The 10 Greatest World Series of All Time

Two Hall of Famers Clash

9. 1924 – New York Giants vs. Washington Senators

This World Series marked the beginning of the end of the John McGraw era Giants. This was their fourth consecutive series and the legendary McGraw’s ninth and final appearance in the Fall Classic. For the Senators, this was their first World Series appearance after many years of futility.

In the series, the great Walter Johnson was nearing the end of his illustrious career. Johnson pitched two complete games, but the Senators’ bats went cold, and he took the loss in both games. Every time the Giants looked like they were going to clinch the series, Washington would battle back to tie it up. The series culminated in a Game 7 that many experts have called one of the greatest World Series games of all time.

After trailing 3-1 in the eighth inning, player/manager Bucky Harris’ bad-hop single past Giants third baseman Freddie Lindstrom would drive in two runs and tie the game. It stayed that way until the 12th inning. A dropped pop-up by New York catcher Hank Gowdy and another bad-hop single over Lindstrom brought home the winning run.

Johnson would enter the game in the ninth inning and pitch four scoreless innings to record the win. For the Senators, this was their franchise’s only World Series win while playing in the nation’s capital. This game still holds the record as the longest Game 7 (innings-wise) in MLB postseason history.

A Wacky World Series

8. 2011 – St. Louis Cardinals vs. Texas Rangers

This series pitted the St. Louis Cardinals, who were playing their first series since 2006, against the Texas Rangers, who were the repeat AL Champs. Games 1 and 2 were carbon copies of one another as pitchers dominated in one-run wins by each team.

Future Hall of Fame Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols was the story of Game 3. He belted three homers and drove in six runs as St. Louis demolished Texas 16-7 at Rangers Ballpark. He joined Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson as only players (at the time) to ever hit three home runs in a World Series game.

The Rangers would receive excellent pitching performances by Derek Holland (Game 4) and C.J. Wilson and Darren Oliver (Game 5) that turned the spigots off on the Cardinals offense. Texas would take a 3-2 series lead as the teams headed back to St. Louis for the final game or two. That set the stage for the epic Game 6, considered by many as one of the best series games ever.

The Rangers scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to go up 7-4. The Cardinals came up with three runs of their own across the eighth and ninth innings to tie the game. Josh Hamilton launched a two-run dinger in the top of the 10th to put the Rangers up 9-7. St. Louis, off singles by Ryan Theriot and Lance Berkman, scored two of their own to send the game to the 11th inning.

Texas failed to score in the top of the 11th, and the Cardinals sent third baseman David Freese to the plate to start the next half-inning. He would end the classic matchup with a solo shot to center field. Game 7 was anticlimactic as Chris Carpenter and four St. Louis relievers would keep the Rangers at bay in a 6-2 win, sending the Cards home as World Champs.

David vs. Goliath

7. 1960 – New York Yankees vs. Pittsburgh Pirates

The Dominant Yankees on one of their long World Series streaks faced the outmatched Pittsburgh Pirates who hadn’t made a series since 1927. No one gave the upstart Pirates much of a chance, but they surprised the Yankees 6-4 in Game 1.

The Yankees exacted their revenge in Games 2 and 3, winning 16-3 and 10-0 respectively. They did this behind the strong pitching of Bob Turley and Whitey Ford and three home runs from Mickey Mantle. Pittsburgh won the next two games without hitting a homer. Vern Law won his second game of the series 3-2, and Harvey Haddix was the winner 5-2 in Game 5.

In that game, the Pirates’ Roy Face recorded his third save of the series. New York was back at it in Game 6, where they destroyed Pittsburgh 12-0 behind a strong outing by Ford. The Pirates jumped off to a 4-0 lead in Game 7, but the Yankees roared back behind home runs by Bill Skowron and Yogi Berra to go up 7-5 in the eighth inning.

Pittsburgh answered that with five runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 9-7 lead. The big blow came from catcher Hal Smith, who hit a two-out, three-run homer. Like a great prize fighter, the Bombers would tie it up in the ninth, leaving the Pirates one more chance to win it in regulation. Yanks pitcher Ralph Terry faced the Pirates’ second baseman Bill Mazeroski to start the bottom half of the inning.

And on Terry’s second pitch, Mazeroski lined the ball over the left field wall, and Pittsburgh was crowned World Champs. The Yankees outscored the Pirates 55-27 and outhit them 91-60 but still lost the series. New York’s run total is still the highest ever for a World Series team.

The Cubs’ World Series Drought Ends

6. 2016 – Chicago Cubs vs. Cleveland

The Cubs entered this series with a chance to break the “Curse of the Billy Goat.” The Cubs had gone 108 years without a World Series title. Their opponents had a 68-year drought going. Something had to give. In fact, the Cubs’ futility registered as the longest championship gap in North American professional sports history.

And the series started poorly for Chicago. They dropped three of the first four games, including losing Games 3 and 4 at Wrigley Field. No team had come back from being down 3-1 in the series since 1985. But the Cubs eked out a close one in Game 5 with a 3-2 win. Highlights of the contest were Kris Bryant’s fourth-inning home run and relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman’s two-plus scoreless innings.

In Game 6, Chicago, lifted by home runs from Addison Russell, Anthony Rizzo, and Bryant, pounded Cleveland 9-2, forcing a Game 7 on the road. It looked like a cakewalk to the championship for the Cubs as they raced to a 5-1 lead in the series finale. But Cleveland battled back, tying the game in the eighth behind Rajai Davis’ homer.

In extra innings, Chicago put two on the board in the 10th inning to take an 8-6 lead. However, Cleveland could only muster one run in the bottom half of the inning. This gave the Cubs their historic championship in what is widely considered to be one of the greatest Game 7s of all time.

5. 2001 – Arizona Diamondbacks vs. New York Yankees

This series was played with the haze of the September 11 terrorist attacks hanging over it. A talented but aging Yankees dynasty was going for its fourth consecutive series win against a Diamondback franchise that was only four years old. But because of the attacks, the Yanks found themselves as the sentimental favorite of many fans.

The Diamondbacks paid no heed, as they routed the Yankees 9-1 in Game 1. Curt Schilling and two Arizona relievers three-hit New York, and home runs by Craig Counsell and Luis Gonzales sparked an explosive Diamondbacks fireworks show. Randy Johnson would pitch a complete-game shutout of the Yankees in Game 2 in a 4-0 D-backs win, putting them up 2-0 in the series.

Roger Clemens and Mariano Rivera shut down the Arizona offense in Game 3, allowing only three hits in a 2-1 victory. Derek Jeter played hero the next night when he hit a 10th-inning homer that lifted New York to a 4-3 win and a series tie. It was Alfonso Soriano’s turn the next night when he hit a 12th-inning RBI single that moved the Yankees one win away from their fourth consecutive series crown.

The Diamondbacks would tie it up two nights later with a 22-hit offensive barrage in a 15-2 romp over the Bombers. The Game 7 starters were Clemens and Schilling, but it was the closers that made the headlines. With the score 2-1 Yankees, at the top of the ninth inning. Johnson, in relief, would retire the side, giving Arizona one more chance to win the series.

A Rivera throwing error and two infield singles led to two D-backs runs and their first World Series crown. Arizona would outscore New York 37-14 and outhit them 65-42. But it took a rare Rivera miscue to open the door for the Diamondbacks’ win.

The Improbable Mets

4. 1986 – New York Mets vs. Boston Red Sox

The 1986 Boston Red Sox were on a mission to break the curse of the Bambino. They had endured a World Series drought of 68 years and were ready to take it out on the NL Champion New York Mets. And they came out hot with Bruce Hurst throwing eight innings of shutout ball to take opening game 1-0.

Dave Henderson and Dwight Evans led the Sox onslaught in Game 2 as they trampled Dwight Gooden and the Mets 9-3 at Fenway Park. New York came back in Game 3 behind solid pitching from Bob Ojeda and a Lenny Dykstra home run to pound Boston 7-1. Same recipe the next night as Ron Darling held the BoSox bats at bay for a 5-2 win.

Boston crept back in Game 5 as Hurst pitched a complete game to lead the Boston to a 4-2 victory. This set the stage for the historic Game 6. A seesaw game resulted in the teams being tied in regulation. In the top half of the 10th, Red Sox leadoff batter Henderson smacked a home run to put Boston up by one.

Two batters later, instead of pinch-hitting for his pitcher, Calvin Schiraldi, BoSox manager John McNamara sent him to the plate, where he struck out for the second out of the inning. After adding an insurance run, veteran first baseman Bill Buckner was allowed to hit instead of giving way to Dave Stapleton for defensive purposes, which the Red Sox usually did. After the final out of the half inning, Boston was up by a 5-3 margin.

In the bottom half of the inning, Schiraldi retired the first two Mets’ batters on lazy fly outs. Three straight singles netted New York a run with runners at the corners. McNamara pulled Schiraldi in favor of Bob Stanley. A wild pitch brought home another Mets’ run, leaving Ray Knight at second base as the winning run.

The batter, Mookie Wilson, dribbled a grounder down the first base line that rolled under Buckner’s glove, allowing Knight to score from third. Boston won 6-5, setting up the pivotal Game 7. The Red Sox took a 3-0 lead into the sixth. But New York tied it in the bottom half of the inning, sparked by a leadoff solo shot by Knight. The Mets added three more runs in the seventh, led by a Darryl Strawberry homer to take a 6-3 lead.

Each team added two runs in the eighth inning. But Mets closer Jesse Orosco shut Boston down in the ninth, and New York won the championship with an 8-5 win. The “Curse of the Bambino” would hold its spell on the Red Sox for another 18 years.

A Recent Classic Series

3. 2025 – Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Toronto Blue Jays

The 2025 World Series pitted the defending World Champion Dodgers against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Dodgers were looking for their ninth championship, while the Blue Jays were playing in their first series in 32 years.

The Jays took Game 1 in Toronto 11-4 on the strength of three home runs. History was made in the sixth inning when the Blue Jays’ Addison Barger hit the first-ever World Series pinch-hit grand slam homer.

The Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a gem the next night, tossing a one-run, eight-strikeout, 5-1 complete-game victory. The teams played a marathon 18-inning Game 3 that is recorded as the second-longest game in World Series history by time. Freddie Freeman’s walk-off homer was the difference in a 6-5 win.

The Blue Jays dominated Games 4 (6-2) and 5 (6-1) on the strength of two Vladimir Guerrero Jr. home runs. In the Game 5 tilt, Davis Schneider and Guerrero jacked back-to-back first home runs in the first, making it the first time that a series game started with consecutive blasts. Yamamoto came to the rescue again in Game 6, pitching six gritty innings to pace Los Angeles to a 3-1 series-tying win.

Toronto jumped to an early Game 7 lead on the strength of a third-inning three-run homer from Bo Bichette off Dodgers starter Shohei Ohtani. Los Angeles chipped away at the Blue Jays’ lead with two runs in the middle innings. But Toronto maintained their lead with an RBL double by Andrés Giménez in the sixth. Max Muncy and Miguel Rojas would drill solo home runs in the eighth and ninth innings to knot the game at 4-4.

In the bottom of the ninth, Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages made a dynamic catch in left-center with bases loaded and two outs to send the game to extra innings. Both teams went scoreless in the 10th, and Los Angeles catcher Will Smith belted a one-run home run off Shane Bieber that rocketed his team to a 5-4 lead.

Yamamoto pitching on zero days’ rest shut down the Blue Jays offense for 2 2/3 innings. He finished the game with his third series win while leading the Dodgers to a 5-4 series-clinching victory. Many have called this the greatest Game 7 in MLB history.

Red Hot Series

2. 1975 – Cincinnati Reds vs. Boston Red Sox

In the 1975 World Series, both the Reds and the Red Sox were hungry for a series title. This was the third time in six years that Cincinnati had appeared in the championship, losing previously to the Baltimore Orioles in 1970 and the Oakland Athletics in 1972. As for Boston, they were still under the “Curse of the Bambino.”

Game 1 saw a pitching duel between Boston’s Luis Tiant and the Reds’ Don Gullett. But the Red Sox chased Gullett from the game with a six-run seventh inning en route to a 6-0 win. In Game 2, the BoSox led for most of the way. However, Cincinnati strung three hits together, including doubles by Johnny Bench and Ken Griffey, and squeezed out a 3-2 win.

In Game 3, the Reds would power their way to an early lead on the strength of homers by Bench, Dave Concepcion and Cesar Geronimo. But in the ninth inning, Dwight Evans smacked a game-tying home run to tie the game at 5-5. A controversial catcher interference in the 10th inning by Boston’s Carlton Fisk put Cincinnati runners at the corners with no outs.

Three batters later, Joe Morgan singled home the winning run in a 6-5 Reds victory. Game 4 was also hotly contested and wasn’t settled until Fred Lynn made an over-the-shoulder catch on a ball off the bat of Morgan to preserve a 5-4 Boston win. The Reds owned Game 5 as Tony Perez’s two home runs lifted them to a 6-2 home win.

Lynn sparked the Red Sox to an early Game 6 lead with a three-run shot in the first inning. The Reds tied it up in the fifth on a triple to center field by Griffey. And George Foster would widen the lead to 5-3 with a two-run double. Cincinnati would add an additional run in the eighth, but the BoSox’s Bernie Carbo ripped a three-run dinger to center to tie it up.

The score remained tied until the 12th inning when Fisk hit a ball down the left field line, and he waved it to stay fair. The ball hit the fair pole above the Green Monster, and the Red Sox tied the series at three apiece. One of the greatest Game 6s in baseball history.

In Game 7, despite an early 3-0 Boston lead, Morgan would bloop a single to center field in the ninth to score Griffey in a series-deciding 4-3 Cincinnati win. The Bambino could be heard snickering in a corner of the Red Sox dugout.

One for the Ages

1. 1991 – Atlanta Braves vs. Minnesota Twins

I have fond memories of this classic. As a long-suffering Minnesota sports fan, I lived through the agony of the Vikings’ four lost Super Bowls and other Minnesota athletic calamities. So, when the Twins won the World Series in 1987, I, like all local fans, was ecstatic. And to have them appear in two series within five years was simply mind-blowing.

Both the Twins and Braves had miraculous turnarounds in 1991, having finished in last place in their divisions the previous season. In Game 1, Minnesota’s ace, Jack Morris, pitched seven innings of shutout baseball. And shortstop Greg Gagne supplied all of the necessary offense with a three-run home run in the fifth inning as the Twins won the opener 5-2.

Minnesota struck immediately in Game 2 with a two-run blast by Chili Davis in the first inning. Atlanta got a run back in the second, but they lost a baserunner on a controversial call in the third inning. Twins first baseman Kent Hrbek wrestled Ron Gant off the base, and the umpire complied by calling Gant out. They still hate Hrbek in Atlanta to this day because of it.

Kevin Tapani scattered eight hits in eight innings to earn the 3-2 win. Game 3 was a barnburner as Minnesota’s Davis and Kirby Puckett and Atlanta’s David Justice and Lonnie Smith traded home runs in a game that was tied 4-4 after nine innings. It remained that way until light-hitting Braves second baseman Mark Lemke drove in Justice with the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning.

The four-hour, four-minute contest was one of the best World Series Game 3s of all time. And Game 4 was no slouch as Morris and John Smoltz locked horns in another pitching battle. Minnesota’s Mike Pagliarulo and Atlanta’s Smith hit seventh-inning homers to tie the game at 2-2. In the ninth, veteran minor leaguer Jerry Willard’s sac fly brought home Lemke, and the Braves survived with a 3-2 victory.

The Atlanta offense destroyed Tapani and the Twins 14-5 in Game 5. Much of the damage came from home runs by Justice, Smith, and Brian Hunter. The teams headed back to the Twin Cities to finish the series and play Games 6 and 7 that would go down in history. Per usual, Minnesota took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning on a Puckett triple and a Shane Mack single.

The Braves thought for sure they had tied it up in the third inning. With Terry Pendleton on first, Gant hit a shot to left center that looked like it was out of there. Puckett, racing to track it down, leapt over the plexiglass and snared it to preserve the Twins’ lead. Pendleton did tie it in the fifth when he nine-ironed a two-run homer to tie the game at 2-2.

Later in the game, the teams would exchange runs, tying the game once again. This all led to the dramatic 11th inning. Atlanta manager Bobby Cox brought starting pitcher Charlie Leibrandt in to face Puckett. Puck hit Leibrandt’s fourth pitch into the left-center field seats, and Jack Buck famously announced, “And we’ll see you tomorrow night!”

Game 7 brought another excellent pitching matchup between Smoltz and Morris. Smoltz pitched 7 1/3 innings before giving way to Mike Stanton. Morris continued to pitch throughout the ninth inning, as the game remained 3-3 entering the 10th. Twins’ manager Tom Kelly approached Morris to remove him from the game to bring in closer Rick Aguilera.

From an excellent source I have, Morris’ exact words to Kelly were, “It’s going to look pretty funny with the two of us standing on the mound at the same time.”

Kelly left him in, Morris retired the side in the top of the 10th, and pinch hitter Gene Larkin’s single drove in Dan Gladden to lift the Twins to the World Series Championship once again. It was one of the most classic Game 7s in MLB history.

Was your favorite World Series in there? I hope you enjoyed the list. I had a blast writing it.