Bite me, ESPN: ranking the best World Series

[Frobby]

1966 ranks 107th of the 115 World Series ever played?   The hell with that!    That series was a huge upset and featured two 1-0 nail biters. 

1970 ranks 95th?    The great O’s team over the Big Red Machine?   Brooks puts on the best defensive show of all time and this is what we get?

1983 ranks 84th?    So all three Orioles wins are in the bottom 32 World Series ever played, and worse than every World Series they lost?   Aargggghhh!

Now for the killer: you have to jump all the way to 36 for Mets vs. Orioles in 1969.    Other than the fact that the Mets were a terrible team before ‘69, what about that series is better than 1983?    They are both 5 game series where the winning team lost the opener and then swept 4 straight.   Screw this!  This is why I hate all New York sports teams so much.    

1971 — 20th.    

1979 — 13th.   

Now, I can’t really argue that, objectively speaking, the two seven game losses to the Pirates weren’t better World Series than the four other 4-5 game Series that the O’s played.  But lord it pains me to see them up so high.   And just to add insult to injury:

“When Eddie Murray batted in the eighth inning of Game 7, the championship leverage index in the moment was higher than for any other play in history. He flied to the edge of the warning track, and after a slightly awkward break, Dave Parker ran it down. Five more feet and it could have looked a lot like the ball Nelson Cruzmisplayed, for which David Freese got a triple, in 2011.”

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29104085/ranking-every-world-series-mlb-history

[Redskins Rick]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

1966 ranks 107th of the 115 World Series ever played?   The hell with that!    That series was a huge upset and featured two 1-0 nail biters. 

1970 ranks 95th?    The great O’s team over the Big Red Machine?   Brooks puts on the best defensive show of all time and this is what we get?

1983 ranks 84th?    So all three Orioles wins are in the bottom 32 World Series ever played, and worse than every World Series they lost?   Aargggghhh!

Now for the killer: you have to jump all the way to 36 for Mets vs. Orioles in 1969.    Other than the fact that the Mets were a terrible team before ‘69, what about that series is better than 1983?    They are both 5 game series where the winning team lost the opener and then swept 4 straight.   Screw this!  This is why I hate all New York sports teams so much.    

1971 — 20th.    

1979 — 13th.   

Now, I can’t really argue that, objectively speaking, the two seven game losses to the Pirates weren’t better World Series than the four other 4-5 game Series that the O’s played.  But lord it pains me to see them up so high.   And just to add insult to injury:

“When Eddie Murray batted in the eighth inning of Game 7, the championship leverage index in the moment was higher than for any other play in history. He flied to the edge of the warning track, and after a slightly awkward break, Dave Parker ran it down. Five more feet and it could have looked a lot like the ball Nelson Cruzmisplayed, for which David Freese got a triple, in 2011.”

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29104085/ranking-every-world-series-mlb-history

I dont put too much stock in what I read in ESPN stories the last few years, they have gone downhill so bad,

Honesty their lack of respect for the 83 WS team, pretty much mirrors Orioles fandom opinion. How many times have I read on OH, that the 83 WS winners was the worse Oriole team to win a WS?

The Big Red Machine was pretty impressive machine, sorry, at that time I was just a Senator fan. I wasnt a fan, but still, they had a ton of talent. Some could make a case Sparky was a better manager than Earl.

If you compare the two teams, which I haven't. I wonder which team has more HOFers on it. I know the Orioles had the better SPers and best 3rd.

The lack of respect for the 66 team, is most likely due to 21 year old writters that only know what they read and they wasnt around back then, so everything they have seen is better than history.

 

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, Redskins Rick said:

I dont put too much stock in what I read in ESPN stories the last few years, they have gone downhill so bad,

Honesty their lack of respect for the 83 WS team, pretty much mirrors Orioles fandom opinion. How many times have I read on OH, that the 83 WS winners was the worse Oriole team to win a WS?

The Big Red Machine was pretty impressive machine, sorry, at that time I was just a Senator fan. I wasnt a fan, but still, they had a ton of talent. Some could make a case Sparky was a better manager than Earl.

If you compare the two teams, which I haven't. I wonder which team has more HOFers on it. I know the Orioles had the better SPers and best 3rd.

The lack of respect for the 66 team, is most likely due to 21 year old writters that only know what they read and they wasnt around back then, so everything they have seen is better than history.

 

To be fair, I think they are judging the quality of the World Series itself, not the quality of the teams playing.   Hence, the ones at the top are 7-game Series, while the ones at the bottom are mostly 4-0 or 4-1 jobs (with one exception being the 1919 Black Sox series, which they rank last because it was thrown).

Saying that, ESPN ranks 14 other series sweeps as better Series than our ‘66 sweep, and 15 five game series as better than either the ‘70 or ‘83 Series.    The swept Series ranked better than ours include multiple Yankees sweeps.   Screw them.   

[Just Regular]

Empire State Programming Network.

It helps me a little to ponder urbanization as the demographic trend of mankind, and the East North America megacity as one thing, but yeah.

Haven't looked at the piece, but I hope the one where Babe Ruth's caught stealing for the last out to lose Game 7 got highlighted, but probably not.  New York being New York, there's even a long form apologia https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/07/29/by-the-numbers-judging-babe-ruth’s-attempted-steal-of-second-base-in-the-1926-world-series/

[Oriole1940]

No surprize  here.  ESPN, the failed Socialist sports network would come up with garbage like that.  I cannot remember the time I watched ESPN, and millions of others feel the same way.  

[Number5]

4 hours ago, Frobby said:

To be fair, I think they are judging the quality of the World Series itself, not the quality of the teams playing.   Hence, the ones at the top are 7-game Series, while the ones at the bottom are mostly 4-0 or 4-1 jobs (with one exception being the 1919 Black Sox series, which they rank last because it was thrown).

Saying that, ESPN ranks 14 other series sweeps as better Series than our ‘66 sweep, and 15 five game series as better than either the ‘70 or ‘83 Series.    The swept Series ranked better than ours include multiple Yankees sweeps.   Screw them.   

Not to mention the phenomenal job the Orioles' pitchers turned in in the '66 Series.  Zero runs after the third inning of the first game, a feat unlikely to ever be matched.

[OFFNY]

7 hours ago, Frobby said:

 

To be fair, I think that they are judging the quality of the World Series itself, not the quality of the teams playing. Hence, the ones at the top are 7-game Series, while the ones at the bottom are mostly 4-0 or 4-1 jobs (with one exception being the 1919 Black Sox series, which they rank last because it was thrown.)

Saying that, ESPN ranks 14 other series sweeps as better world Series than our 1966 sweep, and 15 five-game series as better than either the 1970 or 1983 Series. The swept Series ranked better than ours include multiple Yankees sweeps. Screw them.   

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Number5 said:

 

Not to mention the phenomenal job that the Orioles' pitchers turned in in the 1966 Series ........ the Dodgers scored 0 runs after the 3rd inning of Game One, a feat unlikely to ever be matched.

 

o

 

3-CG Shutouts in 4 games was reminiscent of turn-of-the-Century World Series numbers, from the Dead-ball Era (pre-1920.)

 

o

[Moose Milligan]

Yeah, I don't think the World Series we've won have been particularly exciting (not that I was there for any of them, I'm aware).  Exciting if you're an Orioles fan, sure, but little else.  

[Frobby]

3 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Yeah, I don't think the World Series we've won have been particularly exciting (not that I was there for any of them, I'm aware).  Exciting if you're an Orioles fan, sure, but little else.  

The O’s have never won a playoff series that went the distance, unless you want to count the 2012 Wild Card.   But we’ve lost 2 WS Game 7’s, an ALCS Game 5 (back when they were 5 game series), and an ALDS Game 5.    Pretty frustrating.   

[HowAboutThat]

30 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Yeah, I don't think the World Series we've won have been particularly exciting (not that I was there for any of them, I'm aware).  Exciting if you're an Orioles fan, sure, but little else.  

That’s true, but remember, the World Series is always, 100% of the time, more exciting for fans of those two teams.

I don’t know what the parameters of the writers were, But if you’re talking about dominance, I am not sure how many other four-game sweep’s were more dominant than the Orioles, but by definition a four-game sweep is pretty dominant.

But remember, these guys have to write crap year-around, and when the off-season is looming it’s hard to find worthwhile stuff.

 

[HowAboutThat]

24 minutes ago, Frobby said:

and an ALDS Game 5.    Pretty frustrating.   

IT HIT THE FOUL POLE!

[WillyM]

21 hours ago, Philip said:

IT HIT THE FOUL POLE!

I don't remember the Orioles losing an ALDS Game 5 (I guess you're talking about 2012) because a ball did or did not hit the foul pole.

Can you describe the incident in more detail, so that maybe I can remember it?

 

[bobmc]

21 hours ago, Philip said:

That’s true, but remember, the World Series is always, 100% of the time, more exciting for fans of those two teams.

I don’t know what the parameters of the writers were, But if you’re talking about dominance, I am not sure how many other four-game sweep’s were more dominant than the Orioles, but by definition a four-game sweep is pretty dominant.

But remember, these guys have to write crap year-around, and when the off-season is looming it’s hard to find worthwhile stuff.

 

To be clear - was this journalism or "just sports writing"?

I'm 77 and was alive for the series W's and L's, of course.  I cannot remember one play clearly save for the Ron Swoboda catch in '69 when I was still considered a NY emigre to the DC area (arrived in '66 and bonded with an Orioles fan from GA) but fully freed from any NY fandom.  I hated the Mets except for Choo Choo Coleman and Casey.

 

And @Frobby, is your title to the thread NSFW?  Axing for the sensitive Sams.

[SteveA]

1 hour ago, WillyM said:

I don't remember the Orioles losing an ALDS Game 5 (I guess you're talking about 2012) because a ball did or did not hit the foul pole.

Can you describe the incident in more detail, so that maybe I can remember it?

 

 

[HowAboutThat]

1 hour ago, WillyM said:

I don't remember the Orioles losing an ALDS Game 5 (I guess you're talking about 2012) because a ball did or did not hit the foul pole.

Can you describe the incident in more detail, so that maybe I can remember it?

 

Don’t you remember, in 2012, Nate Mclouth hit a ball that grazed the foul pole for a Home run, but it was called foul. it would have changed the game, though it might not have changed the outcome. 

Edited October 21, 2020 by Philip