The New York teams not only were in first place as the second half began, but also were sporting winning percentages of .600 or better.
That is rare for the Mets, who only four times in their history have achieved that level — the championship seasons of 1969 and 1986 plus 1985 and 1988. The Yankees, by comparison, have three seasons of reaching a .700 winning percentage and have a chance of doing that again this year.
What is really rare is for both New York teams to be above that .600 mark of excellence in the same year. Only one time has a season ended in this way. That was 1985, when the Mets had a .605 winning percentage and the Yankees finished at .602. Both were the second-best in their respective leagues, yet neither made the playoffs as the Mets finished behind the Cardinals in the NL East and the Yankees behind the Blue Jays in the AL East.
That was an era when the Astros were still in the National League, the Brewers in the American League and the Expos in Montreal. Oh yeah, only division winners made the playoffs. So Doc Gooden won the NL Cy Young and Don Mattingly the AL MVP, and neither received the national stage of the postseason despite playing on teams that won 98 and 97 games, respectively.
