Interesting to note: in the 56 editions of the WS since the introduction of the expansion teams in '61, only 10 have been won by expansion teams (2 each by Mets, Royals, Jays, and Marlins; 1 each by the Diamondbacks and the Angels), and only 13 have been lost by expansion teams (3 by the Mets, 2 each by the Royals, Padres and Rangers, 1 each by Brewers, 'Stros, Rockies and Rays). The Mets have been in 5 WS, winning 2; all 16 “original” franchises have appeared at least that many times, and the Sox (5 appearances) won 3. Last year’s Series was the first with two “expansion” teams in it (Royals, Mets). So being an expansion team hasn’t been an easy slog to the top. The Nats and the Mariners STILL haven’t made it. :smack:
You may be interested to know that the last “regular” World Series between two teams, neither of which had previously played in a Series, was in 1906, between the Cubs and the White Sox.
The Seattle Pilots - Milwaukee Brewers were also founded in 1969. Milwaukee hasn’t won a world series since 1957 (Braves) and a championship of any kind since the Bucks in 1970. (Most Milwaukee fans would call recent Packer championship their own as well.)
Well, in 1980, when the Phillies finally won a World Series (after 97 seasons without one), a sportswriter commented that Phillies fans could not get excited over the crosstown A’s winning a World Series (1910, 1911, 1913, 1929, 1930). And they sure didn’t care about that team winning after they started winning titles in Oakland.
Many of these teams haven’t been around during the entire time since 1961, so it’s a bit misleading to compare them to the pre-expansion teams, all of which have obviously been around all that time.
That said, there’s probably some disadvantage in being an expansion team. Most of these teams probably lack as strong a committed fan base as the older teams have, and this would impact their revenues and ability to sign and retain quality players.
And the fan base is somewhat different for the Dodgers, the Giants, and other franchises that moved and won pennants afterward; obviously they could not have the same support they had when they won pennants in their old cities… (Case in point: The Dodgers, who had won a pennant in 1956 and a World Series in 1955, in Brooklyn; in the second season after moving to Los Angeles they won the pennant and World Series there.)
If we’re including cities with teams not currently competing at the top level, Providence, Rhode Island’s major league team won the 1884 “World’s Series”, folded after the 1885 season, and the city hasn’t had a major league team since. Making it 132 years and counting.
Yah, that was on our news here this morning in Sacramento. With the Cubs off the list now, the Kings moved up a notch. They presented the top three U.S. major sports team championshiplessness (is that a word?):
