Winning the World Series is a big fucking deal. It’s an achievement that declares you the best baseball team on the planet for that particular year and etches your name in the history books forever. However, if it’s such a big deal, why are some teams more forgotten about than others? Shouldn’t they all be held in the same high regard for their incredible achievement? The sad truth is that they’re not. One possible answer is that they just weren’t all that memorable/captivating of a team. Maybe they barely snuck into the playoffs and got hot at the right time and “stole” the title from a superior team. Banners might fly forever, but our recollection of the team’s title might not last that long. Similarly, I feel like the period from 1990-2019 has had some of the most forgettable World Series champs of all time.
1990 Cincinnati Reds
Even if you weren’t alive at the time, most baseball fans have heard of the Big Red Machine’s reign in the 1970s with Pete Rose and Joe Morgan. I’ve watched enough MLB Network documentaries to know that they were the preeminent National League team of the decade – four W.S. appearances with two championships. However, since 1979 (40 years) they’ve only managed to make the postseason five times, one of which was only a Wild Card game. But somehow, after not making the playoffs a single time in the 1980s, they managed to sweep the defending champion Oakland Athletics in 1990. Those Reds were a classic example of a team that just put it all together for one magical season. Aside from Barry Larkin and Paul O’Neill, the only other notable player on their roster was a relief pitcher (Randy Myers). I’d even argue that the most captivating person apart of the Reds that season wasn’t even a player, but their manager Lou Piniella.
However, I believe the real reason this championship is so forgettable is that it’s outshined by other World Series’ around the same time.
1988 – Kirk Gibson walk-off home run in Game 1(Dodgers won)
1989 – “The Earthquake Series” AND “The Bay Bridge Series” (Athletics won)
1991 – Kirby Puckett home run to force Game 7 (Twins won)
1992 – Even though this World Series didn’t have a defining “moment” like the others, it still featured the Atlanta Braves, who were undoubtedly the National League team of the 90s + when you think of Carter’s ’93 walk off, you can’t help but remember the Blue Jays went back-to-back.
1993 – Joe Carter hits a walk-off home run to win World Series (Blue Jays won)
With such historical World Series moments before and after the 1990 season, it makes sense why that year gets lost in the shuffle. Coupled with how bad the Reds have been since (20 losing seasons/30), I’m sure it shocks you as much as me to know that they were able to sneak in a championship.
2005 Chicago White Sox
Maybe it’s because I was really into playing The Show around this time, but I am very familiar with this White Sox team and the players on it. Paul Konerko, A.J. Pierzynski, Bobby Jenks, Mark Buehrle, Frank Thomas, Juan Uribe, and even manager Ozzie Guillen should all be relatively familiar names if you consider yourself a baseball fan. All of those guys were all-stars (except Uribe, but I can’t forget his days with the Dodgers) at one time or another, and Guillen is up there with Bobby Cox and Lou Piniella in terms of his in-game exploits, plus he had a pretty solid managerial career. But for some reason, I always forget that they won the World Series in 2005.
I believe there are two things working against the White Sox here. The first (1) thing is that much like the 1990 Reds, they haven’t been a great team since winning their title. The White Sox have only made one playoff appearance (2008) since 2005 and have had ten losing seasons in that span of time. The second (2) thing is that they are the little brother in Chicago, like the Mets in New York and Angels in the greater Los Angeles area (I refuse to call them the Los Angeles Angels). The list of second rate teams isn’t baseball-specific either. The Clippers, Jets, and Nets also know how to feels to be #2 in their own city. But that’s just the way it is…No matter what they do, they’ll never outshine the city’s #1 team, which in Chicago’s case is the Cubs. The White Sox embrace being the “South Siders”, and I’d definitely consider them the grittier team in the windy city. However, since their title basically came out of nowhere and hasn’t really resonated with the sport since then, it’s easy to forget that magical season.
2003 Florida Marlins
By far the most forgettable World Series champions of the last 30 years are the 2003 Florida Marlins. This was a team that included Hall of Famer Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, future HOF-er Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis, A.J. Burnett, Brad Penny, Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell, and Derrek Lee – stacked from head to toe, yet they’re easy to forget. Everyone remembers Edgar Renteria’s walk-off in the 1997 World Series, giving the Marlins their first championship in just their fifth season as a franchise, but no one remembers 2003. First of all, I’d just like to say that I don’t think they get enough credit for that ’97 title. With relatively no fanbase, limited draft picks, and the powerhouse Braves in their own division, it’s insane to think they were able to win a championship just a few years after their inception. But I digress. The Marlins winning the championship in 2003 was actually the third most memorable thing to come out of that postseason.
Steve Bartman. Chances are if you’re a sports fan you’ve heard of this man. Even if you’re not a sports fan (I’m not sure why you’re reading this blog) there’s a good chance you’ve heard of him. That’s because he was public enemy no. 1 in Chicago from 2003 – 2016, when the Cubs finally bailed him out by winning the World Series after a 108-year drought. The Marlins were the opposing team during the Steve Bartman incident, which ultimately resulted in the Marlins winning the N.L. pennant and sent the Cubs packing.
Aaron Boone’s walk-off. Now one of the most famous hits in baseball history, it’s easy to forget that the Yankees didn’t even win the World Series in 2003. Boone’s hit was the highlight of the entire season and has been cemented in baseball lore, but it was just the ALCS. I can’t imagine the kind of momentum that Yankees team had going into the World Series, but somehow the Marlins managed to beat them in six games – considering the circumstances, they deserve a lot more credit.
It’s not the Marlins’ fault that two of the most iconic postseason moments in baseball history happened during their championship season, but since they did, people often forget that they won their second title in just their eleventh season as a franchise. It doesn’t help that they’ve been a shit team every since and arguably have the worst fan base in all of American sports, but they deserve credit where credit is due.
An honorable mention in the San Francisco Giants…not any one year in particular, but just the fact that they won three titles in five years (2010, 2012, 2014) and it seems like everyone’s forgotten about it. Do you realize how impressive it is to win that many titles in such a short period of time? That’s dynasty territory. But because they’re a shit team now and traded away Bumgarner (who single-handedly won the 2014 World Series), it feels like all that happened way longer than six years ago.
My loyalty to the Dodgers in no way influenced my opinion about the Giants. Having said that, I’d give my left nut to see the Dodgers win an unmemorable World Series title.
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