- Commissioner’s statement on Ventura, Marte
- Ronnie O’Sullivan: Masters champion ‘felt so vulnerable’ in final
- Arron Fletcher Wins 2017 WSOP International Circuit Marrakech Main Event ($140,224)
- Smith challenges Warner to go big in India
- Moncada No. 1 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Braves land 2 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Kingery makes MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- New Zealand wrap up 2-0 after Bangladesh implosion
- Mathews, Pradeep, Gunathilaka to return to Sri Lanka
- Elliott hopes for rain for Poli
Repeat champions? Not in this competitive era
- Updated: September 20, 2016
One sure sign of competitive balance is this: Nobody remains at the top year after year. In fact, Major League Baseball is 0-for-the-millennium in the category of back-to-back World Series champions.
This is a long way from the Yankees’ five straight titles from 1949-53 — the beginning of a remarkable run of nine World Series championships over 14 years.
It is also a long way from the Oakland Athletics winning three straight from 1972-74. And it isn’t close to the most recent Yankees run of domination, winning four out of five from 1996-2000, including the last three in a row. This was also the most recent time the word “dynasty” was tossed about in baseball circles.
The defending champion Kansas City Royals are currently on the outskirts of the American League Wild Card race. Nobody who has watched the Royals over the past two years would count them out prior to an official elimination.
But at this point, the Royals’ chances for a repeat World Series championship are seriously slim. The structure of the current game is not inclined toward repeat champions. It is intended to give more teams a chance to win; more fans a chance for legitimate hope. It is working.
What has happened to the 15 World Series winners of the new century? It wasn’t all bad by any definition. But it also wasn’t back-to-back glory.
2001 D-backs: This veteran club wasn’t necessarily built for the long haul, but it was brilliant enough behind Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling to end the Yankees’ run of domination in a thrilling seven-game World Series. The D-backs were swept in 2002 by the Cardinals in a National League Division Series.
2002 Angels:They prevailed in the World Series over the Giants in what was a battle of Wild Card qualifiers, another seven-game drama. They skidded to a sub-.500 third-place finish in 2003.
2003 Marlins: The NL Wild Card representative made it past the Cubs in an infamous seven-game NL Championship Series before upending the …
