think Dent was gone by '94.

Riverfront Stadium was located in downtown Cincinnati on the banks of the Ohio River. As is The Great American Ballpark. The definition of location is not confined to solely mean the same geographical coordinates. No need to over analyze a simple question.

Of course, the smooth writing Peter S meant to say: "The time has come for Jeff Z and ME."

Okay, I went to BaseballReference.com and looked it up. In 1993 the SF Giants finished with a record of 103-59 for a .636 winning pct but did not make the playoffs because the Braves had a record of 104-58. Dusty Baker was the manager for the Giants that year, which honestly would have been my guess but it would have only been a wild guess. So that tops the Orioles in '81.

But I guess there's the matter of interpretation of the question. Is it the best record not to play in the post-season, or the best record for the given season but did not play in the post-season? If that's the case, I think Waspman has it covered for the modern era.

The times coming when you will have to answer to me for all the trash you talk...

I dont think it will comeback on me though

My overall stance with the Orioles is I like the potential of the young players, and having young players with genuine potential is long overdue (partly because Syd Thrift was terrible). However, the Orioles are turning this into their latest one-trick pony and there is more to do than just sit back and wait.

My overall stance with local media is I listen and read most of the local media. I'm not going to single out who I think is best or who I refuse to listen to. It's not that important.

I listen to 'NST but to think they don't have an agenda like everyone else drawing a paycheck is a silly notion.

In the end, I don't care what anyone thinks about the local media. If the local media is going to comment on others in the local media, they're wasting time they could be talking about sports. They're not wasting my time, though. My fingers work just fine.

dedalus, I even said most of what you said except for phrasing it as it not being in the same location. Of course, "location" is ambiguous by definition. Peter could have said "city" instead. But then he would have erased my chance to be amusing, and your chance not to get it.

For those still playing along, afterp has the right answer.

It was 1980 when the Orioles had 100 wins while NYY had 103 wins. THAT means the Orioles did NOT have the best record in baseball that year. The same is true for SF if SF is beaten out by ATL.