Just because a team makes it to the World Series does not always mean they deserved to be there. These teams below prove that point.
1989 San Francisco Giants
The 1989 World Series saw the San Francisco Giants battle the Oakland Athletics. The series was known as the “Earthquake” series as prior to Game 3 an earthquake struck causing a 12 day delay in the series. That also constituted the most excitement in the series as the A’s outscored the Giants 32-14 in the series and swept the Giants in 4 games. The Giants also never held the lead in any of the ball games.
2007 Colorado Rockies
The Rockies were a feel good story going into their first World Series appearance against the Boston Red Sox. However, once the series started their story took a different path as they were swept by Boston (4-0). The Rockies were outscored 29-10 which currently is still the major league record for the largest run differential in any World Series that ended in a sweep.
1919 Chicago White Sox
One of the biggest black eyes for Major League Baseball happened in the 1919 World Series between the Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds otherwise known as the “Black Sox Scandal.”
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In the game, 8 players from the Chicago White Sox including “Shoeless
Joe Jackson was accused of “throwing” the game in exchange for money. Players
such as Eddie Cicottee purposely made errors causing the White Sox to lose the series to the Reds (5-3). All eight players accused were permanently banned from baseball
2006 Detroit Tigers
The 2006 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Detroit Tigers is considered one of the worst World Series of all time. The ratings in Game 1 of the World Series set the record for the World Series game of all time.
The Tigers came into the matchup sporting a high powered offense behind superstars Ivan Rodriguez, Magglio Ordonez, Craig Monroe, and Brandon Inge. However, the Tigers lost the series to the Cardinals (4-1) and were outscored 21-11 with those same superstars providing very little fire power.
2006 St Louis Cardinals
If the 2006 World Series is indeed the worst World Series of all time, you have to include both teams on this list even if the Cardinals were the winner. The Cardinals reached the World Series after winning only 83 games.
St. Louis had losing records in June, August, and September but that did not stop them from making the postseason. The Cardinals made the playoffs by winning a terrible NL Central division, keeping a Philadelphia Phillies team (who won more games) from making the playoffs.
1973 New York Mets
The 1973 Mets still hold the record for the lowest number of wins to reach the World Series with 82. In the 1973 season, they were known as the “Amazin Mets” during their Cinderella story run to the Fall Classic. Mets pitcher Tug McGraw helped rally his teammates during that season with the catchphrase “You Gotta Believe”.
The Mets did believe by beating the Cincinnati Reds to make the World Series. New York made the series competitive against the defending World Series champion Oakland A’s losing the series 4-3 allowing Oakland to win back to back World Series championships.
2017 Houston Astros
Don’t get me wrong, this was a highly entertaining World Series between the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers. It is what came to light later about the Astros which is why they are on this list.
While Houston won the series 4-3, their victory became controversial when MLB determined that they had been illegally using technology to steal signs from opposing teams during their championship season. MLB suspended then Astros Manager AJ Hinch (later fired) and their General Manager along with heavy fines and losses of draft picks.
1966 Los Angeles Dodgers
The 1966 World Series marked the end of an era for the Dodger dynasty. The Dodgers were a mainstay in the postseason from 1947 until 1966. Los Angeles looked overmatched in the series against the Baltimore Orioles.
The Dodgers managed to just score 2 runs in the series that resulted in a four game sweep. This also was the start of many Baltimore postseason runs that continued until 1983. Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax also retired after the season.
1998 San Diego Padres
San Diego reached the World Series in impressive fashion after defeating the top seeded Atlanta Braves. Atlanta sported a pitching threesome of the “Big 3” Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, and Tom Glavine.
Enter the New York Yankees who were fresh off a 114 win regular season which tied for third most ever in a season. The Yankees outscored the Padres 26-13 and swept the Padres in four games.
2010 Texas Rangers
The 2010 World Series came in as the fourth lowest watched World Series of all time and justifiably so. The series lacked a lot of media attention and star power combined with a 4-1 series win by the San Francisco Giants.
In three of the five games, Texas managed to score 1 total run including being shut out twice by San Francisco in games 2 and 4 respectively.
