Major League Baseball (MLB) has the longest season of any of the major American sports. Any team that can sustain their focus, stamina and efficiency through 162 games to post one of the best MLB records in a single season deserves to go down in the history books.
So, which teams can claim to be in the top ranks of the professional baseball teams with the best single-season records of all time? Let’s take a look.
And don’t forget: You can watch MLB games every day on DIRECTV as each of the MLB’s 30 teams hope to record an all-time best season in the 2025 MLB season.
All-Time Best MLB Team Records
Here are the MLB teams with the best records ever in a single season, both by sheer number of wins and win percentage:
Most Wins in an MLB Season
1. Tie: 1906 Chicago Cubs (116-36) & 2001 Seattle Mariners (116-46)
The 1906 Chicago Cubs absolutely dominated the game that year, posting a 116-36 regular season record and a .763 winning percentage — both the best in MLB history to this day. Unfortunately, their remarkable and historic season ended with a shocking loss in the World Series to none other than their cross-town rivals, the Chicago White Sox.
It took nearly another century before another team could match the Cubs’ 1906 record. The Seattle Mariners, led by outfielder Ichiro Suzuki in his debut rookie season, did it in 2001. The Mariners eventually lost in the ALCS to the New York Yankees that year, but Suzuki took home both the Rookie of the Year award and the league MVP award.
3. 1998 New York Yankees (114-48)
The ’98 Yankees were considered to have been one of the greatest teams in baseball history, coming up just two wins shy of the 1906 Cubs’ and 2001 Mariners’ all-time record. This team, however, did get the most important job in any MLB season done: They won the World Series. This roster was the epitome of star-studded, with Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Bernie Williams all on the field.
4. 1954 Cleveland Indians (Guardians) (111-43)
The 1954 Cleveland Indians were a force of nature. They rode a 111-43 regular season record all the way to the World Series, knocking out a Yankees team that had been on a five-straight-title tear. But much like their predecessors in the 1906 Cubs, the ’54 Indians also lost the World Series to the New York Giants (now San Francisco Giants).
5. 2022 Los Angeles Dodgers (111-51)
The next team to put up 111 wins in a single season came in 2022 in the form of the Los Angeles Dodgers. This Dodgers team, which had also posted 100+-win records on three occasions in the prior four years, was a sign of the dominant force we’ve come to know them as over the last few years, which became especially apparent after the addition of Shohei Ohtani in 2024. The roster boasted top-tier talent like Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, but they were taken out in the NLDS by the San Francisco Giants.
6. Tie: 1927 New York Yankees (110-42) & 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates (110-44)
The 1927 New York Yankees leveraged two of the most iconic names in baseball history, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, into a World Series sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates. This team’s lineup, nicknamed “Murderer’s Row,” was the lynchpin of what most experts now consider to be the single greatest baseball team ever assembled.
Led by shortstop Honus Wagner, widely considered the best to every play that position and one the first five players inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, the 1909 Pirates brought home the franchise’s first-ever World Series title over the Detroit Tigers.
8. Tie: 1969 Baltimore Orioles & 1961 New York Yankees (109-53)
These teams may have had the same regular season records just eight years apart, but the outcomes of their campaigns were quite different.
The ’61 Yankees season, most famous for the “home run race” between Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle that saw Mari’s snap Babe Ruth’s single-season record with 61 homers, ended with their 26th American League pennant and a World Series victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
The Orioles, despite dominating regular season play in 1969 and also reaching the big game, ended up being defeated by the New York “Miracle” Mets in one of baseball’s most famous upsets of all time.
10. Tie: 2018 Boston Red Sox, 1986 New York Mets, 1975 Cincinnati Reds, 1970 Baltimore Orioles (108-54)
This four-way tie saw each of these teams put up a 108-54 regular season record, and every single one of these squads ended up winning the World Series that year.
Best Win Percentage in an MLB Season
Wins are the North Star metric for most teams when it comes to judging a season’s success, but it’s not the only way to gauge which teams had the best seasons in MLB history.
Here are the best teams in MLB history by win percentage:
| Team (Modern Name) | Season | Win Percent |
| Chicago White Stockings (White Sox) | 1885 | .777 |
| Chicago Cubs | 1906 | .763 |
| New York Giants (San Francisco) | 1885 | .759 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 1902 | .741 |
| Chicago White Stockings (White Sox) | 1886 | .726 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 1909 | .725 |
| Cleveland Indians (Guardians) | 1954 | .721 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 2020 | .717 |
| Seattle Mariners | 2001 | .716 |
| New York Yankees | 1927 | .714 |
Has an MLB team ever gone undefeated in the regular season?
As you can tell by now, no MLB has ever pulled off the feat of completing an entire season without losing a single game.
How many MLB teams have won at least 100 games in a single season?
Since 1876, 119 MLB teams have won 100 or more games in a single regular season. The New York Yankees (21) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (11) have had the most 100+ win seasons.
There were no teams that scored 100+ games in the 2024 season, though the Dodgers came close with 98 wins.
Watch MLB on DIRECTV
Ready to see which team breaks the 100-win mark first in the 2025 MLB season? You can watch all of the action on the diamond with DIRECTV.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Which team has the best all-time single-season record in MLB history?
It's a tie, between the 1909 Chicago Cubs and the 2001 Seattle Mariners.
Which team has the most 100+ win seasons?
The New York Yankees have had the most seasons with 100 or more wins.
How many games are in an MLB season?
An MLB season is 162 games long.
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