There was a sense throughout the recent Cleveland and Cubs World Series that it was one of the most competitive and exciting World Series I'd seen in some time. The teams played three one-run games, including the absurd extra-inning thriller that closed the series, and those one-run games were piled onto the fact that Cleveland had a chance to clinch with a 3-1 lead (like the 1985 Cardinals, 1979 Orioles, 1973 Mets, and 1972 Athletics. So, pretty good company even if you're included to think that's a choke for Cleveland). Moreover, the series featured two clubs with rather large discrepancies between their regular season win totals, meaning that there was a real chance for an underdog to knock out a big shot club (although these are relative terms, because Cleveland still won 94 games). Furthermore, both teams played so evenly that their final runs scored and runs allowed were tied, at 27 (making the Cubs the lowest scoring seven game champ since the 1991 Twin, and this series the first seven game tie since 1971). So, how does this series compare with other seven game World Series?
| World Series (Team Wins) |
Final Score (RS / RA) |
One-Run Games |
Extra Inning Games |
Series Narrative Arc |
| 2016 Cubs (103) d. Cleveland (94) |
27-27 |
Three |
One |
3-1 Cleveland lead / both teams lost home field / Extra Innings Game 7 (Cleveland had chance to clinch at home) |
| 2014 Giants (88) d. Royals (89) |
30-27 |
One |
Zero |
Giants 2 consecutive W to 3-2 lead / 1-1:2-2:3-3 Progression Progression / both teams lost home field (Royals had chance to clinch at home) |
| 2011 Cardinals (90) d. Rangers (96) |
38-30 |
Three |
One |
Rangers 2 consecutive W to 3-2 lead / 1-1:2-2:3-3 Progression / both teams lost home field |
| 2002 Angels (99) d. Giants (95) |
41-44 |
Four |
Zero |
Giants 2 consecutive W to 3-2 lead / 1-1:2-2:3-3 Progression / both teams lost home field |
| 2001 Diamondbacks (92) d. Yankees (95) |
37-14 |
Four |
Two |
Perfect Home Field Advantage (2:3:2) / Game 7 Walk-Off Win |
| 1997 Marlins (92) d. Cleveland (86) |
37-44 |
Two |
One |
1-1:2-2:3-3 Progression / both teams lost home field / Extra Innings Game 7 (Walk off Win) |
| 1991 Twins (95) d. Atlanta (94) |
24-35 |
Five |
Three |
Perfect Home Field Advantage (2:3:2) / Consecutive Extra-Innings Walk-Offs (Game 6 & 7) |
| 1987 Twins (85) d. Cardinals (95) |
37-26 |
Zero |
Zero |
Perfect Home Field Advantage (2:3:2) |
| 1986 Mets (108) d. Red Sox (95) |
32-27 |
Two |
One |
Both teams lost home field / Road team won first four games / Infamous Game Six Mets walk-off |
| 1985 Royals (91) d. Cardinals (101) |
28-13 |
One |
Zero |
3-1 Cardinals lead / both teams lost home field (Cardinals with chance to clinch at home) / Infamous Game Six Royals walk-off |
| 1982 Cardinals (92) d. Brewers (95) |
36-33 |
One |
Zero |
1-1:2-2:3-3 Progression / both teams lost home field |
| 1979 Pirates (98) d. Orioles (102) |
32-26 |
Two |
Zero |
3-1 Orioles lead / both teams lost home field / Orioles had a chance to clinch at home |
| 1975 Reds (108) d. Red Sox (95) |
29-30 |
Four |
Two |
1-1:2-2:3-3 Progression / both teams lost home field / Consecutive one-run games 6 & 7 with winning runs scored in extras & 9th (Red Sox had a chance to clinch at home) |
| 1973 Athletics (94) d. Mets (82) |
21-24 |
Two |
Two |
3-1 Mets lead / both teams lost home field |
| 1972 Athletics (93) d. Reds (95) |
16-21 |
Six |
Zero |
3-1 Athletics lead (chance to clinch at home) / both teams lost home field / Reds had a chance to clinch at home |
| 1971 Pirates (97) d. Orioles (101) |
24-24 |
Three |
One |
Perfect Home Field first six games / Game 7 was first road win in series (Orioles had chance to clinch at home) |
I judged these categories for a few reasons: First, I wanted to use regular season W-L as a basic measure of team strength. I know there are better run-based measurements of team strength, but the fact is that playoff baseball is situational, and if a team wins or loses more games than their run differential or underlying stats suggest, that reflects on their situational play. I also counted final RS / RA (it's interesting that six of 16 winners were outscored by the loser over seven games) one-run games, which I believe is an obvious metric of a closely played contest, extra innings affairs (which are exciting for many reasons, and demonstrate an evenly-played contest), and other specific notes (such as whether teams kept or lost home field advantage, whether a team had a 3-1 lead, whether the series progressed in a 1-game-to-1-game fashion, if a team had a chance to clinch at home, and if there was an iconic game that I know of in Game 6 or 7, and anything else interesting I noted.
These series can arguably divided into a couple of different groups. First, there are three series that are a cut above the rest, for one-run games, game 6 or 7 walk-offs, extra innings contests, teams losing home field advantage, teams losing 3-1 leads, or some combination of those factors. I believe that the perfect home field advantage in 1991 is very boring, but two consecutive extra innings walk-offs to close the series conquers all else. The 2016 series is oddly similar to the 1975 series, both in terms of the difference between team wins, the failed chance to clinch at home, and an iconic extra innings game:
| Best Series |
Final Score (RS / RA) |
One-Run Games |
Extra Inning Games |
Series Narrative Arc |
| 1991 Twins (95) d. Atlanta (94) |
24-35 |
Five |
Three |
Perfect Home Field Advantage (2:3:2) / Consecutive Extra-Innings Walk-Offs (Game 6 & 7) |
| 2016 Cubs (103) d. Cleveland (94) |
27-27 |
Three |
One |
3-1 Cleveland lead / both teams lost home field / Extra Innings Game 7 (Cleveland had chance to clinch at home) |
| 1975 Reds (108) d. Red Sox (95) |
29-30 |
Four |
Two |
1-1:2-2:3-3 Progression / both teams lost home field / Consecutive one-run games 6 & 7 with winning runs scored in extras & 9th (Red Sox had a chance to clinch at home) |
Next follow a group of series that certainly have their iconic moments, but maybe were not as evenly played, had a lot of one-run games but not much else, or had some combination of events that simply was not as exciting or as iconic as the above series (this is rather subjective, of course). For example, although the 2001 series had a lot of historical drama and a great final set of games, both teams followed home field advantage, and the final score of the series indicates that it really was not much of a contest whatsoever, overall; it's quite an odd mix of close games, home field determinism, and blowouts. That's just one example:
| Interesting Series (Team Wins) |
Final Score (RS / RA) |
One-Run Games |
Extra Inning Games |
Series Narrative Arc |
| 1972 Athletics (93) d. Reds (95) |
16-21 |
Six |
Zero |
3-1 Athletics lead (chance to clinch at home) / both teams lost home field / Reds had a chance to clinch at home |
| 2002 Angels (99) d. Giants (95) |
41-44 |
Four |
Zero |
Giants 2 consecutive W to 3-2 lead / 1-1:2-2:3-3 Progression / both teams lost home field |
| 1997 Marlins (92) d. Cleveland (86) |
37-44 |
Two |
One |
1-1:2-2:3-3 Progression / both teams lost home field / Extra Innings Game 7 (Walk off Win) |
| 1986 Mets (108) d. Red Sox (95) |
32-27 |
Two |
One |
Both teams lost home field / Road team won first four games / Infamous Game Six Mets walk-off |
| 1973 Athletics (94) d. Mets (82) |
21-24 |
Two |
Two |
3-1 Mets lead / both teams lost home field |
| 1979 Pirates (98) d. Orioles (102) |
32-26 |
Two |
Zero |
3-1 Orioles lead / both teams lost home field / Orioles had a chance to clinch at home |
| 1971 Pirates (97) d. Orioles (101) |
24-24 |
Three |
One |
Perfect Home Field first six games / Game 7 was first road win in series (Orioles had chance to clinch at home) |
| 2001 Diamondbacks (92) d. Yankees (95) |
37-14 |
Four |
Two |
Perfect Home Field Advantage (2:3:2) / Game 7 Walk-Off Win |
| 2011 Cardinals (90) d. Rangers (96) |
38-30 |
Three |
One |
Rangers 2 consecutive W to 3-2 lead / 1-1:2-2:3-3 Progression / both teams lost home field |
Finally, a group of series that have much less drama. For a seven game series, 1987 almost objectively has as little drama as possible for a seven game set: no extra innings, no one run games, the home team won every time, and the final score was lopsided, too. It is really interesting to me that each Champion in this category has fewer wins than the team they defeated. Perhaps that places these teams in a singular category, as they certainly deserve credit for that (well, maybe except for the Royals and Giants, who both had almost exactly the same record):
| World Series (Team Wins) |
Final Score (RS / RA) |
One-Run Games |
Extra Inning Games |
Series Narrative Arc |
| 2014 Giants (88) d. Royals (89) |
30-27 |
One |
Zero |
Giants 2 consecutive W to 3-2 lead / 1-1:2-2:3-3 Progression / both teams lost home field (Royals had chance to clinch at home) |
| 1985 Royals (91) d. Cardinals (101) |
28-13 |
One |
Zero |
3-1 Cardinals lead / both teams lost home field (Cardinals with chance to clinch at home) / Infamous Game Six Royals walk-off |
| 1982 Cardinals (92) d. Brewers (95) |
36-33 |
One |
Zero |
1-1:2-2:3-3 Progression / both teams lost home field |
| 1987 Twins (85) d. Cardinals (95) |
37-26 |
Zero |
Zero |
Perfect Home Field Advantage (2:3:2) |
So, in conclusion, the 2016 series truly will stand the test of time as a competitive and entertaining series. Its great features include a bonkers seesaw final game, a tie score for the series, three one-run games and one extra innings contest, a blown 3-1 advantage for one team, and a blown chance to clinch the series at home. Pretty thrilling!
