David SchoenfieldOct 22, 2025, 07:00 AM ETCloseCovers MLB for ESPN.com Former deputy editor of Page 2 Been with ESPN.com since 1995
26. 2003: Florida Marlins over New York Yankees, 4-2
25. 2023: Texas Rangers over Arizona Diamondbacks, 4-1
23. 2014: San Francisco Giants over Kansas City Royals, 4-3
22. 2007: Boston Red Sox over Colorado Rockies, 4-0
19. 2012: San Francisco Giants over Detroit Tigers, 4-0
17. 2020: Los Angeles Dodgers over Tampa Bay Rays, 4-2
16. 2005: Chicago White Sox over Houston Astros, 4-0
15. 2008: Philadelphia Phillies over Tampa Bay Rays, 4-1
13. 2022: Houston Astros over Philadelphia Phillies, 4-2
12. 2015: Kansas City Royals over New York Mets, 4-1
11. 2010: San Francisco Giants over Texas Rangers, 4-1
10. 2019: Washington Nationals over Houston Astros, 4-3
8. 2002: Anaheim Angels over San Francisco Giants, 4-3
7. 2009: New York Yankees over Philadelphia Phillies, 4-2
6. 2001: Arizona Diamondbacks over New York Yankees, 4-3
5. 2018: Boston Red Sox over Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-1
4. 2017: Houston Astros over Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-3
At least, we’re due for one. None of the past five World Series went longer than six games and none would be described as a classic or especially memorable World Series. We’ve had longer no-Game 7 droughts before (including eight years in a row from 2003 to 2010), but after a stretch of four series going the distance in six years from 2014 to 2019, we had grown to expect those drawn-out affairs. Here’s hoping we get one.
The big storyline this year is the Dodgers seeking to become the first repeat champion in 25 years, riding their billion-dollar rotation and coming off Shohei Ohtani’s greatest performance ever to wrap up the National League Championship Series. The Blue Jays are riding the hot bats of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer to make their first World Series since 1993.
The Yankees were back in the World Series for the sixth time in eight years while the Marlins had rebuilt after their fire sale following their World Series title in 1997. Trust me when I say: Nobody wanted the Yankees in the World Series yet again. And the Marlins were merely a 91-win wild-card team. Most notably, however, both teams had spoiled the ultimate World Series by knocking off the Cubs and Red Sox — before either team had overcome its curse — in Game 7s in the LCS.
Actual World Series: C. The Marlins won Game 4 in 12 innings, when Yankees manager Joe Torre inexplicably failed to use reliever Mariano Rivera, and then 23-year-old Josh Beckett tossed a five-hit shutout in Game 6.
In an all-wild-card series, the No. 5-seeded Rangers had won 90 games and the No. 6-seeded Diamondbacks won only 84, making this the lowest combined win total in World Series history (for full seasons). The Rangers were going for their first World Series title, so there was that, and there were some fun hitters — Corey Seager, the red-hot Adolis Garcia (who had just driven in 15 runs in the ALCS) and Corbin Carroll — but it was a soft matchup on paper.
This was the Cardinals team that got hot in September and clinched a wild-card spot on the final day of the season when the Braves blew a lead in the ninth inning and lost in extra innings. St. Louis certainly had star power with the likes of Albert Pujols, Lance Berkman and Matt Holliday but had won a World Series fairly recently (2006) while the Rangers had just been there the year before.
The second-lowest combined win total in World Series history featured two wild-card teams who won fewer than 90 games. The Royals were at least a good story — in the playoffs for the first time since winning the World Series in 1985 — and had gone 8-0 in the AL playoffs, including an epic win over the A’s in the wild-card game. The Giants, however, had just won the World Series in 2010 and 2012 and this team didn’t seem nearly as good as those two.
Actual World Series: B-. Five of the games were blowouts, but it did at least go seven. It’ll be remembered for Madison Bumgarner’s historic performance: a shutout in Game 5 (the last complete game shutout in World Series history) and then five scoreless innings of relief in Game 7, getting Salvador Perez to pop out with the tying run on third to end it.
The Red Sox were only three years removed from breaking the Curse of the Bambino in 2004, so although they were still a star-laden team with David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez and scrappy rookie Dustin Pedroia, they were no longer as interesting. The Rockies were a fun story, winning 14 of their final 15 games, including beating the Padres in a tiebreaker, just to win a wild-card spot. Then they went 7-0 in the NL playoffs and had won 21 of 22 entering the World Series.
Actual World Series: F. A dud. Two of the games were one-run games, but it goes down as one of the least memorable World Series of all time, with a forgettable four-game sweep.
Actual World Series: D. This was a weird World Series. The Braves ended up going with two bullpen games (who remembers that Dylan Lee and Tucker Davidson started?) after Charlie Morton broke his leg in Game 1. Astros starters kept getting knocked out early (the only starter to go more than five innings for either team was Max Fried in the finale). Four of the games were blowouts.
The Giants were back after winning in 2010 while the Tigers were back for the first time since 2006, featuring Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera and a strong 1-2 punch in the rotation with Verlander and Max Scherzer. This was also the last World Series with that season’s MVP winners (at least until this year), with Cabrera and Buster Posey.
This one could be No. 25 — it was during COVID after all, and it was played at a neutral site in a half-empty stadium for social distancing reasons. But it was a great matchup between the teams with the best records in each league, albeit over the shortened 60-game season. You had Mookie Betts and Clayton Kershaw and Randy Arozarena in the midst of one of the best individual postseasons ever, plus the small-market Rays trying to beat the big-market Dodgers.
Actual World Series: C+. Because teams were allowed an expanded roster of 28 players, it was a parade of relievers — but there were some fun games, including that bonkers ending to Game 4 and then Rays manager Kevin Cash’s controversial decision to remove Blake Snell in Game 6, which backfired in a big way.
Actual World Series: D+. Three games were decided by one run, but it was a pretty uneventful World Series. The lasting memory is the cold and rain in Philly that forced the midgame postponement of Game 5, the only time that has happened in World Series history. The game was suspended in the sixth inning and resumed two days later.
Actual World Series: C+. It was a tight-fought five-game series with all games decided by two runs or fewer. The turning point was the bottom of the ninth of Game 1, when the Yankees tied it off Armando Benitez and went on to win in 12 innings. Game 2 featured the infamous Clemens-Piazza bat-throwing incident, and the Yankees won the clincher with two runs in the ninth off a tired Al Leiter.
I know, the Astros … again. Boo. But this was an absolute powerhouse of a team with 106 wins and stars such as Yordan Alvarez (1.019 OPS) and Verlander (18-4, 1.75 ERA), plus the old standbys Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman. The Phillies, meanwhile, snuck in as a wild-card team for their first playoff trip since 2011 but were an immensely entertaining team with Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber & Co., as well as a rabid fan base cheering them on.
The Royals proved their 2014 World Series appearance was no fluke, winning 95 games with a better team that included trade-deadline additions Ben Zobrist and Johnny Cueto. The Mets won the NL East behind a young, powerful rotation that featured Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom. It was a fun matchup of teams trying to avoid lengthy title droughts — 30 years for the Royals, 29 for the Mets.
Actual World Series: C+. It only went five games, but the Royals won the opener in 14 innings, won Game 5 with a three-run eighth inning and then won the clincher in 12 innings — after Mets manager Terry Collins’ ill-fated decision to leave in Harvey to start the ninth with a 2-0 lead.
This was a super entertaining showdown at the time. The Giants had yet to win a World Series in San Francisco and featured Tim Lincecum (“The Freak,” for his small stature and overpowering stature) and two rookies named Posey and Bumgarner. The Rangers had never won a championship and featured AL MVP Josh Hamilton and veteran DH Vladimir Guerrero. Both teams had pulled off upsets in the LCS, with the Giants beating the Phillies and the Rangers beating the Yankees.
Actual World Series: A. Bonds was a beast, hitting .471/.700/1.294 (yes, that’s a 1.994 OPS), but it wasn’t enough. This series featured four one-run games, including a wild 11-10 contest and the classic Game 6, when the Angels rallied late from a 5-0 deficit to win 6-5. Game 7 was a drab 4-1 contest (Bonds went a harmless 1-for-3).
The Yankees had missed the playoffs in 2008 for the first time since 1993, so they went out and signed free agents CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and A.J. Burnett to add to an already stacked roster that included Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, Hideki Matsui, Jorge Posada and Johnny Damon. Whoa. Yes, they were still the Evil Empire. The Phillies, trying to defend their title, had traded for Cliff Lee and then signed Pedro Martinez in July to bolster their rotation.
Actual World Series: C. It could have been a classic battle, but there were no one-run games and Game 6 — Martinez’s final start of his career — was over early. The crucial contest was Game 4, when the Yankees scored three runs in the ninth off Phillies closer Brad Lidge to win 7-4.
Actual World Series: C-. A letdown. The first two games in Fenway were cold and windy. Game 3 was an 18-inning affair — longest in World Series history — but was more of a slog than a game to remember. Game 4 was the best of the series as the Red Sox rallied with nine runs over the final three innings to win 9-6.