Unbelievable MLB Season Opener: Which Team Shattered All Records?

Imagine starting a baseball season so hot that history might just have to take a backseat. Sure, the 1884 St. Louis Maroons tore through their schedule with 20 straight wins—a feat that would make any baseball fan’s jaw drop—but that was a different ballgame entirely, closer to the end of the Civil War than the dawn of modern Major League Baseball. So, what can we learn if we play by today’s rules, from 1901 onward? Well, I dove deep into the archives, sifting through decades of stats, stories, and sizzling starts to pinpoint the most electrifying season openers the big leagues have ever seen. Spoiler alert: It’s a wild ride, packed with surprises and streaks that will make you rethink what an “unstoppable start” really means. Ready to step up to the plate and see which teams knocked it out of the park before the season even got rolling? LEARN MORE
The Tigers opened the season an unbelievable 17-0 on the road and 35-5 overall in 1984. They rolled all the way to a 104-58 record under Sparky Anderson and beat the San Diego Padres in the World Series.

The post Which Team Has Gotten Off to the Best Start in MLB History? appeared first on Opta Analyst.

So instead, we’ve dug into the historical data to discover the best start to a Major League Baseball season during the modern era (since 1901).

Managed by the great Joe Torre, the ’82 Braves finished the regular season atop the NL West (yes, the Braves were in the West) but were swept by the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS. St. Louis would go on to win the World Series over the Milwaukee Brewers in seven games.

Longest Winning Streaks to Begin a Season

T-1. 13-0 – 2023 Tampa Bay Rays (March 30-April 13)

Just two years after a 54-108 finish, the ’81 A’s, managed by Billy Martin, won their first AL West crown since 1975 at 64-45 (the season was shortened due to a players strike). At the time, their 11-0 start set an AL record for the best start to a season.

If we’re going all the way back to the birth of professional baseball, the Chicago White Stockings own this mark with 21 straight home wins to open the 1880 season.

For more coverage, follow us on social media on Instagram, Bluesky, Facebook and X.

T-1. 13-0 – 1987 Milwaukee Brewers (April 6-20)

Hall of Famer Ty Cobb’s .420 batting average during the 1911 season still ranks as the third highest of the modern era. (He only hit .416 at home.) The Tigers went 51-25 at home and 89-65 overall but without a wild-card round in those days, they didn’t make the postseason.  

T-1. 13-0 – 1982 Atlanta Braves (April 6-21)

The 2023 Rays not only won their first 13 games overall, they also broke the Dodgers’ home record with an 8-3 win at Tropicana Field against the defending champion Houston Astros on April 24.

4. 11-0 – 1981 Oakland Athletics (April 9-19)

As far as we know, there’s no one alive from the 1884 St. Louis Maroons to argue this one.

Longest Winning Streak at Home to Start a Season

1. 14-0 – 2023 Tampa Bay Rays (March 30-April 24)

Kevin Cash’s Rays were one of only seven teams dating to 1901 to have started a season with at least 10 wins when they opened 13-0 in 2023.

The Dodgers opened the season 10-0, which is tied for fifth on the all-time list. And they also went 11-0 on the road in 1955. It proved to be an all-around magical year as they beat the New York Yankees in the World Series. After dropping the first three at Yankee Stadium, Brooklyn won 2-0 on the road in Game 7.

We’ve dug into the historical data to discover the best start to a Major League Baseball season during the modern era (since 1901).

2. 13-0 – 2009 Los Angeles Dodgers (April 13-May 6)

And the 1884 Maroons aren’t the only ones turning in their graves for being left off that list. That same year, the New York Gothams started the season with 12 straight wins but went .500 from there and changed their name the next season to the New York Giants.

3. 12-0 – 1911 Detroit Tigers (April 13-May 9) 

They started that season with 20 straight wins and finished 94-19, but rules are rules and that season was closer to the end of the Civil War than it was to the start of baseball’s modern era.

4. 11-0 – 2003 Kansas City Royals (March 31-May 5)

Longest Winning Streak on Road to Start a Season

1. 17-0 – 1984 Detroit Tigers (April 3-May 24)

The Brewers won 91 games in ’87 but finished 7.0 games back of the Detroit Tigers in the AL East. Playoff baseball was hardly the guarantee it sometimes feels it’s since become.

2. 12-0 – 1941 St. Louis Cardinals (April 15-May 5)

The Dodgers ended the 1911 Detroit Tigers’ record of 12 straight home wins almost 100 years later in 2009. They finished 50-31 at home on the way to the NL West title but lost to the defending World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS.

T-3. 11-0 – 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers (April 14-May 10)

Then there was those long-forgotten Maroons, who began the 1885 season with 14 straight victories at home. Two years later, the Detroit Wolverines took a run at the old record with 18 consecutive home wins in 1886.

T-3. 11-0 – 1981 Oakland Athletics (April 9-26) 

Sometimes it wasn’t fair in the days before expanded playoffs. The Cardinals went 97–56 in 1941 but finished second in the National League behind the 100-win Dodgers.

The A’s not only started the season 11-0 overall, but they also opened with 11 straight wins on the road. Their 17-1 start overall remains the best start in MLB history through 18 games. They swept the Royals in the ALDS, but lost to Yankees in the ALCS.
The 2023 Rays, the 1982 Braves and 1987 Brewers are tied for the longest season-opening winning streaks in MLB’s modern era.