Which MLB teams have the longest World Series droughts?

The Dodgers have been the best team in baseball for the last decade, playing in four World Series. They won in 2020, but that was the COVID-19 pandemic title, so it was not terribly celebrated. Fortunately for Dodgers fans, the team won another ring in 2024. The fans got a proper celebration, and the Dodgers have no title drought to speak of.

The Rangers were one of those franchises without a title. “Were” is the operative word there. The Rangers, who moved to Texas from D.C. in 1972, had played in two World Series but didn’t have a ring. They finally won in 2023, giving fans their first experience as MLB champs.

The Astros’ 2017 title will forever be fraught with those fans outside Houston owing to the whole sign-stealing scandal. If that had been the team’s last title, and at the time the franchise’s only title, it would have been a source of hot takes and taunts from the opposition for years. However, the Astros won again in 2022 and that one came without the same controversy.

There was a stretch there in the ‘90s where Atlanta was a staple of the World Series. However, they only won once, in 1995, and then the franchise had itself a proper drought going. Not just in terms of titles, but World Series appearances. They finally returned to the World Series in 2021, and this time they took home the championship.

The Montreal Expos never got the chance to play for a World Series, much less win one, and fans in Montreal will forever say the team would have made it to the World Series in 1994 had it not been canceled. Then, the team moved to Washington, and things were rough for a while. They changed things around and won it all in 2019. Since then, though, things have fallen off again, so that title may have to sustain fans for a while.

For years, the Red Sox were such a hard-luck franchise that people felt bad for a sports team from Boston! They traded away Babe Ruth, and then didn’t win a title for decades and decades. Then, finally, they won in 2004 and it was momentous. Of course, after that they kept winning titles and nobody outside Boston cared anymore. Certainly nobody is lamenting their six-year title wait.

Of course, the Cubs were lovable losers at a level beyond what even the Red Sox were. They didn’t win a title for over a century! When the Cubs won in 2016, it was truly momentous. However, they also haven’t won a title since then. So now, they have one title between 1908 and the present.

For a brief moment, the Royals became one of the best teams in MLB. They made the World Series in 2014 (and lost) and then made it again in 2015 and won. Of course, they have since fallen back off again, and it feels like it will be a few years, at least, until they win a title.

We’d call 10 seasons a proper drought, so now we are in drought territory. On the other hand, right before that, the Giants were spoiled for success. They won three titles between 2010 and 2014. Given that, even if this is a drought, it’s only kind of a drought?

The Cardinals have been around since 1900 and have won 11 World Series. That is the second most of any franchise. That being said, clearly, it has been a while since the Cardinals have won it all. They could end up with a 15-year drought, or even more.

Sure, the Yankees haven’t won a World Series since 2009. We, and anybody who is not a Yankees fan, will never care. Well, any baseball fan old enough to remember the Evil Empire era. The Yankees have won 27 World Series. They are the New York Yankees. They could go on a Cubs-like drought and we’d shed nary a tear.

Quietly, the Phillies have one of the toughest histories of any franchise. They have been around since the 1880s and have won two World Series. Philly won in 1980 and again in 2008. Now, they have been good recently in the Bryce Harper era, including making the World Series in 2022. The team is still waiting for that title as well.

Because the White Sox share a city with the Cubs, their lengthy title drought was overshadowed. They didn’t win from 1917 until 2005. For a couple of years, the White Sox have been one of the worst teams in MLB, and in 2024, they were maybe the worst team in MLB history. It feels like this title drought is going to easily clear 20 seasons and possibly even get to 25.

The (then Florida) Marlins were founded in 1993. They built up, won a title in 1997, and then tore the franchise down. The Marlins were then rebuilt, won again in 2003, and then…tore the franchise down. What’s been missing since is, you know, rebuilding. The Miami Marlins have been as wayward, moribund even, as any franchise over the last 15 years.

We want to start out by noting that until the Angels accept the fact that they play in Anaheim and not Los Angeles, we will never root for them to win a World Series. Yes, we would accept a return to the California Angels moniker. The Angels won the World Series in 2002, and that was the Anaheim Angels era. See, guys, clearly that’s the way to go.

The Diamondbacks were one of those expansion franchises that won a title so fast that we said to ourselves, “Alright, we don’t want to see another title for this team for at least a decade. Well, Arizona, feel free to win another title. It’s now been over two decades since that World Series win in 2001. The team did finally return to the World Series in 2023, but they could not prevail.

Tampa, of course, was born in 1998 alongside Arizona. Then known as the Devil Rays, the franchise was for years baseball’s bleakest entity this side of the last days of the Expos. Things did pick up, and the Rays even played in the 2020 World Series. They have yet to win it all, though.

The Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series in 1992 and 1993. It was a heady time for baseball in Toronto. They have not returned to the World Series since then, though. Now, the team has to represent all of Canada on its shoulders. A drought that lasts over 30 years certainly counts as a significant one. We’re getting into lofty territory, such as it is.

Maybe we’re wrong, but we tend to believe the Rockies blew their opportunity when they lost the 2007 World Series. They are a poorly-run franchise. They are currently the worst team in MLB, and they play in a bananas ballpark that is almost impossible to build a team for. The Rockies have never won a World Series, and we feel like as long as the team plays at Coors Field, they never will.

The Twins do not have the excuse the Rockies have for not winning a title in over 30 seasons. On the other hand, they also have a World Series. The franchise actually has three of them, though one came in 1924 when they were the Washington Senators. While the Metrodome, with all its quirks and lack of charm, is gone, the franchise continues to falter.

The Big Red Machine isn’t walking through that door, as they say. When people think of the Reds, they tend to focus on their 1970s heyday when they played in four World Series and won two. However, the franchise’s last title actually came in 1990. They haven’t been back in the World Series since, though, and they certainly haven’t featured a team as talented as the one in 1975 or 1976 in a long time.

We can’t call them the Oakland Athletics anymore, but we can call them a franchise without a title for closing in on 40 seasons. It kind of feels like they will get there, though by then they should (should ) be in Las Vegas. Billy Beane and the Moneyball era brought some success during the regular season, but not so much in the playoffs.

The Mets have it tough. Their title drought is more than double the length of the Yankees’ drought. Additionally, the Mets have only won two World Series. Even if we only count the Yankees’ titles since the Mets joined MLB in 1962, they have eight of them. That includes 2000, when the Yankees beat the Mets in the World Series.

We’ve hit four decades of futility. The Tigers last won the World Series in 1984, the fourth for the franchise. They played in the 2006 and 2012 World Series, but neither time did they take home a title. Now, the Motor City Kitties have seen their drought reach significant proportions. They haven’t hit half a century yet, which is when a drought truly gets epic, but the clock is ticking.

All three of the Orioles’ World Series wins have come since the team moved to Baltimore and became the Orioles, at least. Of course, the last of those was in 1983, and that was also the last time the franchise got to play in the Fall Classic. The seemingly never-ending rebuild of recent years has felt like corners were being turned on multiple occasions, but they still haven’t gotten over the hump.

It’s been a tough few decades for the Pirates. They are currently a bad team, and they haven’t just failed to play in a World Series since 1979. Pittsburgh hasn’t won a division title since 1992, and it has only been in the playoffs three times since that 1992 season. There have been many tough campaigns in Pittsburgh. The ballpark is nice, though.

The Mariners have had some legendary players, and they have only been around since 1977. That being said, they are in the running for most woebegone franchise in MLB. It’s not just that they have never won a World Series. Seattle is the only MLB franchise never to play in a World Series. Colorado has done it. Tampa has done it. Seattle has not.

Now we get to the epic, multigenerational droughts that plague fan bases. The Padres and their fans have it particularly tough. They have never won a World Series since their inception in 1969. Now, the Padres have played in two, in 1984 and 1998, although they won one game total across those two appearances. Not ideal.

Brewers fans have it even worse than Padres fans, even if the first of these 56 seasons sans a title came as the Seattle Pilots. The Brew Crew has only played in one World Series. Not only that, but it was in 1982, which means the Padres have played in two World Series since the Brewers’ last appearance.

The Guardians are getting up there in terms of drought. They are now in the top five, with the Phillies' 77-season drought in clear sight. Cleveland won a title in 1948, but that was the last time the franchise has won a title. Now, the franchise has played in four World Series since then, but that’s cold comfort when your last title came in the 1940s. Harry Truman was president in 1948. Samuel L. Jackson was born in 1948. Yes, Samuel L. Jackson has no memory of Cleveland winning a World Series.