Who were the best teams in history? That is not an easy calculation. Wins and losses only get you so far, although that is important, but it does not take into account the quality of the competition or league that year. Counting stats are unreliable when the game has changed so much over the various eras. One thing to note right off the bat. We've segmented this into batting and pitching first off, which helps us understand just why the team was so great. And we'll note up front that it is much easier to compare a great Batting Team over the history of the game than a Pitching Team.

Why? Well, we have a theory, and it starts with the fact that nine players have batted throughout the game from 1871 to the present day, even if now one half, and more in 2020, of baseball has the designated hitter. And that has been consistent. With pitching, staffs have changed so much since the early days, and even over the last generation, that a team may have had only five pitchers prior to 1900, ten one generation ago, and twelve to fourteen now, even higher in 2020. And that seems to push the current teams on the pitching side of the Best Ever equation higher on the list than we wonder if accurate, and that's even after we adjust for era. It's probably better to think of Best Pitching by those eras, and that can extend to the Best Ever Total, too. Then there's those recent problems with very good teams that banged trash cans and stole signs, then won a World Series. Adjust as you must.