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    Friday, September 4, 2015

    Looking at Playoff Droughts and the Fabled Expansion World Series

    It’s a little hard to believe, but we only have about a month left in the season. And, while the playoff field is far from set, we already have a pretty good idea of which teams will still be playing coming October.

    Among those teams likely to go is the Toronto Blue Jays, who will (if they make it) be appearing in the postseason for the first time in 22 years, the longest active playoff drought in baseball right now. However, there’s a funny second side to that possibility that I realized the other day; of the set of ten teams in postseason position right now, the Blue Jays actually have the third-shortest World Series drought. No, really, look at each team’s last championship:

    Blue Jays: 1993
    Royals: 1985
    Astros: Never (team founded in 1962)
    Yankees: 2009
    Rangers: Never (team founded in 1961)
    Mets: 1986
    Cardinals: 2011
    Dodgers: 1988
    Pirates: 1979
    Cubs: 1908

    That fact got me thinking back to last year, when I looked at the championship droughts of the 2014 postseason.  How does this season stack up to the rest of the wild card era?