Last time out, we discussed the record for a team alternating wins and losses, both to start a season and within a season. Now let’s go on a slight tangent and explore the universe of .500 teams.
The record for most different points in the season at .500 while also finishing the season at .500 is held by the 2010 Oakland A’s, which hit .500 for the 33rd time that year in their final game:
| Date | Tm | Opp | R | RA | W-L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday, Apr 6 | OAK | SEA | W | 2 | 1 | 1-1 |
| Friday, Apr 30 | OAK | TOR | L | 2 | 10 | 12-12 |
| Sunday, May 2 | OAK | TOR | L | 3 | 9 | 13-13 |
| Tuesday, May 4 | OAK | TEX | W | 7 | 6 | 14-14 |
| Friday, May 7 | OAK | TBR | L | 1 | 4 | 15-15 |
| Friday, May 14 | OAK | LAA | L | 0 | 4 | 18-18 |
| Tuesday, May 18 | OAK | SEA | W | 6 | 5 | 20-20 |
| Saturday, May 22 | OAK | SFG | W | 1 | 0 | 22-22 |
| Tuesday, May 25 | OAK | BAL | L | 1 | 5 | 23-23 |
| Saturday, Jun 12 | OAK | SFG | L | 4 | 5 | 32-32 |
| Tuesday, Jun 15 | OAK | CHC | W | 9 | 5 | 33-33 |
| Sunday, Jul 18 | OAK | KCR | W | 9 | 6 | 46-46 |
| Tuesday, Jul 20 | OAK | BOS | W | 5 | 4 | 47-47 |
| Friday, Jul 23 | OAK | CHW | L | 1 | 5 | 48-48 |
| Friday, Jul 30 | OAK | CHW | L | 1 | 6 | 51-51 |
| Sunday, Aug 1 | OAK | CHW | L | 1 | 4 | 52-52 |
| Tuesday, Aug 3 | OAK | KCR | L | 2 | 3 | 53-53 |
| Friday, Aug 6 | OAK | TEX | L | 1 | 5 | 54-54 |
| Tuesday, Aug 10 | OAK | SEA | L | 0 | 2 | 56-56 |
| Friday, Aug 13 | OAK | MIN | L | 3 | 4 | 57-57 |
| Thursday, Aug 19 | OAK | TBR | W | 4 | 3 | 60-60 |
| Saturday, Aug 21 | OAK | TBR | L | 4 | 5 | 61-61 |
| Tuesday, Aug 24 | OAK | CLE | W | 5 | 0 | 62-62 |
| Thursday, Aug 26 | OAK | CLE | L | 2 | 3 | 63-63 |
| Saturday, Aug 28 | OAK | TEX | W | 5 | 0 | 64-64 |
| Monday, Aug 30 | OAK | NYY | L | 5 | 11 | 65-65 |
| Friday, Sep 10 | OAK | BOS | W | 5 | 0 | 70-70 |
| Sunday, Sep 12 | OAK | BOS | L | 3 | 5 | 71-71 |
| Tuesday, Sep 14 | OAK | KCR | L | 3 | 11 | 72-72 |
| Friday, Sep 17 | OAK | MIN | W | 3 | 1 | 73-73 |
| Sunday, Sep 19 | OAK | MIN | W | 6 | 2 | 74-74 |
| Saturday, Sep 25 | OAK | TEX | L | 3 | 4 | 77-77 |
| Sunday, Oct 3 | OAK | SEA | W | 4 | 3 | 81-81 |
Generated 11/25/2013.
The record for most different points in the season at .500 while NOT finishing the season at .500 is 35, achieved by the 1959 Chicago Cubs. The Cubbies ended the season at 74-80, having been at .500 after every even number game from game two through 34 (except game six), and not being at .500 after game 100:
| Date | Tm | Opp | R | RA | W-L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday, Apr 12 | CHC | LAD | L | 3 | 5 | 1-1 |
| Wednesday, Apr 15 | CHC | SFG | L | 1 | 7 | 2-2 |
| Sunday, Apr 19 | CHC | LAD | L | 3 | 8 | 4-4 |
| Wednesday, Apr 22 | CHC | STL | L | 2 | 8 | 5-5 |
| Friday, Apr 24 | CHC | SFG | L | 3 | 4 | 6-6 |
| Sunday, Apr 26 | CHC | SFG | L | 2 | 3 | 7-7 |
| Thursday, Apr 30 | CHC | CIN | W | 3 | 2 | 8-8 |
| Saturday, May 2 | CHC | PHI | W | 4 | 3 | 9-9 |
| Sunday, May 3 (2) | CHC | PHI | L | 4 | 5 | 10-10 |
| Tuesday, May 5 | CHC | PIT | W | 6 | 3 | 11-11 |
| Thursday, May 7 | CHC | STL | L | 3 | 4 | 12-12 |
| Saturday, May 9 | CHC | STL | L | 1 | 11 | 13-13 |
| Sunday, May 10 (2) | CHC | STL | L | 7 | 8 | 14-14 |
| Tuesday, May 12 | CHC | MLN | W | 7 | 3 | 15-15 |
| Thursday, May 14 | CHC | CIN | L | 0 | 2 | 16-16 |
| Sunday, May 17 (1) | CHC | PIT | L | 4 | 5 | 17-17 |
| Saturday, May 23 | CHC | STL | L | 1 | 5 | 20-20 |
| Monday, May 25 | CHC | STL | W | 9 | 4 | 21-21 |
| Thursday, May 28 | CHC | LAD | W | 7 | 5 | 22-22 |
| Saturday, May 30 | CHC | SFG | L | 2 | 5 | 23-23 |
| Friday, Jun 5 | CHC | PIT | W | 10 | 5 | 25-25 |
| Friday, Jun 19 | CHC | PHI | L | 7 | 8 | 32-32 |
| Sunday, Jun 21 | CHC | PHI | W | 4 | 0 | 33-33 |
| Wednesday, Jun 24 | CHC | CIN | L | 0 | 5 | 34-34 |
| Friday, Jun 26 | CHC | MLN | L | 1 | 11 | 35-35 |
| Sunday, Jun 28 | CHC | MLN | L | 1 | 2 | 36-36 |
| Wednesday, Jul 1 | CHC | STL | W | 6 | 5 | 37-37 |
| Friday, Jul 3 | CHC | SFG | L | 0 | 4 | 38-38 |
| Saturday, Jul 4 (2) | CHC | LAD | L | 2 | 5 | 39-39 |
| Thursday, Jul 16 | CHC | MLN | W | 4 | 2 | 44-44 |
| Saturday, Jul 18 | CHC | CIN | L | 1 | 5 | 45-45 |
| Tuesday, Jul 21 | CHC | STL | W | 8 | 2 | 46-46 |
| Thursday, Jul 23 | CHC | LAD | L | 3 | 5 | 47-47 |
| Saturday, Jul 25 | CHC | SFG | W | 5 | 3 | 48-48 |
| Thursday, Jul 30 | CHC | MLN | L | 2 | 6 | 50-50 |
Generated 11/25/2013.
No team has ever finished at .500, with the final game of the season representing their ONLY time at .500 that year. The closest we’ve come to that is the one time that the 1979 Twins and 2007 Dodgers, who each finished 82-80, stopped at 500. The Twins hit the .500 mark at 32-32, and the Dodgers’ did it at 2-2.
The record for smallest span between a team’s best and worst in-season record relative to .500 is eight games, by the 1948 Detroit Tigers. They finished the year two games over .500 at 78-76, with their low-water mark being five under at 62-67 on September 10 and high-water mark being three over at 28-25 on June 16 (-5 to +3 = 8). In the 162-game era, the 1964 Dodgers (80-82) had a span of only nine games, with a low-water mark of seven games under at 2-9 on April 25 and the best record at two games over (55-53) on August 8 (-7 to +2 = 9). The 2011 Blue Jays finished at .500 with a span of only nine games (-5 to +4), tying the record for smallest span by a .500 team.
The 1977 Cubs hold the record for the largest span for a team that finished at .500 (27 games, from -2 to +25). They were 7-9 on April 30, then went 40-13 for their high-water mark at 47-22 on June 28.