Which Dodgers regular season is the best?

Over their long and storied history, the Dodgers have done a lot of winning. They’ve won 27 National League pennants and nine World Series championships. They've won the NL West in 12 of the past 13 seasons.

But because of the wild nature of the postseason, some of the Dodgers’ best teams in the regular season have not been able to culminate their seasons with a World Series title. Let’s take a look at how the top five teams -- based on winning percentage -- fared over the course of the season and into the postseason. In order to narrow down the list, let’s take a look at the best regular-season teams since the 1940 season.

1. 2020 (43-17 record, .717 win pct.)

The Dodgers have been one of the most successful franchises over the past decade, but the 2020 team was the one that was able to snap the 32-year World Series drought with a 4-2 Fall Classic win over the Rays. The addition of Mookie Betts made all the difference to a Dodgers team that had been knocking on the door for a while, including two World Series losses in the past three seasons.

Because the 2020 season was only 60 games, this one carries a bit of an asterisk. But with the amount of talent that was on the roster, I don’t think anybody would have been surprised if they kept up this pace over a 162-game campaign.

2. 2022 (111-51, .685)

While this was the winningest Dodgers regular season in franchise history, they only lasted one round in the postseason, losing that year's NLDS to the Padres in four games. That just goes to show that even supremely talented rosters can't always get hot at the right time.

This year was Freddie Freeman's first in L.A., and he and fellow star Mookie Betts both finished top five in NL MVP voting. Julio Urías was a finalist for the NL Cy Young Award. All the pieces were there, but the Dodgers fell short of their ultimate goal.

3. 1953 (105-49, .682)

With an abundance of talent, this Brooklyn Dodgers team did a lot of damage in the regular season. Had this team played in a 162-game season, they could’ve reached the 110-win mark. This team was star-studded.

Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese and Roy Campanella, who are all now in the Hall of Fame, were among the notable hitters. Carl Erskine was the team’s ace. But despite all the talent on the roster, the Dodgers fell to the Yankees, 4-2, in the World Series.

4. 1942 (104-50, .675)

Reese, in his final season before joining the Navy for the remainder of World War II, earned his first of 10 consecutive All-Star selections and helped anchor a lineup that featured four future Hall of Famers, but the true backbone of this team was the pitching staff, led by Kurt Higbe (16-11, 3.25 ERA) and 34-year-old righty Whit Wyatt (19-7, 2.73 ERA).

Despite all that, the 104-win club went home after the season ended, as the juggernaut Cardinals (106 wins) steamrolled to a World Series title. Such was the nature of baseball in the pre-division era.

5. 2021 (106-56, .654)

The year after they won the seventh World Series in franchise history, the Dodgers tied their single-season win record at the time -- but came in second place in the NL West. It was an epic division race, as the Giants edged them with 107 wins. The Dodgers were forced to beat the Cardinals in the NL Wild Card Game before getting the last laugh by eliminating the Giants in the NLDS, but they ultimately fell to the Braves in the NLCS.

Max Muncy had a big year, leading the team with 36 homers and 94 RBIs. The Dodgers were also fortified at the Trade Deadline after a blockbuster deal for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner. But they weren't able to get back to the World Series that year when all was said and done.