Dodgers win 100 games quicker than any team in franchise history

The Dodgers’ triumph in San Francisco on Saturday night gave them 100 wins on the season, the tenth time in franchise history they’ve reached triple-digit victories, and the fastest they’ve ever done it.

At 100-44, Los Angeles reached the century mark three games faster than the previous club record. The 1899 Brooklyn Superbas and 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers each reached 100 wins in the 147th game* of the season. Those two squads have the highest winning percentages by a Dodgers team over a full season (.682), which the 2022 team is on pace to beat this year, needing 111 victories to do so, a 11-7 finish.

*Note: I excluded ties (which are no longer a thing), regulation games that were called with the stats counting but the teams still needing to play again to attain a decision. In 1953, for instance, the Dodgers tied the Cubs 6-6 in the second game of a doubleheader on June 14, which meant technically Brooklyn captured its 100th win in Game No. 148, but for practical purposes it was the 147th game (decision) of the season.

This current Dodgers run is remarkable, winning 100 games for a third consecutive full season and for the fourth time in the last five full seasons. In the pandemic-shortened 60-game 2020 campaign, the Dodgers were 43-17 (.717) en route to winning the World Series.

Those four 100-win seasons match the Dodgers’ total over the previous 75 years.

Brooklyn’s heyday is underrated in this regard, based on the schedule. The Dodgers won 100 games in 1941, 1942, and 1953, but they were also playing a 154-game schedule, eight games shorter than the current format. A 100-win season over 162 games is a .617 win percentage, which would be 95 wins in a 154-game season.

Through that lens, Brooklyn’s dominance of the National League is even more impressive, with 95 wins or more eight times in a 15-year run (1941-55), including five times in a seven-year stretch (1949-55). The Boys of Summer, indeed.

Since the start of 2019, the Dodgers’ .672 win percentage is the best four-year stretch in the National League/American League since the Cubs from 1907-10 (.675). Chicago’s best four-year stretch started a year earlier, with the 116-win 1906 team starting a four-year win percentage of .697. These Dodgers have a better record than the 1936-39 Yankees (.670), widely considered among the best teams of all-time, and they are better than the 1941-44 Cardinals (.6715), too.

Based on available records, the Negro Leagues had a few amazing stretches, with the Kansas City Monarchs going 230-99 (.699) from 1923-26, and the Homestead Grays going 199-79 (.716) from 1941-44.

The Dodgers reaching 100 wins in 144 games matches Cleveland’s record over the strike-shortened 1995 season, a rarity over the last 75 years. Since integration, there have only been five major league teams with at least 100 wins in their first 144 games. The last was the 2001 Mariners, who were 104-40 en route to tying the MLB record with 116 wins.