World Series Horror

Dear God, this World Series is going to break some hearts in one Midwestern city and cause long-awaited jubilation and trashcan fires in another.  The Cubs –- which, admittedly, is my least favorite baseball team –- are in the World Series for the first time since 1945, when Harry Truman was president.  You cannot imagine the excitement level right now for all of the people who moved to Chicago and became fans of a baseball team solely based on its proximity to bars.  I have the helicopters over my house every night the Cubs play to prove it.  Of course, the Cubs have famously not won a World Series since 1908, when Teddy Roosevelt was still president.  The Model T was introduced about 9 days before the 1908 World Series started.  Only 14% of households had bathtubs at that time.  There had not yet been a world war.

The Indians –- which, admittedly, is my fourth least favorite baseball team –- are in the World Series for the first time since 1997.  I vividly remember when they lost to the Marlins that year because I had just completed IU's Dance Marathon that Sunday morning (Game 7 was that Sunday night).  I had been up for almost two days, so I went back to my fraternity and slept until dinner time, got up, at a quick meal, and then slept until after 10 a.m. the next morning.  The only thing that woke me up that night were the sarcastic cheers of non-Indians fans and the open sobbing of Indians fans after Edgar Renteria drove in the Series-winning run in the 11th inning.  As a White Sox fan, that was a satisfying interruption during my 26 hours of sleep.  Of course, the Indians have famously not won a World Series since 1948, also when Harry Truman was the president.

Just so we're clear, I will be rooting for the Indians.  As someone who grew up a White Sox and Astros fan, I hate the Cubs on several levels. When you grow up in the Chicagoland area, you have to choose early on whether you're going to be a Cubs fan or a Sox fan.  Unlike a lot of my friends who had the choice made for them by their parents or grandparents, when I moved to the Chicago suburbs from Houston as a 7-year-old, I had no familial affiliation with either franchise.  I was (and still am) an Astros fan, and for one reason or another, I also became a Sox fan -– probably because the Sox were actually willing to reach out to local communities and give grade school students free tickets for getting straight As or having perfect attendance during a quarter.  I was smart, back then any way, and never sick, so I got a lot of free Sox tickets.  The Cubs, on the other hand, have never really seemed to try to do that kind of thing, maybe because drunken idiots will always pay to sit in Wrigley, no matter how good or bad the team is.  Wrigley Field is, after all, the world's biggest bar.  Sure, I'll admit there's a big brother/little brother complex between the Cubs and Sox, and I'd estimate that the percentage of Cubs vs. Sox fans in Chicago is probably 60-40, if not higher for the Cubs.  There's a feeling, amongst Sox fans anyway, that Cubs fans are more concerned with the "aw shucks" mystique of the Cubs and getting hammered in Wrigleyville than they are about watching baseball, while Sox fans go to games to actually watch and follow a baseball game.  As if the Sox-related hatred of the Cubs isn't enough, my other favorite team, the Astros, was in the same division as the Cubs for 19 seasons, so I got to hate the Cubs (and get hatred from Cubs fans) on two levels.

I have many friends and acquaintances who are Cubs fans, and some of them even say they rooted for the White Sox to win it all in 2005 because they wanted a Chicago team to win.  Using this same logic, they question why I won't root for the Cubs and sometimes ask on Facebook to no one in particular, "Don't you want to root for Chicago?"  No.  No, I don't.  If I hate a team, I'm not going to root for it, just like I wouldn't expect fans of my teams' rivals to root for my teams.  For instance, I'm not one of those "root for the Big Ten out of conference" guys.  I'm sorry, but I will never root for Purdue, even when they play Notre Dame.  It would go against every fiber of my being.  Rooting for the Cubs would feel basally wrong, and I make no apologies about my sincere wish that the Cubs fail to win a World Series in my lifetime.  In sum, go Tribe!

Now that I have that off my chest, you know I love sports stats.  Let's look at some interesting stats about this World Series.

Droughts

Of course, the headline for this Series is that the Cubs and Indians have the two respectively longest current championship droughts of any Major League Baseball teams, and two of the three longest current droughts for any team in the four major U.S. sports leagues.  As a fan of the White Sox, who themselves had an 88-year drought, I can relate.  That doesn't make the Cubs' 108-year drought any less amazing.  With that in mind, here are the longest current and all-time championship droughts in the four major U.S. sports leagues.  I'm including franchises that have never won a title, and I'm including ABA and AFL titles.  For the all-time longest droughts, I'm including length between a franchise's founding (or the first year in which a championship was played) and its first title, to the extent applicable.  And, of course, I'm not including defunct franchises.  Sorry, Frankford Yellow Jackets fans.

Ten longest current championship droughts

1. 108 years - Chicago Cubs (1908-present)

2.  69 years - Arizona/Phoenix/St. Louis/Chicago Cardinals (1947-present)

3.  68 years – Cleveland Indians (1948-present)

4.  65 years - Sacramento Kings/Kansas City-Omaha Kings/Cincinnati Royals/Rochester Royals (1951-present)

5.  59 years - Detroit Lions (1957-present)

6.  58 years - Atlanta/St. Louis Hawks (1958-present)

7.  56 years - Philadelphia Eagles (1960-present)

8 (tie).  55 years - Texas Rangers/second Washington Senators (1961-present)*

8 (tie).  55 years - Minnesota Vikings (1961-present)*

8 (tie).  55 years - Tennessee Titans/Houston Oilers (1961-present)

* Team has never won a championship

Ten all-time longest championship droughts

1. 108 years - Chicago Cubs (1908-present)

2.  88 years – Chicago White Sox (1917-2005)

3.  86 years – Boston Red Sox (1918-2004)

4.  77 years – Philadelphia Phillies (1903*-1977)

5.  69 years - Arizona/Phoenix/St. Louis/Chicago Cardinals (1947-present)

6.  68 years – Cleveland Indians (1948-present)

7.  65 years - Sacramento Kings/Kansas City-Omaha Kings/Cincinnati Royals/Rochester Royals (1951-present)

8 (tie).  63 years – Baltimore Orioles/St. Louis Browns (1903*-1966)

8 (tie).  63 years - Minnesota Twins/first Washington Senators (1924-1987)

10.  59 years - Detroit Lions (1957-present)

*1903 was the year of the first World Series

Two For Cleveland?

If the Indians win the World Series, they will be the second professional sports team from Cleveland to win a championship this year, following the Cavaliers' NBA title in June, which would be a feat in itself foe a city that hadn't won a major sports title since 1964 before the Cavs' title.  This would be the 13th time at least two teams from the same city have won a title in the four major sports in the same year, and only the 6th time since the major sports leagues started expanding in earnest in the late '60s.  Here are the other times it happened (I'm counting ABA and pre-Super Bowl AFL titles, to the extent relevant):

2009:  Pittsburgh (Steelers and Penguins)

2004:  Boston (Patriots and Red Sox)

1988:  Los Angeles (Lakers and Dodgers)

1979:  Pittsburgh (Steelers and Pirates)

1969:  New York (Jets and Mets)

1956:  New York (Yankees and Giants)

1952:  Detroit (Red Wings and Lions)

1938:  New York (Yankees and Giants)

1935:  Detroit (Tigers and Lions)

1933:  New York (Giants (baseball) and Rangers)

1928:  New York (Yankees and Rangers)

1925:  New York (Yankees and Giants)

Everyone Else Is Doing It

In the 107 World Series years since the Cubs last won a World Series, 21 franchises have won World Series titles.  Here they are, alphabetically (and to the extent they have moved cities and won a World Series while in a prior city, the current city is listed first):

1.  Anaheim Angels (2002)

2.  Arizona Diamondbacks (2001)

3.  Atlanta/Milwaukee/Boston Braves (1914, 1957, 1995)

4.  Baltimore Orioles (1966, 1970, 1983)

5.  Boston Red Sox (1912, 1915-1916, 1918, 2004, 2007, 2013)

6.  Chicago White Sox (1917, 2005)

7.  Cincinnati Reds (1919, 1940, 1975-1976, 1990)

8.  Cleveland Indians (1920, 1948)

9.  Detroit Tigers (1935, 1945, 1968, 1984)

10.  Florida Marlins (1997, 2003)

11.  Kansas City Royals (1985, 2015)

12.  Los Angeles/Brooklyn Dodgers (1955, 1959, 1963, 1965, 1981, 1988)

13.  Minnesota Twins/Washington Senators (1924, 1987, 1991)

14.  New York Mets (1969, 1986)

15.  New York Yankees (1923, 1927-1928, 1932, 1936-1939, 1941, 1943, 1947, 1949-1953, 1956, 1958, 1961-1962, 1977-1978, 1996, 1998-2000, 2009)

16.  Oakland/Philadelphia Athletics (1910-1911, 1913, 1929-1930, 1972-1974, 1989)

17.  Philadelphia Phillies (1980, 2008)

18.  Pittsburgh Pirates (1909, 1925, 1960, 1971, 1979)

19.  San Francisco/New York Giants (1921-1922, 1933, 1954, 2010, 2012, 2014)

20.  St. Louis Cardinals (1926, 1931, 1934, 1942, 1944, 1946, 1964, 1967, 1982, 2006, 2011)

21.  Toronto Blue Jays (1992-1993)

         

In the 70 World Series years since the Cubs last played in a World Series, 27 other franchises have played in a World Series.  Here they are, alphabetically (again, to the extent they have moved cities and went to a World Series in the prior city, the current city is listed first):

1.  Anaheim Angels (2002)

2.  Arizona Diamondbacks (2001)

3.  Atlanta/Milwaukee/Boston Braves (1948, 1957-1958, 1991-1992, 1995-1996, 1999)

4.  Baltimore Orioles (1966, 1969-1971, 1979, 1983)

5.  Boston Red Sox (1946, 1967, 1975, 1986, 2004, 2007, 2013)

6.  Chicago White Sox (1959, 2005)

7.  Cincinnati Reds (1961, 1970, 1972, 1975-1976, 1990)

8.  Cleveland Indians (1948, 1954, 1995, 1997)

9.  Colorado Rockies (2007)

10.  Detroit Tigers (1968, 1984, 2006, 2012)

11.  Houston Astros (2005)

12.  Florida Marlins (1997, 2003)

13.  Kansas City Royals (1980, 1985, 2014-2015)

14.  Los Angeles/Brooklyn Dodgers (1947, 1949, 1952-1953, 1955-1956, 1959, 1963, 1965-1966, 1974, 1977-1978, 1981, 1988)

15.  Milwaukee Brewers (1982)

16.  Minnesota Twins/Washington Senators (1965, 1987, 1991)

17.  New York Mets (1969, 1973, 1986, 2000, 2015)

18.  New York Yankees (1947, 1949-1953, 1955-1958, 1960-1964, 1976-1978, 1981, 1996, 1998-2001, 2003, 2009)

19.  Oakland Athletics (1972-1974, 1988-1990)

20.  Philadelphia Phillies (1950, 1980, 1983, 2008-2009)

21.  Pittsburgh Pirates (1960, 1971, 1979)

22.  San Diego Padres (1984, 1998)

23.  San Francisco/New York Giants (1951, 1954, 1962, 1989, 2002, 2010, 2012, 2014)

24.  St. Louis Cardinals (1946, 1964, 1967-1968, 1982, 1985, 1987, 2004, 2006, 2011, 2013)

25.  Tampa Bay Rays (2008)

26.  Texas Rangers (2010-2011)

27.  Toronto Blue Jays (1992-1993)

Only two franchises –- the Seattle Mariners and the Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos –- have never played in a World Series, although they were founded in 1977 and 1969, respectively.

Championship Appearance Drought

As mentioned above, this is the first time since 1945 that the Cubs have played in a World Series.  This is by far the longest time any Major League Baseball team has gone between World Series appearances, and the longest any franchise in U.S. pro sports has gone between appearances in a championship game or series.  Here are the ten longest MLB World Series appearance droughts, followed by the ten longest championship game/series droughts for all four major U.S. sports leagues.  I'm including teams that have never been to a championship game/series, and also including length between a franchise's founding (or the first year in which a championship was played) and its first championship appearance, where applicable.  Again, I'm counting ABA and AFL championship appearances.  Also, for the year, I'm going with the year in which the championship game was played, so if a Super Bowl was played in February 2009 after the 2008 season, the year I'm using is 2009.

MLB World Series appearance droughts

1.  71 years - Chicago Cubs (1945-2016)

2.  49 years – Texas Rangers/second Washington Senators (1961-2010)

3.  47 years – Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos (1969-present)*

4.  46 years – Chicago White Sox (1959-2005)

5.  43 years - Houston Astros/Colt .45s (1962-2005)

6 (tie).  41 years – St. Louis Browns (1903**-1944)

6 (tie).  41 years – Oakland/Kansas City/Philadelphia Athletics (1931-1972)

6 (tie).  41 years – Anaheim/California/Los Angeles Angels (1961-2002)

6 (tie).  41 years – Cleveland Indians (1954-1995)

10.  40 years – Chicago White Sox (1919-1959)

*Team has never appeared in a World Series

**1903 was the year of the first World Series

Longest championship game/series droughts

1.  71 years - Chicago Cubs (1945-2016)

2.  65 years - Sacramento Kings/Kansas City-Omaha Kings/Cincinnati Royals/Rochester Royals (1951-present)

2.  61 years - Arizona/Phoenix/St. Louis/Chicago Cardinals (1948-2009)

4.  59 years - Detroit Lions (1957-present)

5.  55 years - Atlanta/St. Louis Hawks (1961-present)

6.  51 years – Cleveland Browns (1965-present)

7 (tie).  49 years – Texas Rangers/second Washington Senators (1961-2000)

7 (tie).  49 years – Toronto Maple Leafs (1967-present)

9 (tie).  47 years – Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos (1969-present)*

9 (tie).  47 years – New York Jets (1969-present)

*Team has never appeared in championship game or series

Now go forth and spread this knowledge when you feel the time is necessary.