The Chicago Cubs winning the World Series was their third championship in 11 trips. Impressive, but it doesn’t come close to the more accomplished teams over the years in Major League Baseball, with 8 ball clubs winning the title five times or more.
Cincinnati Reds: 5
The Reds have been to nine World Series, winning five of them, the last of which in 1990, beating the Oakland A’s in a sweep. The Reds other World Series titles came in 1919, 1940, 1975 and 1976. They made the World Series four times in the 1970’s, losing in 1970 and 1972.
Pittsburgh Pirates: 5
The Pirates are 5-for-7 when making the World Series, winning it in 1909, 1925, 1960, 1971 and 1979, which is also the last time the franchise made it to the World Series. They lost in 1903 to the Boston Americans in the World Series, and in 1927 to the New York Yankees.
Los Angeles Dodgers: 6
The Dodgers have been 18 times to the World Series, but have only won it six times. First in 1955, when they still played in Brooklyn, and the others after the move to the West Coast: 1959, 1963, 1965, 1981 and 1988, which is also the last time they’ve made it to the World Series.
San Francisco Giants: 8
Out of 20 visits to the World Series as the New York and San Francisco Giants, 8 championships have come. Five of them while playing in New York (1905, 1921, 1922, 1933 and 1954). It took the Giants 56 years to win their first championship in San Francisco, beginning their ‘even year’ run, winning the World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014.
Boston Red Sox: 8
The Red Sox, like the Giants, have recently added to their tally after a very long wait. In fact, it took them one Theo Epstein and 86 years to get over Babe Ruth leaving to the Yankees. Their first championship came in 1903 when they were still the Boston Americans. From 1912 through 1918 they won it four more times, before the big wait. Then came that comeback against the Yankees, and the rest is history, winning the World Series in 2004, 2007 and 2013, which is also their last trip to the series. The Red Sox have lost four times in the World Series, the last time in 1986 against the Mets.
Oakland Athletics: 9
Four World Series championships came for the A’s while they were still in Philly: 1910, 1911, 1913, 1929 and 1930. Their stay in Kansas City didn’t yield anything, and it wasn’t until they moved to Oakland that the championships returned. The A’s have since won the World Series in 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1989, which came sandwiched between World Series losses to the Dodgers (1988) and the Reds (1990).
St. Louis Cardinals: 11
The franchise has been called the Cardinals since 1900, but they’ve always been in St. Louis, dating back to 1882. The Cardinals have won the NL Pennant 19 times, turning it into a World Series championship 11 times: 1926, 1931, 1934, 1942, 1944, 1946, 1964, 1967, 1982 and on to more modern times, during the Albert Pujols era, winning in 2006 and 2011. They made the World Series in 2013 as well, losing to the Red Sox.
New York Yankees: 27
The most successful team in Baseball and perhaps all of North American sports along with the Montreal Canadiens, the Yankees have been to the World Series 40 times, winning a total of 27 championships. They were the Baltimore Orioles and New York Highlanders before, but without success. The first World Series title came in 1923, and then things became easy: 1927, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958. That’s 17 championships in 32 years. Things became a bit more even later on: Titles in 1961 and 1962, and then waiting until 1977 and 1978 to win again. The Yankees next dynasty came in the mid 1990’s, winning four times in five years: 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, and also losing in the World Series in 2001 and 2003. They added their 27th championship in 2009, beating the Philadelphia Phillies.