By Luis Bueno - Carson, CA (Dec 4, 2014) US Soccer Players - Since Major League Soccer began, the LA Galaxy have set the standard for how to measure success in MLS. It was not always justified though. The Galaxy have never been the team with the most MLS Cup titles, and that’s where the standard begins.

That could change on Sunday. A victory over the New England Revolution in MLS Cup 2014 would truly and finally distance the Galaxy from the rest of MLS, possibly for good.

At stake in the championship match is a chance to become the MLS version of the New York Yankees. While the club has always fancied itself as such, a fifth MLS Cup title would give the Galaxy that unofficial claim.

What matters most to the club now is of course to win the championship. The accompanying accolades that a win would bring would be grand, from cementing the team’s glory to locking down individual honors.

The title of best MLS franchise is a discussion that begins and ends with two teams: the Galaxy and DC United. Both have won four MLS Cups apiece and are the only clubs to win a CONCACAF club championship. Until 2012, the Galaxy’s claims of MLS superiority were not entirely with merit. DC United won their fourth MLS Cup title in 2004, when the Galaxy had just one.

But the Galaxy won consecutive titles in 2011 and 2012, becoming just the third team to win back-to-back MLS Cups.

Five titles in 19 MLS seasons would be an impressive accomplishment. Already the Galaxy hold the record for most MLS Cup appearances. Sunday’s final will be their ninth trip to the title game. Two of those losses came at the hands of DC United but not even that would keep the Galaxy from distancing themselves from their league brethren.

Much like the Yankees, the Galaxy would sit alone atop the most-titles list. The Yankees of course have set a ridiculous record that may stand for eternity. With 27 World Series wins, the Yankees have 16 more than the second-place team (St. Louis Cardinals). The distance between the Galaxy and DC United would be much closer but the difficulty of winning titles will only continue to increase.

When DC United won their four titles, the league had no more than 12 teams. Three of their titles came when MLS had just 10 teams. The Galaxy have been cleaning up during the league’s expansion era. Not only are there more teams, it is more difficult to get into the playoffs. Before 2005, 80 percent of teams made the playoffs (8 of 10) in most seasons. This year, 10 of 19 teams reached the postseason, and while that is still greater than half the league, it is more difficult of an accomplishment than it used to be.

Next year, the league will hit 20 teams and the number will rise to 22 by 2017. More teams means a greater degree of difficulty of winning championships.

That will also affect individuals. A win on Sunday and Landon Donovan would close out his career with six MLS Cup wins and would separate himself from Jeff Agoos and Brian Mullan. The only active players with at least three MLS Cup wins: Dwayne De Rosario and Todd Dunivant each have four as well as Josh Saunders, who has bounced around MLS and NASL the last couple of years. Dunivant could conceivably catch Donovan but he suffered through an injury-riddled year and may soon call it quits himself.

The six players with the most World Series wins all were Yankees, including MLB legends such as Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle, as well as the player with the most-ever World Series rings - Yogi Berra.

Bruce Arena, meanwhile, already has the most MLS Cup wins of any coach with four. A fifth win would only further cement his legend. Arena would be the MLS version of Casey Stengel and Joe McCarthy, each of whom won seven World Series titles, the most of any managers, and all with the Yankees.

With a win on Sunday then, the Galaxy would become hands-down the top franchise in MLS. Seven years after then-club executive Alexi Lalas called the Galaxy the “jewel of MLS” the Galaxy would become that, and the shine may last for quite a while.

Luis Bueno is a veteran soccer writer. Follow him on twitter @BuenoSoccer.

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