Baseball and Groundhog Day

You may remember the movie Groundhog Day (1993), in which the character played by Bill Murray keeps having the same day over and over again. (If you haven't seen the movie, do so; I recommend it.)

Has the same thing happened in major-league baseball? That is, in its 137-year history (1871-2007), has a season has ended with a league's teams finishing in the same positions as those they had occupied at the end of the previous season? The answer is "no, but..."

To arrive at that answer, I went here and followed the links, which cover the following major baseball leagues and seasons of operation:

National Association, 1871-1875
National League, 1876-2007
American Association, 1882-1891
Union Association, 1884
Players League, 1890
American League, 1901-2007
Federal League, 1914-1915

An entire league has yet to end its season with all of its teams finishing in the same order as they did in the previous season. However, since the advent of divisional play in 1969, some division finishes have been duplicated, and even sextuplicated:

• The duplication occurred in the American League's Central Division in 1996 and 1997, when Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee, Minnesota, and Kansas City ended both seasons in that order (Cleveland first, etc.).
  

• The sextuplication occurred in the American League's Eastern Division from 1998 through 2003, when New York, Boston, Toronto, Baltimore, and Tampa Bay ended all six seasons in that order (New York first, etc.).
  

The 2005 season saw a repetition of the AL East's pattern for 1998-2003. That's seven identical finishes in a span of eight seasons. Moreover, the Yankees and Red Sox finished one-two in eight consecutive seasons (1998-2005). How 'bout that!