Joy in Mudville
I had some friends over last night to watch Game 7 of the World Series, and it was fun, and the Cubs won in extras, and it was great to see those players, and those fans, celebrating the team's first championship since 1908. But it was all muted for me because of the machinations behind the looming presidential election. I should let go of it but I can't. It's the bullshit that gets me. The fact that a week ago FBI director James Comey changed the narrative and possibly the election based on NOTHING. Nothing. And the same right-wring frothbots are at it again. With NOTHING. They create smoke and they hope you think there's a fire.
But enough of that. Enjoy this. And rest easy, Steve Bartman.
Now that the Cubs have finally done it after 108 years, which current team has the longest championship drought? That would be their opponents last night—the team that came back in the bottom of the 8th with three runs to tie it. The team that couldn't hold on in the top of the 10th to win it. The Cleveland Indians.
Here's the new chart. “Pennants Since” means how many times they've been to the World Series since they last won a championship. Again, Cleveland is on top here. Any errors, report to me:
Team | Last Title | Yrs Since | Pennants Since |
Indians | 1948 | 68 | 4 |
Senators/Rangers * | 1961 | 55 | 2 |
Astros * | 1962 | 54 | 1 |
Padres * | 1969 | 47 | 2 |
Pilots/Brewers * | 1969 | 47 | 1 |
Expos/Nationals ** | 1969 | 47 | 0 |
Mariners ** | 1977 | 39 | 0 |
Pirates | 1979 | 37 | 0 |
Browns/Orioles | 1983 | 33 | 0 |
Tigers | 1984 | 32 | 2 |
Mets | 1986 | 30 | 2 |
Dodgers | 1988 | 28 | 0 |
Athletics | 1989 | 27 | 0 |
Reds | 1990 | 26 | 0 |
Senators/Twins | 1991 | 25 | 0 |
Blue Jays | 1993 | 23 | 0 |
Rockies * | 1993 | 23 | 1 |
Braves | 1995 | 21 | 2 |
Rays * | 1998 | 18 | 1 |
D-backs | 2001 | 15 | 0 |
Angels | 2002 | 14 | 0 |
Marlins | 2003 | 13 | 0 |
White Sox | 2005 | 11 | 0 |
Phillies | 2008 | 8 | 0 |
Yankees | 2009 | 7 | 0 |
Cardinals | 2011 | 5 | 1 |
Red Sox | 2013 | 3 | 0 |
Giants | 2014 | 2 | 0 |
Royals | 2015 | 1 | 0 |
Cubs | 2016 | 0 | 0 |
* Have never won a championship
** Have never been to the World Series
I still find it fascinating that for every year MLB has expanded, only one of the teams from that year has ever won a World Series championship. Even in 1969, when there were four teams that entered the Majors, only one of those teams, the KC Royals, has won a title. They've won two, in fact. The others? Padres went twice, lost twice. Brewers went once, lost once. Expos/Nats have never been.
Am I the only one who's noticed this?
Posted at 09:33 AM on Thu. Nov 03, 2016 in category Baseball
Twitter: @ErikLundegaard
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