Has Any City’s Sports Teams Won All Four Major League Championships in One Year?

The simplest answer is no. No city has hosted the current owner of Vince Lombardi Trophy (National Football League), Larry O’Brien/Walter A. Brown Trophy (National Basketball Association), World Series Trophy (Major League Baseball) and Stanley Cup (National Hockey League) in the same year. The closest any city has come so far is 1988 when the Raiders, Lakers, and Dodgers all brought championships to Los Angeles. Six other times, a city has hosted two out of four champions:

• 1956: New York Giants (NFL) and New York Yankees (MLB)
• 1971: Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL) and Pittsburgh Pirates (MLB)
• 1976: Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL) and Pittsburgh Pirates (MLB)
• 1999: Dallas Cowboys (NFL) and Dallas Stars (NHL)
• 2001: Denver Broncos (NFL) and Colorado Avalanche (NHL)
• 2002: Los Angeles Lakers (NBA) and Anaheim Angels (MLB)
• 2004: New England Patriots (NFL) and Boston Red Sox (MLB)

Students of sports history, however, are aware that these four trophies have not always represented “the” major leagues. There are the defunct competing major leagues such as the pre-merger American Football League or the World Hockey Association to consider. Also, the NBA was not always the major league in basketball, and other leagues have a good claim to being “the” major league for basketball at various times. Finally, we should at least consider the champions of the Canadian Football League considering the number of NHL teams from that country.

Broadening the definition like this adds relatively few cities to our list. Twice in the late 20’s three of four major league champions were from New York: the Giants, Yankees and Brooklyn Celtics in 1927, and the Yankees, Rangers and Brooklyn Celtics in 1928. The Brooklyn Celtics played in the American Basketball League, at a time when the NBA did not yet exist.

Other two-champion cities considering these competing and defunct major leagues are:

• 1930: Montreal Canadiens (NHL) and Montreal AAA (CFL)
• 1932: Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL) and Toronto Argonauts (CFL)
• 1942: Toronto Maple Leafs (NFL) and Toronto RCAF Hurricanes (CFL)
• 1944: Montreal Canadiens (NHL) and Toronto HMCS Donnacona
• 1947: Chicago Cardinals (NFL) and Chicago American Gears (NBL)
• 1947: Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL) and Toronto Argonauts (CFL)
• 1948: Cleveland Indians (MLB) and Cleveland Browns (AAFC)
• 1977: Montreal Canadiens(MHL) and Montreal Alouettes (CFL)
• 1987: Edmonton Oilers (NHL) and Edmonton Eskimos (CFL)
  Notes:
  • The Toronto RCAF Hurricanes and Montreal HMCS Donnacona were football teams from various armed forces bases which competed for the Grey Cup during WWII.
  • The Chicago American Gears were in the National Basketball League. The NBL merged with the Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1949 to form the current NBA.
  • The Cleveland Browns started their history in the All-America Football Conference. The AAFC competed with the NFL for four years. In 1949 the AAFC partially merged into the NFL, the Cleveland Browns won the NFL championship the next year.

So while no city has completed what might be a “GrandSlam” of major league team sports, New York (twice) and Los Angeles (once) came close.