Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
Other entries in the series:
Competitive Balancing Act I—The King James Version: An Overview of the Literature, Scenes I, II, III, and IV
Competitive Balancing Act II—This Is Pop: Redefining Large- and Small-Market by Population, Scenes I, II, III, and IV
Competitive Balancing Act III—Games Back to Where You Once Belonged, Scene I
Competitive Balancing Act IV—C'mon Freddy, Everyone into the Poo-el: Reviewing the Available Player Pool
Competitive Balancing Act V—Natural Resources: Attendance and Competitive Balance
In the last installment we showed that the last three decades have been, by far, the best for competitive balance based on teams in the playoff hunt at the All-Star break. Next, let's break down historically (by decade) how teams in each strata at the break have finished the season:
| POS | ||||||||||||
| Decade | 1stGB | 1 | % | 2 | % | 3 | % | 4 | % | 5 to 10 | % | Grand Total |
| 1930s | <=5 GB | 11 | 42% | 9 | 35% | 4 | 15% | 1 | 4% | 1 | 4% | 26 |
| <10 GB | 14 | 25% | 14 | 25% | 10 | 18% | 9 | 16% | 9 | 16% | 56 | |
| >=12 GB | 0% | 0% | 2 | 4% | 2 | 4% | 43 | 91% | 47 | |||
| Other | 0% | 1 | 11% | 1 | 11% | 3 | 33% | 4 | 44% | 9 | ||
| 1930s Total | 14 | 13% | 15 | 13% | 13 | 12% | 14 | 13% | 56 | 50% | 112 | |
| 1940s | <=5 GB | 19 | 43% | 11 | 25% | 5 | 11% | 5 | 11% | 4 | 9% | 44 |
| <10 GB | 1 | 2% | 7 | 17% | 9 | 21% | 4 | 10% | 21 | 50% | 42 | |
| >=12 GB | 0% | 0% | 3 | 5% | 6 | 10% | 50 | 85% | 59 | |||
| Other | 0% | 2 | 13% | 3 | 20% | 5 | 33% | 5 | 33% | 15 | ||
| 1940s Total | 20 | 13% | 20 | 13% | 20 | 13% | 20 | 13% | 80 | 50% | 160 | |
| 1950s | <=5 GB | 19 | 34% | 14 | 25% | 10 | 18% | 7 | 13% | 6 | 11% | 56 |
| <10 GB | 20 | 26% | 18 | 23% | 15 | 19% | 10 | 13% | 14 | 18% | 77 | |
| >=12 GB | 0% | 1 | 1% | 2 | 3% | 7 | 10% | 57 | 85% | 67 | ||
| Other | 0% | 1 | 6% | 3 | 19% | 3 | 19% | 9 | 56% | 16 | ||
| 1950s Total | 20 | 13% | 20 | 13% | 20 | 13% | 20 | 13% | 80 | 50% | 160 | |
| 1960s | <=5 GB | 20 | 34% | 17 | 29% | 9 | 15% | 8 | 14% | 5 | 8% | 59 |
| <10 GB | 21 | 21% | 18 | 18% | 18 | 18% | 12 | 12% | 33 | 32% | 102 | |
| >=12 GB | 0% | 1 | 1% | 3 | 4% | 5 | 6% | 69 | 88% | 78 | ||
| Other | 1 | 6% | 3 | 17% | 1 | 6% | 5 | 28% | 8 | 44% | 18 | |
| 1960s Total | 22 | 11% | 22 | 11% | 22 | 11% | 22 | 11% | 110 | 56% | 198 | |
| 1970s | <=5 GB | 36 | 46% | 14 | 18% | 14 | 18% | 9 | 11% | 6 | 8% | 79 |
| <10 GB | 39 | 30% | 32 | 24% | 27 | 21% | 20 | 15% | 13 | 10% | 131 | |
| >=12 GB | 0% | 1 | 1% | 10 | 11% | 15 | 16% | 66 | 72% | 92 | ||
| Other | 1 | 4% | 7 | 30% | 3 | 13% | 6 | 26% | 6 | 26% | 23 | |
| 1970s Total | 40 | 16% | 40 | 16% | 40 | 16% | 41 | 17% | 85 | 35% | 246 | |
| 1980s | <=5 GB | 37 | 34% | 27 | 25% | 22 | 20% | 13 | 12% | 10 | 9% | 109 |
| <10 GB | 40 | 23% | 38 | 21% | 32 | 18% | 30 | 17% | 37 | 21% | 177 | |
| >=12 GB | 0% | 1 | 2% | 3 | 5% | 6 | 10% | 52 | 84% | 62 | ||
| Other | 0% | 1 | 5% | 5 | 24% | 4 | 19% | 11 | 52% | 21 | ||
| 1980s Total | 40 | 15% | 40 | 15% | 40 | 15% | 40 | 15% | 100 | 38% | 260 | |
| 1990s | <=5 GB | 50 | 44% | 35 | 31% | 15 | 13% | 8 | 7% | 5 | 4% | 113 |
| <10 GB | 52 | 30% | 46 | 26% | 33 | 19% | 22 | 13% | 23 | 13% | 176 | |
| >=12 GB | 0% | 6 | 7% | 16 | 19% | 20 | 24% | 42 | 50% | 84 | ||
| Other | 0% | 1 | 6% | 3 | 17% | 9 | 50% | 5 | 28% | 18 | ||
| 1990s Total | 52 | 19% | 53 | 19% | 52 | 19% | 51 | 18% | 70 | 25% | 278 | |
| 2000s | <=5 GB | 23 | 49% | 12 | 26% | 11 | 23% | 1 | 2% | 0 | 0% | 47 |
| <10 GB | 25 | 36% | 20 | 29% | 16 | 23% | 8 | 11% | 1 | 1% | 70 | |
| >=12 GB | 0% | 2 | 5% | 7 | 16% | 12 | 27% | 23 | 52% | 44 | ||
| Other | 0% | 1 | 17% | 1 | 17% | 4 | 67% | 0 | 0% | 6 | ||
| 2000s Total | 25 | 21% | 23 | 19% | 24 | 20% | 24 | 20% | 24 | 20% | 120 | |
| Grand Total | 233 | 15% | 233 | 15% | 231 | 15% | 232 | 15% | 605 | 39% | 1534 |
So there have been more teams close to the division leaders at the break and those teams have won the division with more regularity. Of course, adding more divisions will do that.
To be continued…
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