I finally found the book that covers this very subject.
Rob Neyer and Eddie Epstein came out with "Baseball Dynasties: The Greatest Teams of All Time" back in 2000.
Their basis for their ranking/naming the best teams was a Standard Deviation formula that compares a team's performance in runs scored and runs allowed compared to their league. VolinArizona would love this.
They highlighted teams from the 1906 Chicago Cubs all the way through to the 1998 New York Yankees. They both listed the 1939 Yankees as the best team of all time.
However, using the SD formula, the best single season teams of all time were:
1. 1998 Yankees
2. 1906 Cubs
3. 1962 Giants
4. 1927 Yankees
5. 1917 Giants
It lists the top fifty teams all time using that method as well as the best two, three, four, and five year runs by teams.
The best five year runs for teams using the SD formula were:
1. 1935-1939 Yankees
2. 1936-1940 Yankees
3. 1969-1973 Orioles
4. 1937-1941 Yankees
5. 1986-1990 Mets (surprising to me)
Also lists the worst teams ever, too.