Worst World Series Teams Ever?

[Absolutely Adequate]

I was talking to my buddy the other day and picking which teams will win each division next year. And we realized that there is a real chance that neither the Cardinals nor the Tigers make the playoffs next year. Has that ever happened before? Might this have been the worst pair of teams ever to play in the W.S.?

[mcqfesijiba]

I was talking to my buddy the other day and picking which teams will win each division next year. And we realized that there is a real chance that neither the Cardinals nor the Tigers make the playoffs next year. Has that ever happened before? Might this have been the worst pair of teams ever to play in the W.S.?

Hmm. White Sox and Astros from just last year? Unless you are the Yankees who make the playoffs every single year, there's ALWAYS a chance that a world series team doesn't make the playoffs the next season. Tigers and Cardinals are no different.

[Tavish]

It happened the first season of divisional play (although there was the strike year between then and the previous WS) and of course it was much more common before that. I think the 2002 WS matchup was far worse between the Angels and Giants since you had two teams who weren't even good enough to win their own division playing each other for the World Championship. Thats just personal preference there though since the Giants won the NL Wildcard with 95 wins that season (100 the next) and the Angels won the AL Wildcard with 99 wins (ending up missing the postseason the next year).

[RAmst23]

I was talking to my buddy the other day and picking which teams will win each division next year. And we realized that there is a real chance that neither the Cardinals nor the Tigers make the playoffs next year. Has that ever happened before? Might this have been the worst pair of teams ever to play in the W.S.?

Think this is pretty arbitrary question, and saying both of these teams were "historically" awful seems to be a bit of an exaggeration. The Tigers led the league in ERA, and had some dynamite starting pitching. Their bullpen had been fantastic, and they had power up and down the line-up. On the other side, the Cards have one of the best hitters in baseball, and a strong 4-5 with Rolen and Edmonds. They're bullpen also came together behind a Cy Young winner, and a #2 guy who had proved is merit in the postseason in previous years (Jeff Suppan.)

These teams weren't great by any means, but I don't believe they're the worst ever in the WS. My thoughts:

2003 Marlins for me were pretty weak. In fact, just comparing stats it's hard to believe the Marlins won. In the 2003 WS the team hit .232 and had a 3.21 ERA. Contrastly, the Yankees hit .261 with a team ERA of 2.13. They're young pitchers just happend to pitch well at the right time (aka Josh Beckett).

Anaheim in '02 wasn't a very good team either. The team ERA for the series was 5.75 while the Giants posted one of 4.65. Anaheim slugged their way to a World Championship in one of the worst pitching performances by a championship team.

Now not saying the Cards in '06 knocked the cover off the ball (they didn't), but they pitched very well to knock the Tigers out. And, IMO, I would think either the Tigers or Cards would match-up fine against either 03 or 02 WS team.

[Pogotheostrich]

I was talking to my buddy the other day and picking which teams will win each division next year. And we realized that there is a real chance that neither the Cardinals nor the Tigers make the playoffs next year. Has that ever happened before? Might this have been the worst pair of teams ever to play in the W.S.?

Hmm. White Sox and Astros from just last year?

I was thinking the same thing.

The Cards have the advantage of playing in a pretty weak division. The Tigers will be back if they pitch like they did in the first half this year.

[Half Massed]

I think in terms of record, the Cardinals were one of the worst, if not THE worst, teams to win the world series ever. However, I think they underachieved this past season and should have had a better record than they did. They have a good core and used that to push them through.

[Coppermine]

Whats amazing is that this is arguably one of the worst Cardinals teams of the last 5 years; and now they win. Which, if anything, shows the world series is good fun!

[wrveres]

I was talking to my buddy the other day and picking which teams will win each division next year. And we realized that there is a real chance that neither the Cardinals nor the Tigers make the playoffs next year. Has that ever happened before? Might this have been the worst pair of teams ever to play in the W.S.?

what made you realize that there was a chance that the Cards would not be in the playoffs next year? They have been in the playoffs 4 of the last 5 seasons. Now all of the sudden they are the Royals?

this must be an example of that "wild speculation" that is sweeping the cafe .. way to many people are just making stuff upand posting it lately.

either that or ESPN has done a good job a misinforming the sheep

[eftda]

The Cubs should be in good shape to compete in 2007. Hill and Zambrano could provide a good 1-2 punch and if they get Prior or Wood heathy then its a great 1-2-3. I hear they want to add a few mill to the payroll so they could pull a Minaya and have a great team in 2007.

[balmlb119]

2006 Cardinals are the worst WS winners.. 83-78 in the regular season.

Second is the 1987 Minnesota team that finished 85-77, while the 2000 Yankees are the third worst, finishing 87-76 in the regular season.