MLB droughts to watch for the 2024 season
Coming off a strong 101-win season, expectations are high for the Baltimore Orioles for the 2024 campaign. And if the Orioles did manage to come away with a World Series title this season it would end a 40-year drought for the franchise, as their last championship came way back in 1983.
However, that’s not the longest World Series drought in Major League Baseball. In fact, it is not even one of the top five longest World Series droughts in the league heading into the 2024 campaign.
Cleveland carries longest World Series drought
The longest current World Series title drought belongs to the Cleveland Guardians (formerly Cleveland Indians), who last won the championship way back in 1948, or 75 seasons ago. That’s 20 years longer than the next two longest droughts on the list, with 55 seasons having passed for both the Milwaukee Brewers and the San Diego Padres since they entered the league in 1969. Cleveland most recently made it into the World Series in 2016, San Diego in 1998, and Milwaukee in 1982.
Neither the Padres nor the Brewers have ever won the World Series, obviously. The Seattle Mariners have also never won the World Series since entering the league in 1977, a 47-year World Series drought. The Mariners are also the only team that has never even appeared in the World Series.
The only other team with a World Series drought of longer than 40 years is the Pittsburgh Pirates, as it has been 44 years since their last championship in 1979. The Detroit Tigers (39), New York Mets (37), Oakland Athletics (34), Cincinnati Reds (33), Minnesota Twins (32), Colorado Rockies (31), and Toronto Blue Jays (30) all have World Series droughts sitting at three decades or longer.
The Rockies and Tampa Bay Rays (26 years) are the other two of the five total MLB teams that have never won the World Series. The Arizona Diamondbacks (22), Los Angeles Angels (21), and Miami Marlins (20) are the other teams that are sitting on a World Series drought of 20 or more years.
The all-time longest World Series drought was the 107 years between the Chicago Cubs’ championships in 1908 and 2016. The Chicago White Sox went 87 years between titles in 1917 and 2005, it was 85 years between the Boston Red Sox winning the World Series in 1918 and 2004, and it took the Philadelphia Phillies 77 years to claim their first World Series championship in 1980.
Tigers and Angels hold longest playoff droughts
Cleveland has the longest current World Series championship drought, but it’s the Tigers and the Angels that hold the longest current playoff appearance droughts. Both Detroit and Los Angeles last qualified for the MLB playoffs back in 2014, so nine seasons ago. Pittsburgh and Kansas City hold postseason appearance droughts of eight seasons apiece, with Colorado sitting at five seasons.
The Rockies are also tied with the Marlins for the longest current division championship drought, at 31 seasons apiece as neither franchise has even won its respective division title since entering the league back in 1993. It’s also been 31 seasons since the Pirates won their last division title back in 1992, with the Mariners (22 seasons) and Padres (17 seasons) the next two teams on that list.
And of course it’s the Mariners who hold the longest current World Series appearance drought, with their zero trips to the World Series in their 47-year franchise history. The Pirates are next, having not appeared in the World Series since they won it in 1979 (44 years ago), with the Brewers last advancing to the World Series back in 1982 (41 years ago). It’s then the Orioles at 40 years since last making a World Series trip; they haven’t made it that far since their 1983 championship season.
With zero championships between his MLB, NHL, and NFL teams over the last 30 years, Dave keeps one foot in the past while shaking his fist at the present. Having provided content to all manner of sports websites over a 20-year career in the industry, Dave brings to Attiq an eye for all things editorial and a disdain for all things New York Yankees. Click here for Dave's posts.
