Arlington, Texas — This is the 24th straight season without a two-time World Series champion, and Bruce Bochy knows firsthand how difficult it is to try to win back-to-back titles, or even get back to the playoffs the following season.
Bochy and the reigning champion Texas Rangers won’t even make the playoffs. They’ll finish with a losing record a year after the franchise’s first World Series title.
The New York Yankees were the last team to win back-to-back championships, three in a row from 1998-2000. Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and the Bronx Bombers even returned to the Fall Classic in 2001, when Arizona earned a walk-off victory in the decisive Game 7.
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Only five teams have played in consecutive World Series since then. The best streak was the San Francisco Giants, who won three titles in five seasons (2010, 2012 and 2014) when Bochy was their manager. They also missed the postseason the year after each title.
After reaching the World Series in 2017 and 2018, the Los Angeles Dodgers finally ended a 32-year title drought by winning everything during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Only 12 of the 30 teams have made the playoffs since the format was expanded in 2022 with the addition of a third wild card in each league.
In other leagues, there have been multiple repeat champions in the NFL, NBA and NHL since the Yankees did it nearly a quarter-century ago.
There have been 16 different teams that have won titles since the Yankees’ dominant stretch, and five others have played in the Fall Classic.
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The only managers other than Bochy with multiple titles since 2001 are Tony La Russa (St. Louis in 2006 and 2011) and Terry Francona (Boston in 2004 and 2007). Houston is the only other team to win more than once, with AJ Hinch in 2017 and Dusty Baker two years ago.
The Rangers are the 12th team since 2003 to miss the playoffs the year after winning the World Series.
Por STEPHEN HAWKINS/AP
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