Top 10 Closest Calls to Winning the World Series (Without Winning It)

Last night, the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-4 in 11 innings at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, to win Game 7 and the World Series.

The Dodgers thus won their 8th World Championship, their 9th counting their 1955 title as the Brooklyn Dodgers. By winning back-to-back World Series, they joined these teams in the achievement: The 1907-08 Chicago Cubs, the 1910-11 and 1929-30 Philadelphia Athletics, the 1915-16 Boston Red Sox, the 1921-22 New York Giants, the 1972-74 Oakland Athletics (3 straight), the 1975-76 Cincinnati Reds, the 1992-93 Blue Jays; and the New York Yankees in 1927-28, 1936-39 (4 straight), 1949-53 (5 straight), 1961-62, 1977-78, and 1998-2000 (3 straight).

The Blue Jays were 2 outs away in the top of the 9th, when Miguel Rojas hit a home run to tie the game. In the 10th, Rojas made a key defensive play, throwing a runner out at the plate. In the 11th, Will Smith hit a home run. So, does this game go down in history as The Miguel Rojas Game, or the Will Smith Game?

As hard as both teams fought in this postseason, it was pretty clear that whichever team won would have fully earned the title of the best team in baseball. But, let's be honest: The Jays choked.

As a Star Trek fan, I noted that the Blue Jays had scored 4 runs, and that I hadn't seen a "Blue Jay 4" so ineffective since the callsign the plane of Captain John Christopher, played by Roger Perry, in the 1967 time-travel-themed episode "Tomorrow Is Yesterday."

Top 10 Closest Calls to Winning the World Series (Without Winning It)

Honorable Mention: All teams that had a lead in Game 7 and still ended up losing, even if they're not in the Top 10:

1958 Milwaukee Braves: 24 outs away, lost to the New York Yankees.

1947 Brooklyn Dodgers: 16 outs away, lost to the New York Yankees.

1946 Boston Red Sox: 14 outs away, lost to the St. Louis Cardinals.

1987 St. Louis Cardinals, 14 outs away, lost to the Minnesota Twins.

1982 Milwaukee Brewers, 12 outs away, lost to the St. Louis Cardinals.

1979 Baltimore Orioles, 11 outs away, lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

1940 Detroit Tigers: 9 outs away, lost to the Cincinnati Reds.

2019 Houston Astros: 8 outs away, lost to the Washington Nationals.

1975 Boston Red Sox: 7 outs away, lost to the Cincinnati Reds.

10 (Tie). 1925 Washington Senators: 4 outs away in Game 7, lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

10 (Tie). 1960 New York Yankees: 4 outs away in Game 7, lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

9. 2016 Cleveland Indians: 4 outs away in Game 7, lost in 10 innings to the Chicago Cubs.

8. 1924 New York Giants: 4 outs away in Game 7, lost in 12 innings to the Washington Senators.

7. 2001 New York Yankees: 2 outs away with 2 men on base in Game 7, lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

6. 1997 Cleveland Indians: 2 outs away with 2 men on base in Game 7, lost in 11 innings to the Florida Marlins. The team now known as the Cleveland Guardians rank "ahead" of the '01 Yankees because they got 2 more chances.

5. 2025 Toronto Blue Jays: 2 outs away with the bases empty in Game 7, lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

4. 1912 New York Giants: 2 outs away in the 10th in Game 8, after being 7 outs away in Game 7. This ranks them "ahead" of the 2025 Jays. Lost to the Boston Red Sox. (Game 2 was called due to darkness while tied.)

3. 1986 Boston Red Sox: 1 strike away -- in Game 6. And then, 11 outs away in Game 7. Lost both games, and the Series, to the New York Mets. As bad as it was, as much as it's thought of as the biggest meltdown in baseball history, there are 2 teams that, technically, came closer to winning it without winning it:

2. 2002 San Francisco Giants: 6 outs away -- in Game 6. And then, 22 outs away in Game 7. Lost both games, and the Series, to the Anaheim Angels. Blowing 2 such chances ranks them "ahead" of the '86 BoSox. But not ahead of:

1. 2011 Texas Rangers: 1 strike away -- in Game 6, in the 9th. Then, still in Game 6, 2 outs away in the 10th. Then they took the lead in the top of the 1st in Game 7, but the St. Louis Cardinals came right back in the bottom of the 1st, tied it, and went on to win.