Why is Sounders FC so good in its first year?

TUKWILA — You're new to Major League Soccer and you want to know which teams are the traditional powers and which are the perennial doormats.

Look somewhere else. MLS is a league of parity.

Thirteen of the league's 15 teams have been to the playoffs over the league's 14 seasons. The only teams that haven't yet are Toronto FC, in its third year of existence, and Sounders FC, in its first season. Seven different teams have won the MLS championship and eight have appeared in the final.

There are two distinct leaders in the MLS Eastern and Western Conferences in 2009, Chicago and Chivas USA. Behind them, it's a logjam. Three teams are tied for second in the East, while two standings points separate second and fourth places in the West. Sounders FC (4-2-5) is in third, right in the thick of it all.

Parity comes down to every team having "piano players," or stars, Seattle coach Sigi Schmid said. Wins, losses and ties come down to what the "piano carriers" do on the field.

"In this league we have Freddie Ljungberg, but they have Guillermo Barros Schelotto," Schmid said, referring to Seattle and the Columbus Crew matching top players. "Everybody's got good players, so now it comes down to who's going to make the best plays. Well, what it really comes down to is the nucleus and what I call the bread-and-butter guys. Are your bread-and-butter guys better than the other team's bread-and-butter guys, the nitty-gritty guys, the seven piano carriers? Can they do a better job than the other team's seven piano carriers? Because everybody has got the three piano players, and can your piano players outplay theirs? ... And that's how you eventually win."

Parity is everywhere in MLS. The schedule is such that every team plays twice in a week every so often, putting it at a disadvantage against a more rested team. Then there are exhibition matches and in the case of eight MLS teams, including Seattle, U.S. Open Cup matches that have to fit into the calendar.

There is a league salary cap, a balanced schedule and unforeseen injuries that make the league more equal across the board. That equality was exactly what the founders and overseers of MLS had hoped for, because it has kept the league competitive and in business, Schmid said.

"Parity in this league has been there from day one," Schmid said. "That's what they wanted to accomplish, and obviously they have accomplished it. Everybody deals with the same cap and that restricts what you can do. I think when you look at our team and what we've accomplished through 11 games, it's been pretty good."

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com