Skip to content 
With everything that can go wrong during a baseball game, the longest MLB win streak is truly one record to marvel at.
Baseball is a funny game like that because even the worst teams win at least 50 or 60 games every year while the best teams usually lose at least 50 or 60 games. That’s why it always captures the attention of fans when a team can put together one of the longest MLB winning streaks ever seen. Even getting close can capture the attention of the entire league.
10 Longest MLB Winning Streaks in Baseball History
But what team has the longest MLB winning streak ever seen? There are quite a few teams in the long and distinguished history of baseball that have put together some of the longest winning runs in MLB history.
Some did it in recent years while others did it over 100 years ago. Let’s work our way to the top by looking at some of the longest MLB winning streaks in baseball history.
10. 4 teams tied with 18 games
To date, there have been four teams that have put together winning streaks that stopped at 18 games.
None of those streaks happened particularly recently. The Chicago White Stockings (now the Cubs) pulled off the feat in 1885 with the streak lasting most of June. The Boston Beaneaters (the franchise that’s now the Braves) won 18 in a row toward the end of the 1891 season but still failed to reach the World Series.
In 1904, the New York Giants won 18 in a row on their way to winning 106 games during the regular season. Most recently, the 1953 Yankees won 18 straight games, doing so early in the season and ultimately winning the World Series for the fifth straight season.
T8. White Sox, 19 (1906)
In 1906, the White Sox were still a young franchise, but they put together one of the longest MLB winning streaks, winning 19 straight games.
At that point, only three teams had put together winning streaks longer than 19 games. The White Sox also picked a good time to get hot, as the streak lasted from August 2 to August 25. It propelled the team to a strong finish, as the White Sox ultimately won the American League pennant with a three-game cushion. They also beat the Cubs in the first and only World Series between the two Windy City rivals.
T8. Yankees, 19 (1947)
More than 40 years later, the Yankees matched Chicago’s 19-game winning streak. The Bronx Bombers began their winning streak on June 29, carrying it until July 18.
It was good timing to the Yankees to go on a run like that because the 1947 campaign was the team’s first season to be broadcast on local TV, so the entire city got to see the streak unfold. Of course, whether they needed to win 19 games in a row is another story.
The Yankees ran away with the American League that year, winning the pennant with a 12-game cushion before knocking off the cross-town Dodgers in the World Series. The 1947 season ended up being one of many championships during that era, although it did end a three-year drought, which was a long time for the Yankees in that era.
T5. St. Louis Maroons, 20 (1884)
The Maroons were only a franchise from 1884 to 1886 before spending three years as the Indianapolis Hoosiers before disappearing completely.
Nevertheless, the franchise began its inaugural season in 1884 with 20 consecutive wins. It was not only one of the longest streaks in baseball history but it was also the best start in American pro sports until the 2015-16 NBA season when the Golden State Warriors opened the season 24-0.
T5. Providence Grays, 20 (1884)
What a year 1884 must have been for those alive at the time. Just a few months after the Maroons won 20 in a row, the Providence Grays did the same.
That means two of the longest MLB winning streaks came in the same year.
Providence went unbeaten from August 7 to September 9 during the club’s 20-game winning streak. Of course, there is no living link to the Grays, who were only a team from 1878 to 1885. Nevertheless, their 20-game winning streak late in the season helped to propel the Grays to the 1884 World Series, which was the second time in the short history of the franchise that Providence won the pennant. The Grays would beat the New York Metropolitans in the World Series but would only play one more season.
T5. Athletics, 20 (2002)
There is one other team that maxed out at 20 wins, and it was the A’s in 2002, a team so famous and a winning streak so great that they made a movie out of it.
As anyone who saw the movie Moneyball (or read the book) can attest, the winning streak was an unlikely occurrence for such a small-market club.
But that’s what made it so special, as the A’s remained unbeaten from August 13 to September 6, setting themselves up to win 103 games and win the AL West crown despite crashing out in the ALDS against the Twins, who were also the team that put an end to their winning streak.
T3. Cubs, 21 (1935)
Before they spent decades as lovable losers, the Cubs were a good team, including the 1935 campaign, which ended with a trip to the World Series.
Of course, winning the pennant was preceded by a 21-game winning streak that lasted from September to September 28. The Cubs were 2.5 games out of first place when the streak began and they ended up beating out the Cardinals by four games for the National League pennant, as the winning streak also propelled them to a 100-win season.
T3. Chicago White Stockings, 21 (1880)
Before they were the Cubs and before their 21-game winning streak in 1935, the franchise also won 21 in a row in 1880 when they were called the White Stockings.
Keep in mind this was in the days before the World Series and even before Wrigley Field. But that 21-game winning streak from June 2 to July 10 allowed the White Stockings to go 67-17 on the season, running away with the National League title with a 15-game cushion.
2. Indians, 22 (2017)
Back in the days before they were the Guardians, Cleveland set the modern record for the longest MLB winning streak with 22 consecutive victories from August 24 to September 15 during the 2017 season.
This came during the year after the Indians blew a 3-1 lead in the World Series, so they were hungry for a championship.
Of course, they were already running away with the AL Central, ultimately winning by a margin of 17 games. But the long winning streak did help Cleveland earn the best record in the American League at 102-60. Alas, they lost to the Yankees in the ALDS, spoiling a brilliant season and an amazing winning streak.
1. New York Giants, 26 (1916)
The distinction of the longest MLB win streak in baseball history belongs to the 1916 New York Giants. However, there is a caveat because the Giants won 26 games and had one tie during an unbeaten run of 27 games.
Nevertheless, we’ll give them credit for 26 consecutive wins, which came during a season in which the Giants also had a 17-game winning streak.
In theory, New York’s unbeaten run came at the perfect time, as the Giants failed to lose between September 7 and September 30. But they had dug themselves into such a deep hole that not even going unbeaten for most of September could salvage the season. In the end, the Giants finished seven games off the pace, finishing fourth in the National League standings.
[spreaker type=player resource=”show_id=3300147″ width=”100%” height=”200px” theme=”light” playlist=”false” playlist-continuous=”false” chapters-image=”true” episode-image-position=”right” hide-logo=”false” hide-likes=”false” hide-comments=”false” hide-sharing=”false” hide-download=”true”]
