Earlier this week I wrote about how it only took the Diamondbacks 4 years to win a World Series. Goddamn, that’s a spoiled fan base (pure jealousy guys)! Can you imagine having a championship under your belt right away? Most teams have to wait generations for that sort of thing. currently, 5 teams still don’t have one. Let’s see how long it took every team to reach the top of baseball…
NOTE: The first World Series was played in 1903. Teams were around before then, but that’s when things got official and played each other. We are starting from there, not from when the teams started playing.
Still Going…
- Rays – 28+ years – 1998 to…
- They had a chance back in 2008 but lost to the Phillies and haven’t been back since
- Rockies – 33+ years – 1993 to…
- This one is ending any time soon
- Mariners – 50+ years – 1977 to…
- The saddest member of the list as the only active baseball team to never even make it to the World Series
- Brewers – 56+ years – 1970 to…
- If the Brewers were ever going to win it, this is the year
- Padres – 57+ years – 1969 to…
- The current era is the best Padres baseball since Tony Gwynn but the window may be closing thanks to so many big contracts
Babies
- Red Sox (Americans) – 1 year – 1903-1903…
- Someone had to win the first one!
- Giants – 3 years – 1903 to 1905
- The real kicker here is that the Giants won 5 titles in New York but then had to wait 53 years to win one in San Francisco
- White Sox – 4 years – 1903-1906
- They got the first one out of the way quick, of course then they had to wait 88 years between #2 and #3
- Diamondbacks – 4 years – 1998-2001
- Signing the best free agent in MLB history changed everything
- Cubs – 5 years – 1903 to 1907
- The Cubs and White Sox really made people think baseball was there thing, huh?
- Marlins – 5 years – 1993 to 1997
- The people of Miami love baseball but got very unrealistic expectations for the organization after this one.
- Pirates – 7 years – 1903 to 1909
- The current hard times with Pittsburgh baseball wasn’t how it always was
- Athletics – 8 years – 1903-1910
- Philadelphia kept the wrong team!!! (just kidding…kinda)
- Mets – 8 years – 1962 to 1969
- The Mets have two titles but the first one was one of the most out of nowhere titles in sports history.
- Braves – 12 years – 1903 to 1914
- The Braves used to be the second son of Boston baseball but that doesn’t mean they didn’t win before leaving. It would take 35 years for Atlanta to win their title though.
- Blue Jays – 16 years – 1977 to 1992
- At least it’s not the 1993 World Series we have to remember.
- Reds – 17 years – 1903 to 1919
- The Reds were around long before this, but we are just going with the World Series era.
- Royals – 17 years – 1969 to 1985
- The Royals get a lot of pity for being a long-suffering franchise, but they are 2 for 4 overall. If anything, they are the epitome of how much a franchise should win, once every 30 years.
Prime of Life
- Guardians – 18 years – 1903 to 1920
- Cleveland won its first World Series in 1920, then had to wait 29 years for #2. They’ve been waiting ever since for #3.
- Yankees – 21 years – 1903 to 1923
- It’s crazy to think that the initial 21 year wait has been the longest draught between the Yankees and a World Series ever.
- Twins (as the Washington Nationals) – 22 years – 1903 to 1924
- The Twins have been around a lot longer than people think. After the 1924 title, it took until 1987 and a move to Minnesota to win the next one. The Minnesota Twins took 27 years to win
- Cardinals – 24 years – 1903 to 1926
- Just like the Yankees, their initial World Series wait is still their longest. The Cardinals have been consistently competitive throughout their existence.
- Tigers – 33 years – 1903 to 1935
- It took a long time to win their first World Series, but it has taken even longer to win their next one. It’s been over 40 years now since Tom Selleck was happy with his team
- Angels – 42 years – 1961 to 2002
- The Angels started with a long streak and they are well on their way to topping it.
Seniors
- Nationals – 51 years – 1969 to 2019
- Oddly, Washington won its first World Series 45 years before this team even existed. After the Expos failed to win in Montreal, it took 15 years to win the second first championship in Washington baseball history.
- Dodgers – 53 years – 1903 to 1955
- Crazy right? The bridesmaid Dodgers lost 7 World Series before finally breaking through
- Astros – 56 years – 1962 to 2017
- It took so long to win their first one that Houston just had to cheat to keep that feeling going.
- Rangers – 63 years – 1961 to 2023
- The Rangers played in Washington for 11 years before moving to Arlington. So, while it took 63 years for the organization, it was only 52 for Texas.
- Orioles – 64 years – 1903 to 1966
- The Orioles moved from St. Louis to Baltimore in 1954, so only 13 years to wait for the people of Baltimore.
- Phillies – 78 years – 1903 to 1980
- Of course it would be the Phillies! Considering the team has been around since 1883 and didn’t win a titles in those first 20 years either, it was 98 years before we could ever stake the claim to being the best team in baseball. Yikes!
Photo: Erik Drost, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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