Three years ago, the Houston Astros lost 107 games, and the Chicago Cubs lost 101. The Kansas City Royals were finishing their fourth straight 90-loss season, their eighth in nine years. The Pittsburgh Pirates were making North American sports history with their 20th-straight losing season.
And the Toronto Blue Jays were finishing double-digit games out of first place for a 12th-straight year.
Three years ago.
Nobody was calling Kansas City a great baseball town. Nobody had trouble getting Blue Jays tickets. Everybody knew PNC Park looked nice, but nobody had any idea it could sound great, too.
Los Angeles Dodgers fans were wondering how long it would take to undo the damage done by Frank McCourt. New York Mets fans were wondering when they'd stop hearing about Bernie Madoff.
The San Francisco Giants beat the Detroit Tigers in the World Series.
Three years ago.
It's not fair to say that baseball has been turned on its head in the last three years (the Giants won again last year, after all). What is fair is to note that the road from terrible to terrific can be shorter than ever, and we now have some new names at the top.
If the Royals aren't the best team in the American League this season, then the Blue Jays are. That's the Royals, who just won their first division title since 1985, or the Blue Jays, on the verge of clinching their first division title since 1993.
The Mets will be in the playoffs (for the first time since 2006), the Cubs are in the playoffs (for the first time since 2008) and the Astros still have a real shot to be in the playoffs (for the first time since 2005).
Look, it's true that the St. Louis Cardinals will be playing in October for the fifth straight year and that despite their absence from this tournament, the Giants' three World Series titles in five years qualify them as a powerhouse franchise until proven otherwise.
But in baseball as it works today, the Cardinals' consistency is an anomaly. The new norm is that each new year brings with it a team ending a long October drought, a town previously thought of as dead for baseball proving that folks just about anywhere can get caught up in the excitement of watching a winner (anywhere but Tampa Bay).
And just as the Pirates have built on what they did in 2013 and the Royals used last October as a springboard into this outstanding season, there's every reason to believe the 2015 newcomers could do the same.
The Mets were a surprise division champion this year, but their young rotation means they'll likely begin next year as the NL East favorite. Heck, after facing the Mets' four young guns in order over the weekend, Cincinnati Reds third baseman Todd Frazier told reporters the Mets are "the team to beat" this October.
The Cubs and Astros made good use of their 100-loss seasons. The Astros had the first overall draft pick in 2012 and used it on Carlos Correa. The Cubs had the second overall pick the following June and used it on Kris Bryant. Both could win Rookie of the Year (although Francisco Lindor, who the Cleveland Indians picked eighth overall in 2011, has made a strong late run at Correa in the American League).
The draft seems to be serving its intended purpose better than ever, distributing the best talent to the teams most in need. Baseball's increased revenues, and increased revenue sharing, mean more teams than ever can retain their stars, and more than ever can bid on the few stars who become free agents.
There's a big premium on smart front offices making good decisions and a great reward for general managers like Toronto's Alex Anthopoulos for moves like adding Josh Donaldson and Russell Martin in the winter, and Troy Tulowitzki and David Price in July.
There's a real payoff for general managers who aggressively pursue success at the right time, the way Kansas City's Dayton Moore did when he traded for James Shields in December 2012, or the way the Mets' Sandy Alderson did when he acquired Yoenis Cespedes at the non-waiver deadline this past July.
The Mets, 13th in the National League in attendance the last two years, have had big crowds since Cespedes arrived. The Blue Jays, middle of the pack in attendance the last few years and worse than that from 2009-11, have sold out 20 of their last 21 games at the Rogers Centre.
The Royals set a franchise attendance record this season. Baseball is alive again in Kansas City, just as it is in Pittsburgh and in Toronto and in Queens.
No one would have said that three years ago.
Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.
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