The 2026 World Series Is Set, So Here's a Sporcle Quiz to Commemorate It!

The Tampa Bay Rays just closed out their ALCS win against the Cleveland Guardians, giving them their third pennant in team history. They'll be moving on to face the long-since clinched Milwaukee Brewers, who took their second-ever pennant and first since their move to the National League back in 1998. 

I've already been updating my playlist of World Series Sporcle trivia quizzes to reflect this new match-up, which you may recall (if you read my Playoff Trivia article) is a new iteration of the Fall Classic. But I wanted to do a little something extra; as you may also remember, this is a match-up between two expansion teams, something that's only happened three other times in MLB history. 

And so, I've added another quiz to the list: Can You Name the World Series That Featured Two Expansion Teams? It's a quick one, a twist on one that I've made in the past; but like I said, I wanted to do something special to mark the occasion, since that's a trivia beat that I've been highlighting for a while now. 

Also, it is kind of interesting that, while this has occurred four different times, it's involved eight different teams, with no repeats to date (the first three occasions being Royals-Mets, Nationals-Astros, and Rangers-Diamondbacks). Also, either the Rays or Brewers is going to walk away from this with their first World Series in franchise history; the last time we had a match-up like that was 1980. It will also mark our fourth first-time winner in the last decade between the Astros, Nationals, and Rangers, which is kind of incredible to think about (and that stretch is even book-ended by the Cubs' drought-ender!).

Brewers/Rays is the 8th World Series between teams that have never won one before 1903 Americans (Red Sox)/Pirates 1905 Giants/Athletics 1906 White Sox/Cubs 1907 Cubs/Tigers 1909 Pirates/Tigers 1920 Indians/Robins (Dodgers) 1980 Phillies/Royals 2026 Brewers/Rays (good idea @mikemedvin.bsky.social)

— James Smyth (@jamessmyth621.bsky.social) October 19, 2026 at 8:05 PM

Either way, you can expect an update here shortly whenever the World Series concludes, featuring this year's version of the Best Active Players Without a World Series quiz. If you'd like a reminder whenever that goes live, you can subscribe to the email list with the box below! 

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The Annual 2026 MLB Playoff Trivia Round-Up and Preview!

I’m a little busy this year (not entirely due to my Summer Playlist article that just went up over at Out of Left Field, but it was another thing to do, so it would be cool to go check that out as well if you have time!), but I would really like to keep up with my yearly tradition of Playoff Trivia. So I’m going to try and make it happen through a mix of pre-writing as much as I can and being a little more efficient than I’m used to.

So with that in mind, let’s jump right in… after a quick reminder that you can subscribe to the Hot Corner Harbor email list for updates when a new article goes up (and only when an article goes up, no spam!). It’ll be useful for the offseason, where I have a couple of article ideas in mind on top of my usual Hall of Fame coverage and Future Hall of Fame series (not to mention the eventual follow-up on this playoff trivia piece!).

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DROUGHTS

It feels like kind of a boring year on the drought front, in spite of the fact that all three of our longest active World Series droughts are represented in the playoffs this year, in the Guardians, Brewers, and Padres. A big reason for that is probably because eight of the past ten World Series winners are represented in this season’s postseason field (and with the also recently-crowned Rangers just narrowly missing out as well).

That brings the overall numbers down a bunch, despite those three big ones trying to push in the other direction. But it’s really just those three and the Rays (who, like the Padres and Brewers, are searching for their first ever championship, albeit with a much shorter history). Everyone else here has won at least one title since the turn of the millennium. In fact, our median drought for this set falls right in between the Phillies (2008) and Yankees (2009). It’s actually kind of difficult to wind up with a group of teams with a sub-20 year median drought, given that this is a 30-team league and there have been plenty of repeats in that span. This just isn’t a group that skews towards the long-suffering, in general.

Game Recap Over at The Launch Angle

For the first time in a while, I stepped in to write an Astros Game Recap over at The Launch Angle! It was an exciting one, with Cam Smith powering a late comeback in the series opener against the Giants in Oracle Park, so go check it out!

The Rebuild Review: What Do Rebuilding Trades Look Like, and What Does That Say About the Astros' 2026 Deadline Plans?

Editor-Theo’s Note: When I started work on this piece, the question of “should the Astros sell at the deadline” was looking a little more open-ended. However, while that question is looking fairly resolved now, this piece is just as much a case study on the history and past successes of MLB teams doing total tear-downs and roster rebuilds. It’s definitely influenced my understanding of the process, and I think it’s worth sharing those results.

Over the last few years, I’ve been chipping away at a longer, deeper look at how team rebuilding goes, both during the rebuilding process itself and in the return to success period. It started as a look at the Orioles, with a front office full of Astros alumni now trying to repeat that magic a second time, then expanded to include the Braves as a sort of counterpoint who both mirrored and contrasted the Orioles and the Astros.

The project slowed down a little as I expanded the scope, to get a wider view of the options. I still want to finish that part someday; I have a whole bunch of data that I’ve collected, and while it can be a little overwhelming to sift through and distill into meaningful narratives and strategies (not to mention balancing all of that against everything else in life), I think the information there is useful.

However, a useful thing I think I can talk about from all of this is one specific slice of the rebuilding process! At the time I’m writing this, the trade deadline is rapidly approaching, and the Astros sit in a strange place. They’ve been carrying a losing record most of the season, and even now, are hovering around .500 while being outscored on the year… but it’s been a disappointing year across the board in the American League too, and they’re still very much in the thick of the playoff race

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“Should the team go for it, or sell off and start a rebuild?” has been a prevalent question leading up to the trade deadline, and the answer right now seems to be “whatever facilitates making a playoff run this year”. There are of course fair questions about this, though; the team is unbalanced to say the least, with a Yordan Alvarez-heavy top covering up for a lot of holes in the roster. The team’s stash of prospects is relatively light too, which complicates attempts to patch up holes. And in contrast, there are some attractive pieces that the team could move for prospects: Christian Vázquez and Bryan Abreu are free agents after the season, while Christian Walker, Jeremy Peña, and Isaac Paredes will all hit free agency the year after (among others). And if you’re punting on next year too, you may as well also listen to offers on Hunter Brown and Yordan, since they’re hitting free agency after the 2028 season and will likely command a hefty return…

Up front, I will admit that I am personally against that, even before getting into the results of this study. The point of baseball is to win championships, and committing to a hard rebuild when you’re one game out of a playoff spot and carrying a potential Triple Crown winner feels like deliberately avoiding the whole reason for playing. I can see scenarios where this might make more sense, like from the back of a more crowded playoff chase, or following a spate of major injuries. The Astros are a middling roster with weak spots, but in a year where that describes the entire AL (and frankly, I’m not sure that won’t be the case next year, either). They’ve been outrunning a disastrous April (.308 winning percentage) as more and more players returned from injuries, so why not try and ride that success?

All that said… I do understand the thinking behind proposing a rebuild. The parts of a middling roster could turn into a juggernaut down the line, with good planning and some luck, and the Astros have ridden a similar process to success in the past. So, since I have all that rebuilding data, why not put it to good use? What might the Astros be forgoing by not selling off their stars on expiring contracts? How much does trading those players for prospects contribute to future success?