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8 Responses to “World Series Winners Who Finished Last the Following Season”

1. Bill Says: August 13th, 2013 at 5:01 pm

   In the SF Giants case, all of our talent appears to have jettisoned their "talent."

2. Jer Says: August 14th, 2013 at 9:28 am

   Haha, good one there Bill. At least the Giants won a World Series first. In the case of the Pirates, the talent jettisons their talent in early August every year.

3. Clarkwood Says: August 14th, 2013 at 3:29 pm

   I think "Last Place" is the wrong query to be looking up. Though 2 in 110 years is extremely rare & should be noted.

   They were #1.

   Not just 1/5(NLW), or 1/16 (NL), but 1/30(MLB).

   I understand for 50yrs there were only 16 teams, so we can't even compare 25th/30 vs 12th/16.
   Doing the same general query but for this, we'd analyze the data & say 2 main things...25th is way worse than 12th & 25th is 5 from last & 12th is 4 from last, which makes, 12th worse.

   While 12/16 is most likely worse than 25/30, neither are accurate assessments, of actual #1 to huge drop, neither is this post. Just think, if the Blue Jays had won it all last year, while they are 5th in the AL East this year, 22nd isn't as bad as 25th. Whereas, if the White Sox had held off the Tigers & kept it rolling & won, 1st to 28th is much worse. However, this graph, ranks 22nd equal with 28th, as they are both 5th/5 in their respective divisions. That just isn't an accurate assessment.

   How about Win %?
   Meaning, What's the lowest Win % a team has gotten the year after winning it all?
   It doesn't have as much bias for more teams, even interleague games, it allows for teams like the Angels to be assessed more accurately based on actual record as well, b/c the Astros, 30/30 were added to their division & thus they wouldn't rank last & should, b/c they are still 23rd/30.

   They still benefited from the games they played against the Astros, I'm not taking that factor out. Nor would I be accounting for the ALE being so competitive that 1st to 5th is much easier than the NLE, where even the Nats are still 2nd, b/c besides the Braves, you have to really stink to drop lower than you were in 2012.

   So, I'd like to see the list of lowest win % & where the Giants & Marlins rank among those. Particularly, those under .450. As, while, .451-.550, shouldn't get you in the playoffs, it's not a complete meltdown type collapse & thus can be excused.

   Reversely, while you are at it, what about lowest win% the season prior to a WS? That would be really awesome to see. Usually, a WS occurs from teams with about .500 or better records the prior year, & often for a few years in a row. However, if the Pirates win it this year, as an under .500 club the prior year, & way too many years b4 that, where would that rank in the All Time 1yr Miracle Season Turnarounds?

4. Kelly Says: August 15th, 2013 at 10:27 pm

   I don't think Neil was going for "an accurate assessment" -- anyone knows that finishing last in one of three divisions is not the same as finishing last in a league -- I think he was just going for a fun, informative post, which he accomplished.

   BTW the 1987 Twins are the WS champ with the worst record the previous year (71-91 in 1986). Ironically they are also the worst WS champ in history, at least by W-L record, at only 85-77. The Twins made history again four years later by going from last in the AL West in 1990 at 74-88, to 95-67 and WS Champ in 1991.

5. Clarkwood Says: August 15th, 2013 at 11:06 pm

   Thanks Kelly,

   It was a "fun informative post", in the strictest sense as, yeah only 1 in 110 yrs is rare, so a 2nd possible does make history. I just wish he would take it a step or 2 further & make it even more accurate.

   Oh those Twins that I grew up with. I didn't see the WS, but the ups & downs, mostly downs of the 90s were fun & not fun at the same time. Hey, now at least I know they made history, b4 I saw them, I was 6 in '91, but still.

   Worst record, the previous year, for a WS holder is something they can hang their hat on. 71-91, that's a pretty bad record. Hard to beat that one. But still gives teams in the cellar hope for next year.

   74-88 is another gr8 "worst" to best record. WOW.

   85 wins shouldn't get you a playoff spot, even 10/30. But hey, it was allowed so more power to them. Personally, it should be 90 wins, I could care less about division, in regards to auto berth. But that's another topic.

   Those 2 make me feel for my 90s Twins brothers & sisters more, even though they had 2 recent WS's, they also had to deal with 2 horrible years the year b4, thus conditioning them to thinking "Anything Can Happen" & then the rest of the 90s come & basically nothing else.

   So, you did give me some info that I asked for "worst record for the prior year for a WS winner, thank you.
   Pirates went 79-81 last year, so while they have a much longer drought than the Twins, they won't break that if they win.

   In fact, of the most likely playoff teams this year, most made it to the playoffs last year. Rays & Dodgers just missed it & Arizona was 81-81.

   Now, if the Indians can find a way to beat the Tigers & then get to the WS, heck even past 1 round of the playoffs, or maybe just making the playoffs, I bet, it will be historic. They were 68-94 last year, 13/14 for the AL & 26/30.

   Still would like to see where the Marlins & the possible Giants fit in to the best to worst.

6. Jim Bouldin Says: August 16th, 2013 at 1:34 pm

   The 2006 Cardinals won the WS with only 83 regular season wins if I remember correctly.

7. Clarkwood Says: August 17th, 2013 at 7:03 pm

   Red Sox had a 69-93 record last year & def look like the favorites to make & even win the WS this year. They were also 24th/30, of all MLB Teams & 12/14 of the AL.

   They would beat the 1987 Twins, 71-91, for Worst Record the Previous Season of a WS Winner, according to Kelly's research.

8. Doug B Says: August 26th, 2013 at 9:06 am

   I really don't think there is a favorite to win the WS at this point. If forced to pick one, I imagine more people would take the Tigers than any other team. Though it would be very close. It's rather wide open and the playoffs are going to feature a lot of "coin flip" matchups.