The most unlikely World Series heroes of all time

During the 1955 season, Podres, amid his third in the majors, posted a 9-10 record and 3.95 ERA in 27 appearances and 24 starts. However, when the games really mattered, Podres came through in helping the Dodgers finally take down the rival New York Yankees, and win the franchise's first, and only, Brooklyn World Series. In Game 3 of the Series, Podres yielded two runs while going the distance for an 8-3 victory. Then, in one of the great individual postseason performances, the left-hander secured his World Series MVP by tossing an eight-hitter during Brooklyn's 2-0 triumph in Game 7.

Entering the 1956 World Series, Larsen was far from a star for the New York Yankees, though he did set a then-career high with 11 wins that season. However, Larsen's Game 2 start against Brooklyn lasted just 1 2/3 innings, with the right-hander yielding four walks and four unearned runs during a 13-8 defeat. However, Larsen got the call in Game 5, and promptly made baseball history, when he became the first, and to date, the only player to ever throw a perfect game in the World Series. The Yankees won the Series in seven, and Larsen was named MVP.

According to Major League Baseball, Clendenon is the first player to be acquired by a team during the regular season, then win World Series MVP. The first baseman was acquired by the Mets in June from Montreal, and did not even play in the NL Championship Series. In the World Series, though, it was a much different story. Clendenon, whose name is likely unknown outside Queens, went 5-for-14 with three home runs and four RBI during the World Series, which those "Amazin' Mets" won in five games over Baltimore.

The 1972 World Series-champion Oakland A's featured names like Fingers, Blue, Hunter, Bando, Rudi and Holtzman. Yet, it was a middling catcher, who set a then-career high with 82 games played that season and went 1-for-17 with five strikeouts during the AL Championship Series, who earned World Series MVP honors. Tenace brushed aside that poor showing during the ALCS to bat .348 (8-for-23) with four home runs and nine RBI as Oakland outlasted Cincinnati in seven games.

Here, we have an occasion where two World Series heroes from the same team earned spots on our list for their contributions in 1978. First, Dent, the famed shortstop who got the Yankees into the postseason after clubbing a three-run homer to help beat Boston in the NL East tiebreaker in '78. Dent's heroics continued in the World Series, where he earned MVP honors by going 10-for-24 with seven RBI as New York topped the Los Angeles Dodgers by winning four straight after losing the first two games of the event. 

The other Yankee hero from 1978 World Series is Doyle, the rookie who appeared in just 39 games and made 54 plate appearances during the regular season. Fast forward, Doyle played just 110 regular-season games over four major-league seasons, and was a lifetime .161 hitter. Yet for Yankees' fans, his performance during the 1978 World Series against the Dodgers won't be forgotten. Doyle, filling in for the injured Willie Randolph, matched his hit total from the regular season with 10 in 24 at-bats during the Fall Classic, and posted seven RBI. Talk about seizing the moment.

In 24 seasons of big-league play, the venerable Dempsey never earned an All-Star nod. However, and perhaps more important, he was named MVP of the 1983 World Series. Long lauded as one of the better defensive backstops in the game, Dempsey hit just .231 during the '83 regular season, and was 2-for-12 during the ALCS for the Orioles. However, Dempsey was a star during the World Series while helping the Orioles top Philadelphia in five games, batting 5-for-13, with each hit going for extra bases, including a home run.

While Kirk Gibson earned the status of Dodgers legend — a Fall Classic icon — with his memorable Game 1 home run against Oakland, it was the unheralded Hatcher who proved to be a consistent star of the 1988 World Series for the victorious Dodgers. After homering just once in 202 plate appearances during the '88 regular season, Hatcher went deep twice against the A's. Overall, Hatcher went 7-for-19 with five RBIs as the Dodgers beat favored Oakland in five games. 

Maybe it's a stretch to call Larkin a hero, but he was the guy who officially gave the Twins their second World Series title. Larkin, who played all seven of his MLB seasons in Minnesota, had just 19 RBI during the 1991 campaign, and only one during the playoffs. However, that came via his second hit of the postseason. In Game 7, in the bottom of the 10th inning, of the pinch-hit variety, over the head of shallowly-placed Atlanta left fielder Brian Hunter, for the contest's only run. Though hardly a household name, for Twins' fans, Larkin is one beloved figure. 

By 1992, Borders had found his place in the majors and signs were there that he could be among the best overall catchers in the game. However, Borders hit .242 during the regular season, and was far from an offensive star on a '92 Toronto roster that included marquee names like Roberto Alomar, Devon White, Joe Carter and Dave Winfield. Yet, Borders recorded a team-high nine hits and batted .450 to earn World Series MVP honors as the Blue Jays beat the Atlanta Braves in six games to win their first of back-to-back championships. 

Leyritz has had his issues off the field in the wake of his retirement from baseball, but he still remains a key contributor during the Yankees' run to their first World Series triumph since 1978. Though Leyritz clubbed just seven homers during 309 plate appearances in 1996, he had a flare for the dramatic. Remember his ALDS walk-off in 1995? Well, with two on and New York down 6-3 in the eighth inning of Game 4 at Atlanta, Leyritz drove a Mark Wohlers' pitch over the left-field wall to tie the contest. The Yankees eventually won in 10, and took the Series in six games.

Two seasons into his big-league career, and Renteria was a World Series hero. He was a key contributor throughout the 1997 season for the Marlins, and batted .290 during one of the most competitive and entertaining World Series of all time. As the Series went on, though, it seemed Renteria gained confidence, and it showed with his three-hit performance in Game 7. Of course, the last of those hits was lined into center field and scored teammate Craig Counsell with the tiebreaking, title-clinching run in the 11th inning.

This would not be Brosius' first turn as a World Series hero. He hit a memorable home run in the 2001 Fall Classic, which New York lost, but three years earlier played a key role in their first of three consecutive World Series titles. Brosius was exceptional throughout the '98 postseason (batting .383 with 15 RBIs), but especially during the World Series, where he went 8-for-17 with six RBI and claimed the MVP award as New York swept the San Diego Padres. Brosius hit both of his home runs in the series, including a go-ahead, three-run drive off Trevor Hoffman in the eighth inning, in a 5-4 victory in Game 3.

The versatile, journeyman infielder remains one of the more popular Yankees of all time. He likely secured that notion in 2000, when he helped New York win its third consecutive World Series. Sojo made just eight plate appearances during that Fall Classic. However, it was his two-out, tiebreaking single up the middle that barely made it into the outfield in the top of the ninth in Game 5 of the Subway Series against the New York Mets and starter Al Leiter, that ultimately held up — and gave the Yankees another championship. 

This was a case of a star truly being born. Rodriguez, who eventually blossomed into "K-Rod," had five September 2002 games of major-league service under his belt when he earned a spot on the Angels' postseason roster. And, he didn't disappoint, going 5-1 with a 1.90 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 18 2/3 innings in the playoffs. Now, Rodriguez wasn't completely dominant in the 2002 World Series against San Francisco. However, he did throw three scoreless innings to earn the victory during that wild 11-10 win in Game 2, and tossed a scoreless frame, while striking out three, in the Angels' 4-1 triumph in Game 7.

The versatile, yet underappreciated Bellhorn enjoyed what was arguably the best of his 10 seasons in the majors in 2004. He set career bests with a .264 average and 82 RBI, but struggled during the postseason. Until the World Series, that is. Bellhorn's eighth-inning tiebreaking, two-run homer off the mesh netting of Fenway Park's Pesky Pole in right field in Game 1 versus St. Louis tends to be forgotten outside Boston. The home run proved to be the difference in a wild 11-9 Boston victory, and made Bellhorn another in a long line of World Series heroes. He added two more hits and walked five times, and batted .300 in the Series.

Podsednik did not hit a single home run during 129 regular-season games for the White Sox in 2005. However, he went deep twice during Chicago's postseason run to the franchise's first World Series title since 1917, none bigger than pulling a tiebreaking, ninth-inning Brad Lidge pitch into the right-center field seats for a 7-6 walk-off victory in Game 2 over Houston. That gave the White Sox a 2-0 series lead. Podsednik, meanwhile, contributed more than that moment, recording six total hits (including two triples) and two stolen bases during Chicago's sweep of the Astros.

During the 2006 regular season, the light-hitting Eckstein recorded just 21 extra-base hits. However, he had three doubles during his four-hit performance in Game 4 of the World Series alone, a 5-4 victory over Detroit that gave St. Louis a 3-1 lead in a series it would claim in five. Eckstein went 8-for-13 with four RBI in the final three games of the World Series to take MVP honors and add his name to all-time Cardinals postseason heroes like Pujols, Brock, Gibson and McCarver — just to name a few. 

A solid defensive catcher who could also call a good game, Ruiz hit just .219 during the regular season in 2008, his second full season in the majors. However, Ruiz was a different offensive performer that postseason. He batted better than .300 in the NLCS for the Phillies, then went 6-for-16 with a homer and three RBIs during the World Series, which they won over five games against the Tampa Bay Rays. He's also responsible for the very unsexy, but certainly effective, RBI infield single that ended Philadelphia's 5-4 victory in Game 3.

Freese was continuing to show signs that he could be a special player while seeing his most extensive action in 2011. He officially earned the love of Cardinals fans by batting .397 with five home runs and 21 RBI while winning both NLCS and World Series MVP that postseason. Freese batted .348 and recorded seven of those RBI in the Fall Classic, and hit one of the most memorable home runs in the history of the event. St. Louis trailed Texas 3-2 in the Series, and the Rangers led 7-4 in a back-and-forth Game 6. St. Louis, though, rallied as Freese's two-run triple tied it at 7-7 in the ninth. After Texas scored two in the top of the 10th, the Cardinals again answered with two in the bottom of the frame. They ultimately won the game on Freese's solo homer in the 11th.

Perhaps an even more improbable World Series star than the aforementioned Gene Larkin. Colón played 43 games in 2015 for the Royals, the second-most of his career. And, come postseason time, he managed just one at-bat. Of course, to Kansas City fans, that provided one of the most important moments in the history of the franchise. The Royals were up 3-1 in the World Series against the New York Mets, but Game 5 was tied 2-2 in the 12th inning. However, with a man on third base, Colón laced a pinch-hit single to left field, breaking the tie and opening the door to a five-run inning for the Royals to win their first title since 1985. 

Montgomery was a rather modest midseason pick-up for the Cubs, from Seattle, during their run to that 2016 drought-busting World Series title. During the Fall Classic, the left-hander put together a solid, somewhat underappreciated performance, posting a 1.93 ERA in five appearances. Of course, he will forever be the answer to this sports trivia question: Who was on the mound for the Chicago Cubs when they got the final out to clinch their first World Series crown since 1908? Though the likes of Ben Zobrist, Kyle Schwarber, Kris Bryant and Jake Arrieta earned well-do praise for their World Series performances in 2016, Montgomery deserves a good deal of credit, as well.

Pearce joined the aforementioned Donn Clendenon as the only players to take home World Series MVP honors after being acquired during the same regular season. Boston acquired Pearce, who enjoyed a long-awaited breakout season in 2014 with Baltimore, from Toronto near the trade deadline. Pearce was solid at the plate early that postseason, then endured an 0-for-7 rut in the final game of the ALCS and first three of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. However, Pearce's bat came alive by going 4-for-8 with three homers and seven RBI in Games 4 and 5. Two of those home runs, including one off Clayton Kershaw, came in Boston's World Series-clinching 5-1 win in Game 5.

Kendrick was an under-the-radar talent, but reliable as they came, and when it came to helping the Nationals win the franchise's first World Series, he was highly valuable. He was the NLCS MVP as Washington stunned the Los Angeles Dodgers, but was batting .227 entering Game 7 of the World Series against Houston. The Nationals trailed 2-0 entering the seventh inning of that contest. Anthony Rendon made it a 2-1 game with a solo homer in the frame, and then Kendrick eventually drilled a Will Harris pitch that hit the right-field foul pole to put Washington ahead 3-2. The Nationals tacked on three more runs over the next two innings for a 6-2 win.

Soler went 6-for-20 during the 2021 World Series, with three of those hits leaving the park. And, talking about setting the table for what was to come for the underdog Braves, Soler opened the World Series with a 2-0 drive off Framber Valdez over Houston's left-field scoreboard on the first swing of the contest. The Braves went on to win 6-2 in Game 1. Then, Soler's three-run homer in the second inning of Game 6 essentially secured the Braves their first World Series crown since 1995, and series MVP honors for the underrated slugger.