Pine Tar's Top-20 Playoff Upsets

With the top 4 teams in regular season record (Salem, Nashville, Houston, Milwaukee) all being eliminated before the league championship series, I thought it would be interesting to look at Pine Tar's playoff upset history.  Below is a list of the top-20 playoff upsets in Pine Tar's 33-season history.  The list is ordered by win differential (WD) between the underdog and the favorite.  Upsets with a win differential greater than 16 games made the top-20 list.  In the event of a tie, the favorite with the higher regular season win total was considered a bigger upset.  Some commentary is posted after the top-20 list.

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#20.  Scottsdale (79-83, vector21) over Charleston (95-67, bjohara1), 16 WD – Season 17 NLPI

#19.  Wichita (86-76, jibe) over Seattle (102-60, ghutton9), 16 WD – Season 29 NLDS

#18.  Helena (90-72, moosedrool) over Fargo (107-55, starbuckdc), 17 WD – Season 8 NLDS

#17.  Hartford (91-71, bpdelia) over Philadelphia (108-54, domiisgod), 17 WD – Season 6 ALCS

#16.  Milwaukee (83-79, jquick1) over Pittsburgh (101-61, blues_bros), 18 WD – Season 18 ALPI

#15.  Fresno (85-77, dlmose) over Nashville (104-58, blapo21), 19 WD – Season 30 ALDS

#14.  Tampa Bay (89-73, rxw1) over Fargo (108-54, starbuckdc), 19 WD – Season 11 World Series

#13.  Durham (79-83, alogman1) over Milwaukee (99-63, jquick1), 20 WD – Season 13 ALPI

#12.  Milwaukee (83-79, jquick1) over Dover (103-59, tmfran), 20 WD – Season 18 ALDS

#11.  Dover (87-75, tmfran) over Boston (107-55, kjmulli), 20 WD – Season 27 ALDS

#10.  Jacksonville (88-74, greygoose123) over Colorado Springs (108-54, toe64), 20 WD – Season 2 NLDS

#9.  Jacksonville (85-77, greygoose123) over Houston (106-56, bagwellbuff), 21 WD – Season 25 NLDS

#8.  Milwaukee (88-74, jquick1) over Syracuse (109-53, prezuiwf), 21 WD – Season 15 ALDS

#7.  Scottsdale (79-83, vector21) over Jackson (102-60, bobbyj7), 23 WD – Season 17 NLDS

#6.  St. Louis (84-78, flucie) over Nashville (107-55, bnags), 23 WD – Season 19 ALDS

#5.  Oakland (78-84, jayesnb) over Ottawa (104-58, ewd330), 26 WD – Season 11 ALPI

#4.  Scottsdale (88-74, vector21) over Syracuse (115-47, prezuiwf), 27 WD – Season 14 World Series

#3.  Syracuse (90-72, joekendall) over Salem (119-43, jkenned), 29 WD – Season 33 ALDS

#2.  Boise (83-79, godao) over Nashville (113-49, blapo21), 30 WD – Season 33 ALDS

#1.  Tampa Bay (89-73, rxw1) over Syracuse (121-41, prezuiwf), 32 WD – Season 11 ALCS


This season's upsets of Salem and Nashville ranked second and third all-time in Pine Tar history.  Overall, season 33 has had four upsets with a win differential of at least 13 games (Nashville 30, Salem 29, Milwaukee 14, and Houston 13).  First-year owner godao was responsible for two of those upsets with his 83-79 Boise team.  This gives season 33 the most shocking playoff results since season 11.  In season 11, there were five upsets with a win differential of at least 15 games.  Owner rxw1 pulled three of those upsets, including the #1 upset of all time, as his 89-73 Tampa Bay team caught fire in the playoffs and defeated 104-58 Milwaukee in the ALDS, 121-41 Syracuse in the ALCS, and 108-54 Fargo in the World Series.  Additional upsets in season 11 included the #5 upset of all time (Oakland over Ottawa) and a 15-win differential upset of Monterrey over Charleston, which just missed the top-20 list.  
Milwaukee and Scottsdale caused fits for owners that had outstanding regular season records during seasons 14-18.  In season 17, a 79-83 Scottsdale team coached by vector21, advanced to the ALCS by scoring the #6 and #19 upsets of all time.  The following season, jquick1's #6-seeded Milwaukee team also advanced to the league championship series by earning the #10 and #16 upsets in Pine Tar history, over Dover and Pittsburgh.  Beginning in season 14, powerhouse Syracuse (with 115 and 109 wins) was upset in consecutive seasons by Scottsdale and Milwaukee.  The Scottsdale upset occurred in the World Series, giving them the title with an 88-74 record.  

Season 29 had the wildest postseason in recent history.  Owner skplayer07's 91-71 Vancouver team made an improbable run to the World Series, where they fell one game short of winning the title.  In the process, they pulled 15-game win differential upsets over Boston and Salem, who both had a 106-56 record.  In the round before being upset by Vancouver, Salem needed all 5 games to defeat an 82-80 Milwaukee team.  Meanwhile in the National League, Wichita upset 102-win Seattle, which ranks #19 in Pine Tar history.  In addition, #2-seed Louisville fell in the NLDS to eventual World Series champs Scranton.

Out of the top-20 all-time Pine Tar upsets, 60% (12) occurred in a league division series, 4 occurred in a play-in series, 2 in a championship series, and 2 in the World Series.  13 of the 20 upsets were earned by American League teams, while 7 of the upsets were pulled by National League teams.