MLB Metrics 101: Ranking the Most Shocking Postseason Runs of All Time
The Minnesota Twins were the only true Cinderella in this year's postseason. After losing 103 games in 2016, the Twinkies won 85 in 2017 and claimed the American League's second wild-card slot.
Minnesota, however, was promptly eliminated in the AL Wild Card Game by the New York Yankees.
The Yanks are young and hungry and knocked off the favored Cleveland Indians in the division series but hardly qualify as heavy underdogs with MLB's second-highest payroll.
Still, MLB history is littered with clubs that defied expectations and went on impressive, improbable October sprints.
With that in mind, let's dig into the past and rank baseball's 10 most shocking postseason runs in another installment of B/R's MLB Metrics 101 series. A few criteria:
- We're looking for teams that engineered huge regular-season turnarounds and then stormed through the postseason. They don't need to have won it all to earn a spot, but a pennant and trip to the Fall Classic is mandatory.
- Because this is about postseason runs, we're limiting our scope to 1969 and later. That was the year MLB expanded its playoff format to include the American League and National League Championship Series.
- We're focusing on how shocking entire runs were rather than zeroing in on impressive comebacks in individual games or series. So while the Boston Red Sox's defeat of the New York Yankees in the 2004 ALCS after being down 3-0 was undeniably historic, the Sox had won 98 games that season and 95 the year before. They were supposed to be very good.
- We'll begin with records and preseason expectations, but there is a degree of subjectivity. There is no clear-cut criteria for what makes an underdog or what makes a playoff run truly shocking. To some extent, it's a know-it-when-you-see-it phenomenon.
10. 2014 San Francisco Giants
1 of 10
Previous Season's Record: 76-86, fourth place, NL West
Result: Defeated Kansas City Royals in World Series, 4-3
Say what you want about even-year luck. The 2014 San Francisco Giants were coming off a season in which they finished 10 games under .500 and 16 games behind the archrival Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.
The Giants weren't exactly titans in the 2014 regular season either. They won 88 games and eked into the postseason as the Senior Circuit's second wild card.
That's when ace Madison Bumgarner slung them over his left shoulder, pitching two complete-game shutouts—including one in the do-or-die Wild Card Game—and finishing with a gutsy five-inning relief appearance in Game 7 of the World Series to seal the Giants' third Commissioner's Trophy in five seasons.
It was arguably the greatest postseason performance by any player ever, and it was certainly the most improbable of San Francisco's title trilogy.
9. 2007 Colorado Rockies
2 of 10
Previous Season's Record: 76-86, fifth place, NL West
Result: Lost to Boston Red Sox in the World Series, 4-0
Entering the 2007 season, the Colorado Rockies had played in just one postseason series, a 3-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves in the 1995 NLDS.
They were coming off an 86-loss season, and they were no one's idea of a favorite to taste October.
Colorado, however, pulled off an 11-game winning streak in September and grabbed the wild-card slot. The team then swept the Phillies in the division series and did the same to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLCS.
The Rockies' "Rocktober" magic ran out in the World Series, as they lost in four games to a superior Boston Red Sox team.
Still, a decade later, 2007 remains the high point in the franchise's history.
8. 1993 Philadelphia Phillies
3 of 10
Previous Season's Record: 70-92, sixth place, NL East
Result: Lost to Toronto Blue Jays in World Series, 4-2
Coming into 1993, the Philadelphia Phillies hadn't made the postseason in 10 years. They'd finished in the NL East cellar the year before.
The boo birds were perched in the City of Brotherly Love.
Instead of disappointing yet again, the Phils rode a motley crew that included spark-plug center fielder Lenny Dykstra and mulleted closer Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams to an NL East crown and, then, an upset 4-2 victory over the favored Atlanta Braves in the NLCS.
Sure, the season ended when Williams surrendered a walk-off homer to the Toronto Blue Jays' Joe Carter in Game 6 of the World Series. But the run provided a much-needed taste of winning for Philadelphia, which didn't make the playoffs again until 2007.
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7. 1991 Minnesota Twins
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Previous Season's Record: 74-88, seventh place, AL West
Result: Defeated Atlanta Braves in World Series, 4-3
This wasn't the most improbable run in Twins history; we'll meet that later on this list.
But after a disastrous effort in 1990, Minnesota engineered a 21-game turnaround to win the AL West behind right-hander Jack Morris, center fielder Kirby Puckett and Rookie of the Year second baseman Chuck Knoblauch.
The Twins defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 4-1 in the ALCS and capped their Cinderella season with a hard-fought seven-game World Series victory over the Braves.
Speaking of whom...
6. 1991 Atlanta Braves
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Previous Season's Record: 65-97, sixth place, NL West
Result: Lost to Minnesota Twins in World Series, 4-3
The 1990 Atlanta Braves defined "terrible," finishing 26 games off the pace in the NL West.
The following year, they rose to first place behind a stable of young arms headlined by Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Steve Avery and an offense boosted by third baseman and NL MVP Terry Pendleton.
After defeating the Pirates in an incredibly well-pitched seven-game NLCS that featured four shutouts and three 1-0 finishes, the Braves lost in the World Series to their underdog counterpart, Minnesota.
Atlanta would later add Greg Maddux to its rotation and dominate the '90s, though it only won a single championship—in 1995. There was no Braves run more memorable—or more improbable—than '91.
5. 2003 Florida Marlins
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Previous Season's Record: 79-83, fourth place, NL East
Result: Defeated New York Yankees in World Series, 4-2
After winning their first title in 1997, the then-Florida Marlins blew up the roster (sound familiar?) and suffered through five straight losing seasons.
After a fourth-place finish in 2002, the Fish fell as far as 10 games below .500 in the 2003 campaign but rallied to finish 91-71 and grab the NL Wild Card.
After finishing the defending NL champion Giants in the NLDS, Florida beat the Chicago Cubs in a seven-game NLCS that will always be remembered for Steve Bartman's ill-fated foul-ball grab.
The Marlins' final test was their toughest: a heavily favored New York Yankees squad that had won 101 games and featured a deep cast of stars.
Thanks to some clutch hitting and the exploits of 23-year-old right-hander Josh Beckett, who twirled a complete-game shutout in Game 6 at Yankee Stadium, the Marlins got their second ring.
4. 1990 Cincinnati Reds
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Previous Season's Record: 75-87, fifth place, NL West
Result: Defeated Oakland Athletics in World Series, 4-0
After a dispiriting 1989 season, the Cincinnati Reds hadn't made the playoffs in a decade. The glory days of the Big Red Machine were long gone.
Cincinnati authored an impressive turnaround in 1990, winning 91 games and claiming the NL West flag. That would have been enough, but the Reds then proceeded to storm through the postseason, defeating the favored Pittsburgh Pirates in six games.
For the grand finale, Cincinnati swept the powerful defending champion Oakland A's in the World Series.
No one captured the Reds' underdog vibes better than bespectacled third baseman Chris Sabo, who hit .563 with two home runs against Oakland and probably should have been named World Series MVP.
3. 2008 Tampa Bay Rays
8 of 10
Previous Season's Record: 66-96, fifth place, AL East
Result: Lost to Philadelphia Phillies in World Series, 4-1
Before he guided the Cubs to their curse-busting but not altogether improbable World Series win in 2016, manager Joe Maddon pulled the Tampa Bay Rays out of the baseball gutter.
Prior to the 2008 season, Tampa Bay had lost more than 90 games in every year of its existence. Thanks to Maddon's machinations and improved performances across the roster, the Rays won 97 games and beat out the big-spending Red Sox and Yankees for the AL East title.
They dropped the Chicago White Sox 3-1 in the ALDS and again bested Boston in a seven-game ALCS.
The run ended short of champagne and confetti when the Phillies defeated Tampa Bay in the World Series, but it kicked off a streak of six straight winning seasons for the small-market Rays.
2. 1987 Minnesota Twins
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Previous Season's Record: 71-91, sixth place, AL West
Result: Defeated St. Louis Cardinals in World Series, 4-3
Coming into 1987, the Twins hadn't made the playoffs in 17 years, and they hadn't had a winning season since 1979.
They also hadn't won a franchise World Series since 1924, when they were located in Washington, D.C., and called the Senators.
All that ho-hum history evaporated as the Twins won 85 games and edged the Royals to win a mediocre AL West. Then Minnesota defeated the 98-win Detroit Tigers 4-1 in the ALCS.
That set up a World Series matchup with the St. Louis Cardinals, which Minnesota won in seven games. The Twins made for an imperfect team that finished the regular season with a minus-20 run differential, which makes their title all the more incredible.
"That's what made us good," first baseman Kent Hrbek recently recalled, per Jim Souhan of the Star-Tribune. "We admitted our mistakes."
1. 1969 New York Mets
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Previous Season's Record: 73-89, ninth place, NL
Result: Defeated Baltimore Orioles in World Series, 4-1
Yes, the "Miracle Mets" of 1969 won 100 games en route to their first title.
They were such a laughingstock prior to that, though, that their '69 run felt improbable all the way to the final pitch.
The 1968 Mets finished 73-89, and that was easily their best mark since entering the league in 1962. They lost 120 games that season and would lose 101 or more in four of the next five years.
The 1969 team, led by manager Gil Hodges and ace Tom Seaver, was off most prognosticators' radars coming out of spring. They were the Mets, after all, and featured a light-hitting lineup.
Yet, they shocked the world, claiming first place in the newly formed NL East as Seaver won the NL Cy Young Award. They then swept the Braves in the first-ever NLCS and beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-1 to hoist the trophy.
Miraculous, indeed.
All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.
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