The facts
The Houston Astros clinched the American League West on Sunday, September 27, the final day of the regular season, with a 9-0 win over the Athletics in West Sacramento, finishing 81-81. According to ESPN and Yahoo Sports, they are the first team in MLB history to win a division over a full season without a winning record. The previous low was the 2005 San Diego Padres, who won the NL West at 82-80.
Houston and Texas entered the final day tied at 80-81. The Astros held the tiebreaker, so the Rangers' 6-4 loss to Minnesota was enough to clinch it, and Houston would have won the division even with a loss. Texas finished 80-82.
The Astros were outscored by 32 runs this season, which works out to an expected record of 78-84, OutKick reported. Texas was outscored by 46. Houston was 20-31 on May 20, and general manager Dana Brown was fired in August. It is the Astros' fifth AL West title in six years. They host the Chicago White Sox in a best-of-three Wild Card Series starting Tuesday.
Our take
Congratulations to the Houston Astros, champions of the American League West, a division so fucking weak that two teams spent six months trying to hand the title to each other and Houston lost the game of hot potato.
Houston finished 81-81. Exactly average. That is a C-minus with a parade. The underlying numbers were even worse than the standings: outscored by 32 runs, the Astros played like a 78-win team. They didn't win the division so much as get left holding it when everyone else put it down.
They didn't even need to win on the last day. The Rangers lost to Minnesota, the tiebreaker kicked in, and Houston's 9-0 win was a victory lap on a track somebody had already handed them. Texas was outscored by 46 runs and still finished one game back. The AL West this year was two drunk guys in a parking lot arguing over who is sober enough to drive.
Even the front office knew. Houston fired its general manager in August, then watched the team he built stumble backward into October. Dana Brown got canned for building a division champion, which is the kind of sentence only this season could produce.
Now the Astros get a home playoff series off a record that would earn most teams a mid-round draft pick and a firm handshake. Somewhere a 2005 Padres fan is weeping with relief.
San Diego held the record for sorriest division champion for 21 years. Houston took it by winning exactly as often as it lost, the one thing this team did perfectly all year.
