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Ranking the greatest World Series champions in baseball history: Nos. 80-61

theScore

Throughout the month of January, a cast of editors from theScore will share their rankings of the greatest teams, performances, pitchers, and position players in baseball history. This list focuses on the greatest World Series champions:

100-81 | 80-61 | 60-41 | 40-21 | 20-1

Voter list:

  • James Bisson, National Sports Editor
  • Brandon Wile, Senior MLB Editor
  • Jonah Birenbaum, MLB News Editor
  • Michael Bradburn, MLB News Editor
  • Jason Wilson, MLB News Editor
  • Bryan Mcwilliam, MLB News Editor
  • Simon Sharkey-Gotlieb, MLB News Editor
  • Dylan Perego, News Editor
  • Josh Wegman, News Editor

80. 1973 Oakland Athletics

W L W% RS RA
94 68 .580 758 615

Coming off an impressive World Series triumph the season before, Oakland cruised to a six-game win in the American League West Division before slipping past the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Championship Series. Facing a Mets team that had the worst winning percentage of any team to reach the World Series, the A's found themselves down 3-2 before claiming the final two games for a title repeat. - Bisson

79. 1958 New York Yankees

W L W% RS RA
92 62 .597 759 577

Rarely, if ever, did the 1950s Yankees dynasty have to deal with this kind of adversity. Faced with a 3-1 deficit and the prospect of losing to the Braves for a second straight year, the Yankees reeled off three straight wins - highlighted by a 10-inning triumph over Warren Spahn in Game 6 at hostile County Stadium - to steal title No. 18. - Sharkey-Gotlieb

78. 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks

W L W% RS RA
92 70 .568 818 677

While the Diamondbacks' only World Series victory will be remembered most for Luis Gonzalez's game-winning bloop single in Game 7, we might never see a more devastating 1-2 punch - both in helping Arizona reach the title series, and in leading it to victory - than Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. The duo went 43-12 in the regular season and combined to win all four games in the Fall Classic win over the Yankees. - Bisson

77. 1962 New York Yankees

W L W% RS RA
96 66 .593 817 680

No team won consecutive games in the '62 series, and the widest margin of victory was four runs. So it came down to starter Ralph Terry. With Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and much of the offense struggling, Terry shut out the San Francisco Giants, allowing only four hits over nine innings. The Yankees scored only a single run, but it was enough. - Wilson

76. 1919 Cincinnati Reds

W L W% RS RA
96 44 .686 577 401

Yes, members of their opponents - the infamous "Black Sox" - conspired to throw this series, but don't let that fool you: These Reds were talented and deserving winners on their own merits. Featuring future Hall of Famer Edd Roush and former MVP Jake Daubert in the lineup, plus ERA champion Dutch Reuther on the mound, the Reds also got legendary October performances from outfielder Greasy Neale (10-for-28) and Hod Eller (two complete games, 15 strikeouts) during their 5-3 series victory. - Sharkey-Gotlieb

75. 1991 Minnesota Twins

W L W% RS RA
95 67 .586 776 652

Were it not for his performance in the 1991 World Series, Jack Morris wouldn't be heading to Cooperstown this summer. After allowing just two runs over seven innings in Game 1 against Atlanta, then holding the Braves to one run over six frames in Game 4, Morris authored the most memorable performance of his career in the series' deciding game, tossing a 10-inning shutout that pushed the Twins to a 1-0 victory and the third championship in franchise history. - Birenbaum

74. 1965 Los Angeles Dodgers

W L W% RS RA
97 65 .599 608 521

After sitting out Game 1 due to Yom Kippur, and getting out-dueled by Jim Kaat in Game 2, Sandy Koufax and the Dodgers found themselves in a dire 2-0 hole against the Twins. Of course, it was none other than Koufax who put together complete-game shutouts in both Games 5 and 7 for the clutch heroics in what would be his fourth and final World Series championship. - Bradburn

73. 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates

W L W% RS RA
95 59 .617 734 593

The powerful Yankees, nearing the end of their dynasty, won three games of this series by a combined score of 38-3 - but you have to win four games to get a ring. Somehow, the Pirates did just that and slew Goliath to win their first title since 1925 in a truly biblical upset. Of course, this series is most famous for its Game 7, which is still cited by many as perhaps the greatest deciding game ever contested and ended on Bill Mazeroski's iconic walk-off homer. - Sharkey-Gotlieb

72. 2005 Chicago White Sox

W L W% RS RA
99 63 .611 741 645

Before the Chicago Cubs broke their historic World Series curse in 2016, that other club on the South Side did it first. In 2005, the White Sox ended an 88-year run without a World Series when they swept the Houston Astros in four games. The 2005 edition of the White Sox - led by firey manager Ozzie Guillen - played a blue-collar style of baseball reminiscent of the South Side of Chicago. No qualified player, with the exception of Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye, posted an OPS above .800 during the regular season. Dye would up as World Series MVP after recording a 1.214 OPS. - Mcwilliam

71. 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers

W L W% RS RA
94 67 .584 628 544

NL MVP Kirk Gibson and NL Cy Young winner Orel Hershiser led the Dodgers to their fifth title since moving to Los Angeles 30 years prior. Hershiser posted a 2.26 ERA during the regular season - including 59 consecutive scoreless innings - and followed with a 1.06 ERA in the playoffs to win the World Series MVP. Gibson was limited to one at-bat in the World Series due to injuries, but it was an iconic one. Gibson's pinch-hit, two-run walk-off blast gave the Dodgers the win in Game 1 over the Oakland Athletics. - Wile

70. 1951 New York Yankees

W L W% RS RA
98 56 .636 798 621

A changing of the guard in the Bronx: 1951 marked Mantle and the retiring Joe DiMaggio's lone season as teammates. Mantle appeared in just two games due to injury, but the Yankees still beat the Giants in six games - the final time these two rivals met in a Subway Series. Also of note: This World Series was the first to be televised coast to coast. - Sharkey-Gotlieb

69. 1957 Milwaukee Braves

W L W% RS RA
95 59 .617 772 613

The Braves' lone title during their abbreviated stay in Milwaukee came in a seven-game thriller over the Yankees. When Warren Spahn struggled, right-hander Lew Burdette picked up the slack and earned Series MVP honors with a 0.67 ERA and three complete-game victories - including shutouts in Games 5 and 7. Hank Aaron hit .393 (11-for-28) with three homers and seven RBIs. - Sharkey-Gotlieb

68. 1935 Detroit Tigers

W L W% RS RA
93 58 .641 919 665

After coming up short in each of their first four trips to the World Series, the Tigers finally prevailed in '35, sinking the Chicago Cubs in six games despite losing star slugger Hank Greenberg to a broken wrist in Game 2. Six weeks later, Tigers owner Frank Navin, who had run the organization for three decades and agonized over all four of those World Series defeats, died of a heart attack. - Birenbaum

67. 1983 Baltimore Orioles

W L W% RS RA
98 64 .605 799 652

The Baltimore Orioles haven't been to a World Series in more than 30 years, but at least those who were around in 1983 can relish in their title victory from that season. With a 22-year-old phenom named Cal Ripken Jr. anchoring the club en route to a regular-season MVP during his sophomore campaign, the Orioles lost just two games in the postseason. Baltimore received an incredible World Series performance from eventual series MVP Rick Dempsey, whose 1.390 OPS dominated "The I-95 Series" between the Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies. - Mcwilliam

66. 1913 Philadelphia Athletics

W L W% RS RA
96 57 .627 794 592

In 1913, the city of Philadelphia would be rewarded with its third World Series title since 1910. Stuffy McInnis, Eddie Collins, Frank "Home Run" Baker, and Jack Barry went by the nickname the "$100,000 infield," which came courtesy of the combined value of the foursome. Those infielders combined for 365 RBIs that season during an era where run production wasn't as plentiful as it is nowadays. Baker and Collins notched a combined 17 hits in helping their club win the World Series. - Mcwilliam

65. 1884 Providence Grays

W L W% RS RA
84 28 .750 665 388

It certainly was a different era. "Old Hoss" Radbourn started all three games for the Grays, refusing to allow even a single earned run as they swept the New York Metropolitans. No one else took the mound for the Grays, and Radbourn led the team to what is considered by some to be the very first World Series. - Wilson

64. 1949 New York Yankees

W L W% RS RA
97 57 .630 829 637

The Yankees at this time were between the dominant eras of Ruth and Gehrig and Maris and Mantle, but that didn't stop the club from being the best in baseball. A 24-year-old upstart named Yogi Berra led the Bronx Bombers behind the plate, while established veterans Phil Rizzuto and Tommy Henrich led the way offensively to the franchise's 11th World Series and first in a stretch of five consecutive years. - Perego

63. 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates

W L W% RS RA
98 64 .605 775 643

The Pirates won the division by just two games over the Montreal Expos despite winning an NL-best 98 games. After sweeping the Reds in the NLCS, Pittsburgh fell into a 1-3 deficit in the World Series to the Orioles. The Pirates, however, would win the next three games - outscoring Baltimore 15-2 - to become one of six teams in the 20th century to win after trailing 3-1. The 1979 title was the most recent championship for the Pirates to date. - Wile

62. 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers

W L W% RS RA
99 63 .611 640 550

The '63 Dodgers effectively helped end the Yankees' dynasty with this series win. Sandy Koufax was predictably incredible over his two starts, but Don Drysdale was even more impressive. Drysdale threw a complete-game, three-hit shutout in Game 3 to send the series to a deciding fourth with Koufax on the mound. The definition of a no-doubter. - Wilson

61. 1892 Boston Beaneaters

W L W% RS RA
102 48 .680 862 649

The Beaneaters, known today as the Atlanta Braves, had absolutely no trouble dispatching of the Cleveland Spiders despite the presence of the great Cy Young on the other side of the diamond, taking the title with a 5-0-1 series win. Outfielder Hugh Duffy proved to be quite the catalyst, batting .462 in the series while driving in nine of the team's 28 series runs. Kid Nichols was stellar on the mound, tossing two complete games and allowing just two earned runs. - Perego

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)

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