With the Dodgers winning the World Series and ending their 32-year title drought, it got me thinking; which MLB fanbases have been through the worst?
And I’m not just talking about title droughts. Because when you look at a team like the Pirates, they haven’t had the longest drought but they have been through much worse than some other teams.
First I will go over the teams that just missed the list
Recently Exercised Their Demons
Washington Nationals
The Nationals won the World Series in 2019 in improbable fashion over the heavily-favored Houston Astros. They trailed in the NL Wild Card Game against Josh Hader, they trailed in the NLDS Game 5 facing Clayton Kershaw before sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals on their way to the World Series. This was a team that had not won a postseason series until the 2019 NLDS. They had been considered a title contender since 2012 during the famous “Strasburg Innings Limit” when they lost to the Cardinals. They also had notable NLDS meltdowns against the Giants in 2014, Dodgers in 2016 and Cubs in 2017 before finally exercising their playoff demons last year.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers have not been tortured in the traditional sense. Over the 137 seasons in franchise history, they have 34 playoff appearances, 25 pennants and 7 World Championships. Problem is none of those have occurred since 1988 during the famous Kirk Gibson moment. Since their new ownership took over, they have captured eight consecutive NL West titles including three pennants. Clayton Kershaw was the face of that era as he won three NL Cy Youngs, but struggled to the tune of a 3-6 record and 4.84 ERA over 57.2 NLCS innings. Yes I chose to cherry pick the NLCS because I think that’s when they have needed him the most and he has had some big flops in those moments. Regardless, they were able to unequivocally get over the hump in 2020 and prove that they can not just get to the playoffs but win a ring. Kudos to their front office for acquiring Mookie Betts even when they had a surplus of outfielders. Sometimes it pays to be proactive and not reactive.
Chicago Cubs
There was legitimate reason to believe they would never win the World Series again. I’m sure there are some people that were in their 90s or close to 100-years-old and lived an entire lifetime without ever seeing a title for their beloved Cubbies. They had some notorious World Series defeats – most notably the “Steve Bartman Game” in the 2003 NLCS against the Florida Marlins. The Cubs have been playing baseball for 145 seasons and have made the playoffs a total of 21 times. They have reached 7 World Series. After winning in 1908 against Ty Cobb and the Detroit Tigers, they lost in 1910, 1918, 1929, 1932, 1935, 1938 and the infamous “Billy Goat Curse” year of 1945. After that, they went on a 39-year playoff drought where they lost in the NLCS to the San Diego Padres. They lost again in the NLCS five years later. That was the closest taste they would get until 2003. They appeared to have a legitimate shot to win it all, but blew a 3-2 series lead including a 3-0 Game 6 lead to those scrappy Marlins. They had another promising run in the late 2000s, with Lou Piniella at the helm but got swept in the NLDS in both 2007 and 2008. They tore it all down and bottomed out in 2012 with 101 losses. Theo Epstein had a plan, though, and eventually turned them into a perennial playoff team for the first time since the 1930s. Their win total increased from 61 to 66 to 73 all the way to 97 in 2015 where they looked again like the favorites. Despite sweeping the Mets in their season series of 7 games, they flipped the script and were swept by them in the NLCS in four games. Still, the morale was high as they had the most exciting young team in baseball. Finally, they put it all together in 2016 and ended the 108-year drought bringing the title back to Chicago and cementing Epstein’s legacy as an all-time great executive. Since then, they have not built on that success, but I think they would have to go another 50 years before anyone could legitimately complain again.
- Pittsburgh Pirates
Last World Series: 1979
Last Pennant: 1979
The Pirates fly under the radar for some reason. Perhaps they just don’t have enough die-hard fans to make noise anymore. They have been playing organized baseball for 139 years, they have only reached the playoffs 17 times. Also, once they broke their winning-less season streak in 2013, people stopped talking about them. They famously went 21 seasons without a winning year following three consecutive NLCS losses in 1990-1992. Those years were plagued by bad drafting a poor free agent signings. They were very good from 2013-2015, but still never advanced past the NLDS. Their drafts have been brutal – and when they have hit on a pick (Gerrit Cole), they trade them away before getting proper compensation. Not much more to say, except they have their work cut out for them with the Cardinals, Cubs, Reds and Brewers all fielding competitive teams.
2. Cleveland Indians
Last World Series: 1948
Last Pennant: 2016
It’s almost unfathomable that a team with Cleveland’s talent over the past 71 years hasn’t came away with a World Series. They made it to the World Series in 1954, 1995, 1997 and 2016. They had a powerhouse team in the 1990s with players like Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, Albert Belle, Omar Vizquel, Kenny Lofton and Roberto Alomar. They lost to the Braves in 1995 when they were the favorites and once again when they were the favorites against the Marlins two years later. They ran into Pedro in the 1999 ALDS when they would’ve given the Yankees a run for their money in the ALCS. Finally, they appeared to put it all together in 2016 and even had a 3-1 lead, but they could not close the door on the upstart Cubs as they lost the next three games including an epic Game 7 that featured an unlikely HR by Rajai Davis, a rain delay and an extra-inning loss. The Cubs proved it’s not easy to repeat, as they famously haven’t been able to get back. The Indians now appear to be past their window of contention as financial issues have forced them to lean towards trading franchise SS Francisco Lindor. History shows this drought will eventually end but for their fans, it can’t come soon enough. Cleveland has historically been the most tortured sports city, but thanks to the Cavaliers for winning their first title in 2016 or else the fans would really be miserable.
3. Seattle Mariners
Last World Series: N/A
Last Pennant: N/A
Ken Griffey Jr. Randy Johnson. Alex Rodriguez. Ichiro Suzuki. These are just some players that have worn the Seattle Mariners uniforms since the 1990s. Somehow they have not captured an AL Pennant – even when they set a single-season record with 116 wins in 2001. That was also the last time they made it to the playoffs. In fact, in 44 seasons of the franchise they have only made four postseason berths and 0 WS appearances. If not for the Seahawks recent run of success, I think Seattle sports would be higher on the list of tortured sports cities. When you look at their team history, they have one of the greatest CF of all-time (Ken Griffey Jr), the greatest DH of all-time (Edgar Martinez), one of the greatest SS of all-time (Alex Rodriguez), one of the greatest left-handed pitchers of all-time (Randy Johnson) and one of the greatest right fielders of all-time (Ichiro Suzuki). They did win 89 games in 2018 and really looked like they might win the AL Wild Card. I was at Yankee Stadium in late June when they looked like a legit title contender. They had Felix Hernandez on the mound against the Yankees and they led late but Giancarlo Stanton hit a rocket of a walk-off HR to win. They never recovered. They do have a bright future with the reigning AL Rookie of the Year in Kyle Lewis and one of the best prospects in the game in Jarred Kelenic but they still need to get a little more from the free agents that they choose to sign. This dates back to the early 2000s when they spent big money on Richie Sexson and Adrian Beltre and neither of them contributed much.
4. Texas Rangers
Last World Series: N/A
Last Pennant: 2011
When you talk about a “window of opportunity” to win a championship they had theirs in 2010 and 2011. They were one strike away twice in 2011 and loss Game 6 of the World Series to the Cardinals in arguably the greatest World Series game ever. They ended up losing that year – which was after losing to the San Francisco Giants in 2010. They were still good but lost the AL Wild Card game in 2012 to Baltimore and the ALDS in 2015 and ’16 to the Blue Jays. Since then, they haven’t gotten within 14 games of first place. With the Astros and Oakland Athletics in the AL West, they have their work cut out for them. It’s almost hard to believe but from their first year of existence in 1961, they didn’t reach the playoffs until 1996. They lost the ALDS to the Yankees in 1996, 1998 and 1999. They were the Twins before the Twins.
5. Baltimore Orioles
Last World Series: 1983
Last Pennant: 1983
Since becoming the Baltimore Orioles in 1954, they have basically had three periods of success. There was the late 1960s with the Jim Palmer, Dave McNally, Mike Cuellar that won the World Series in 1966 and 1970 while losing in 1969 and 1971. After that, they won the World Series in 1983, but that was not part of a sustained period of winning. They hadn’t made it to the playoffs the three years prior and didn’t make it back until 1996. That team lost back-to-back ALCS under Davey Johnson. They went back to the doldrums and were awful until 2012 when they lost a wildly entertaining ALDS to the Yankees in 5 games. They made it to the ALCS but lost to the Royals in 4 (how about that for a match up?). They lost the Wild Card game in 2016 in the famous Zach Britton-waiting-in-the-bullpen game. Since then, they haven’t gotten closer than fourth and bottomed out with 115 losses in 2018 for which they were rewarded with Adley Rutschman with the first overall pick. They can swing it, they just need to find some arms before they are competing with the likes of the Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Rays.
6. Detroit Tigers
Last World Series: 1984
Last Pennant: 2012
When it comes to “selling out” for a championship, you better make it happen or you risk being in the position the Tigers are now. Their former GM Dave Dombrowski sold the farm to get a championship for their late owner Mike Ilich. They became a perennial playoff team but were unable to get over the hump. They hadn’t reached the playoffs from 1987-2006 before they won the AL Pennant led by Justin Verlander. They had a great run between 2011-2014 but missed out on their best shot in 2012 which was in the World Series against the Cardinals. Since then, they have been flat-out awful bottoming out in 2019 with 114 losses. Their prize was Spencer Torkelson, the first pick in the 2020 MLB Draft and one of the top power hitters in the minor leagues. It will be a while before they are championship contenders again.
7. New York Mets
Last World Series: 1986
Last Pennant: 2015
This one comes with a caveat. I do believe they are on the cusp of turning their franchise around. The Mets follies since 2001 have been well-documented. While the public perception is that the Mets are eternally doomed, more knowledgeable fans understand that it stemmed from their awful ownership under the Wilpons. They have had incredible highs as a franchise (see 1969 and 1986) but failure and disappointment have followed in the 34 years since. They reached the 2015 World Series and came tantalizingly close in 2006, but the success was always short-lived and followed by equally painful and longer-lasting periods of futility. With Steve Cohen in charge, I believe the Mets will turn around their fortunes and win a World Series by 2025 at the latest and perhaps sooner.
8. Minnesota Twins
Last World Series: 1991
Last Pennant: 1991
Yes it’s only been 29 years since their last World Series, but when you consider that they haven’t won a playoff game since 2004 it puts things in a different stratosphere. That is way too long to continuously come up short when you think about how many different players have been apart of those teams. The Twins actually have experienced a lot of success as a franchise. They have won 3 World Series and reached the playoffs 9 times since 2002. But the reach string of playoff losses is too much to overlook. There are fans that are have watched religiously for 16 years and never saw a playoff win – and that’s with having three-time Cy Young winner Johan Santana, 2006 AL MVP Justin Morneau, six-time All-Star Joe Mauer and nine-time Gold Glove winner Torii Hunter. They also set the single-season record for HR in 2019 and couldn’t get past the Yankees. They also got swept by the Yankees in 2009 and 2010 and lost a single-game wild card game in 2017. If you are a Vikings/Twins fan, chances are you have been through a long drought.
9. Cincinnati Reds
Last World Series: 1990
Last Pennant: 1990
How’s this for a stat? The Reds have been playing baseball for 139 years and have made the playoffs 16 times. Individually, they have an historic franchise. With players like Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Frank Robinson, Barry Larkin, Tony Perez, they have a rich history, but they simply haven’t had many sustained periods of winning with the exception of the Big Red Machine in 1975-1976. They did reach the playoffs in 2010, 2012 and 2013, but never made it past the NLDS. Their last World Series appearance before 1990 was 1976. The Reds deserve some credit for adding to their team when they were considered a marginal postseason team as opposed to tanking like many teams in baseball did. They were rewarded with a postseason appearance although they did not hit the ball nearly well enough to advance past Atlanta. And by that I mean they didn’t score a run. It was a sad end to their season. They will hope to re-sign Trevor Bauer and return to the playoffs next year.
10. San Diego Padres
Last World Series: N/A
Last Pennant: 1998
Look, I work for the Padres but there’s no sugar-coating the teams history. In their 52 seasons, they have six postseason appearances, two pennants and no titles. They have a .462 winning percentage and have never thrown a no-hitter. And tragically, they lost their face of the franchise, Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, in 2014 – which was already in the midst of a poor decade for the franchise. The good news is that after 13 mediocre seasons, they had an outstanding 2020 season before getting swept by the Dodgers in the NLDS. With one of the best young players in the game in Fernando Tatis Jr. and a dynamic minor league system, they are on the precipice of a big decade.
