Ranking MLB's Most Dominant World Series Runs Since 2000

As the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers compete for the 2024 World Series, we've decided to look back on the most dominant World Series runs during this millennium. This isn't a ranking of who the best teams were on paper, nor is it a breakdown of which teams would win the most over a 162-game season if they somehow played in the same league. Instead, it's a look at who had the most impressive run in their given year.

With all that acknowledged, here's a look at the 10 most dominant World Series runs since 2000. ALDS: Defeated Oakland Athletics 3-2 ALCS: Defeated Seattle Mariners 4-2 World Series: Defeated New York Mets 4-1 The first postseason of the millennium ended the same way as the final two of the 1990s—with the Yankees winning the World Series. Not only was it the third consecutive title for manager Joe Torre's Yankees, but it was also their fourth in five years.



New York did need all five games to defeat the A's in the ALDS, and then six games to edge out a Mariners team that included Alex Rodriguez, Edgar Martinez and John Olerud in the ALCS. That set up what was dubbed "the Subway Series," where the Yankees completed a gentleman's sweep of the crosstown-rival Mets. Future Hall of Famer Derek Jeter was named World Series MVP after hitting .

409 in the Fall Classic, including a pair of home runs. On a comically loaded Yankees team, David Justice won ALCS MVP, as he drove in eight runs against the Mariners. Paul O'Neill (.

474 batting average), Andy Pettitte (1.98 ERA over 13.2 innings), Roger Clemens (eight shutout innings in Game 2) and Mariano Rivera (two saves, four scoreless appearances) all starred in the World Series, in addition to Jeter.

ALWCS: Defeated Tampa Bay Rays 2-0 ALDS: Defeated Baltimore Orioles 3-0 ALCS: Defeated Houston Astros 4-3 World Series: Defeated Arizona Diamondbacks 4-1 The Rangers narrowly lost out on winning the AL West in 2023, instead having to settle for the No. 2 wild-card seed in the Junior Circuit. They would again meet up with the Astros in the ALCS, and it took seven games to edge their in-state rivals to win the AL pennant.

Outside of their battles with the Astros, though, manager Bruce Bochy's Rangers were dominant en route to their first World Series title. They swept the 99-win Rays in the ALWCS and did the same to the 101-win Orioles in the ALDS. In the World Series, it took the Rangers just five games to dispose of a Diamondbacks team that had gone on a magical run through the NL playoffs.

Corey Seager, who had previously won World Series MVP with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020, cemented himself as one of the greatest postseason performers of all time during the Fall Classic. Seager homered three times in five games in the World Series, including a game-tying blast in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 1: Adolis García (eight home runs), Evan Carter (.917 OPS) and Jordan Montgomery (2.

90 ERA) all had tremendous postseason runs to help the Rangers win the 2023 World Series. NLDS: Defeated Atlanta Braves 3-1 NLCS: Defeated Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 World Series: Defeated Texas Rangers 4-1 The 2010 Giants were a team with an incredible pitching staff and a group of mostly castoffs offensively that came together to win the franchise's first World Series title since they relocated from New York in 1958. After winning consecutive NL Cy Young Awards in 2008 and 2009, Tim Lincecum finally got to pitch on the postseason stage in 2010.

He, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sánchez and a 20-year-old Madison Bumgarner made up a dominant starting rotation. Bochy also had an excellent bullpen, with Jeremy Affeldt, Santiago Casilla and Sergio Romo serving as the setup men for eccentric closer Brian Wilson, who had 48 saves during the regular season and ultimately struck out Nelson Cruz to win the World Series. Still, a lineup full of castoffs was the story for the Giants in 2010.

While Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval would go on to become franchise icons, the 2010 Giants had a collection of veterans who had been let go by other teams only to become key cogs in a World Series run. This included Aubrey Huff, Andrés Torres, Pat Burrell, Cody Ross and Édgar Rentería. Ross—claimed off waivers from the Florida Marlins in August—had the number of future Hall of Famer Roy Halladay in the NLCS, as the Giants defeated the two-time defending NL champion Philadelphia Phillies in six games.

Rentería, who was signed after the Detroit Tigers declined his option the prior offseason, hit .412 in the World Series. His second home run of the Fall Classic was a go-ahead home run in the seventh inning against Cliff Lee in Game 5, which was a lead the Rangers would never relinquish in the clinching game.

Rentería was named World Series MVP. NLDS: Defeated Milwaukee Brewers 3-1 NLCS: Defeated Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1 World Series: Defeated Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 After getting swept by the Colorado Rockies in the 2007 NLDS, the Phillies won the NL East title for a second successive season in 2008. They proceeded to go on a pretty dominant run to the franchise's second World Series title.

Manager Charlie Manuel's squad was led by a dominant offense with Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Jayson Werth, Pat Burrell and Shane Victorino all at the heights of their powers. Werth posted a .969 OPS across the postseason run, while Howard launched three homers in the World Series.

Still, it was veteran pinch hitter Matt Stairs who turned in the defining hit of the playoff run, a titanic go-ahead home run in Game 4 of a five-game NLCS series against the Dodgers: While the Phillies would have some loaded starting rotations in the years to come, this was before Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt. In 2008, a 24-year-old Cole Hamels came of age in the postseason, going 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA across five postseason starts.

He won the MVP in both the NLCS and World Series. The 2008 Phillies also had a dominant bullpen. A group that included J.

C. Romero, Ryan Madson, Scott Eyre and Chad Durbin was led by Brad Lidge. Lidge went 41-for-41 in save attempts during the regular season, finishing fourth in NL Cy Young Award.

He converted all seven of his postseason save opportunities, including striking out Eric Hinske in Game 5 of the World Series to clinch a title. ALDS: Defeated Minnesota Twins 3-0 ALCS: Defeated Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 4-2 World Series: Defeated Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 Just from an on-paper perspective, the 2009 Yankees might be the most stacked team of any on this list. After missing the postseason in 2008, they reloaded by signing CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and A.

J. Burnett. It immediately led to a World Series.

Alex Rodriguez finally exorcised his postseason demons, winning ALCS MVP. He hit .365 with six home runs and 18 RBI during the totality of the run, finally winning a World Series title in his 14th full MLB season.

Hideki Matsui was a key cog in preventing the Phillies from repeating as champions, winning World Series MVP by recording eight hits in 13 Fall Classic at-bats, three of which were home runs. Mariano Rivera closed out the World Series, getting Shane Victorino to ground out to end Game 6. It was the fifth and final title for "the core four" of Rivera, Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada.

How stacked was this team? We got this far without even mentioning stars like Robinson Canó, Johnny Damon and Nick Swisher. The 2009 Yankees may not have had the most dominant postseason run of any team on this list, but it's up there, and it would be hard to pick against them in a head-to-head series against any team since 2000. ALDS: Defeated Anaheim Angels 3-0 ALCS: Defeated New York Yankees 4-3 World Series: Defeated St.

Louis Cardinals 4-0 This one is a bit complicated, because the Red Sox did fall behind the Yankees 3-0 in the ALCS. However, they became the first team in MLB history to overcome a 3-0 deficit, and outside of those three losses to open the ALCS, manager Terry Francona's squad went 11-0 in the postseason. During the 2004 postseason, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz emerged as two of the greatest playoff performers in MLB history.

Ramirez won the ALCS MVP, hitting .350 with a .923 OPS across the totality of the postseason.

Ortiz, meanwhile, launched a walk-off home run to help the Red Sox sweep the Angels in the ALDS. He would go on to win World Series MVP, hitting a staggering .400 with five home runs and 19 RBI during the playoffs.

Though they would sweep the Cardinals to win the franchise's first World Series title in 86 years—snapping "the Curse of the Bambino"— the defining performance from the team came at the stadium that Babe Ruth made his name at. After storming back to tie the ALCS against the Yankees at 3-3, the Red Sox bludgeoned the Yankees in Game 7 at Yankee Stadium, winning 10-3 in a game that saw Johnny Damon homer twice. By the time the Red Sox arrived at the World Series, it felt like fait accompli that they—a team that also included the likes of Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling, Jason Varitek and Keith Foulke—would win the World Series.

ALDS: Defeated Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 3-0 ALCS: Defeated Cleveland 4-3 World Series: Defeated Colorado Rockies 4-0 While it didn't require overcoming a 3-0 deficit this time, the 2007 Red Sox followed an eerily similar path to the 2004 Boston team—they swept the ALDS and World Series, with a seven-game ALCS victory wedged in between. Like in 2004, the Red Sox needed just three games to beat the Angels in the ALDS, with Manny Ramirez hitting a walk-off home run against Francisco Rodríguez in Game 2 that's one of the more iconic moments of his decorated career: After falling behind 3-1 against Cleveland in the ALCS, the Red Sox won the next three games by a combined score of 30-5, with a potent lineup getting the backing of strong pitching performances from Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling in Games 5 and 6. In a lineup that included Ramirez, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis and J.

D. Drew, it was Mike Lowell who won World Series MVP for his performance against the Rockies, as he recorded six hits in 15 at-bats in the Fall Classic. So what makes the Jonathan Papelbon-closed run in 2007 above 2004? While the 2004 Cardinals were an excellent team, the Rockies were about as hot as any team in MLB history when the Red Sox met them in the World Series.

Colorado went 20-8 in September, won a one-game playoff over the San Diego Padres to win the lone NL wild-card spot, and then proceeded to sweep both the Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks en route to their first NL pennant. Following a 28-8 stretch, the Rockies were swept in the World Series by the Red Sox—something no one saw coming. ALDS: Defeated Boston Red Sox 3-0 ALCS: Defeated Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 4-1 World Series: Defeated Houston Astros 4-0 This certainly isn't the most memorable postseason run since 2000, but the White Sox went 11-1 on their way to a World Series title in 2005.

It's impossible to argue with the results of manager Ozzie Guillen's squad. Chicago swept the defending World Series champion Red Sox in the ALDS before discarding the Angels in five games in the ALCS. Paul Konerko—one of the most underappreciated players of his era—won the ALCS MVP after homering twice and driving in seven runs.

Another one of the most underrated players of the era came through in the World Series against the Astros, as Jermaine Dye hit .438 and the White Sox swept Houston to win their first title since 1917. The defining moment of the World Series wasn't Konerko's Game 2 grand slam, but it came in the second contest of the Fall Classic.

Scott Podsednik—a contact-oriented player who had zero home runs across 507 regular-season at-bats–hit a walk-off home run to give the Chi Sox a 2-0 series lead: We would be remiss not to mention the starting rotation, with Mark Buehrle, José Contreras, Freddy García and Jon Garland, all of whom pitched well in the postseason. Reliever Bobby Jenks posted a 2.25 ERA across six postseason appearances, including closing out Game 4 of the World Series to clinch the title.

ALDS: Defeated New York Yankees 3-1 ALCS: Defeated Houston Astros 4-1 World Series: Defeated Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1 Wire to wire, the 2018 Boston Red Sox are one of the most dominant MLB teams in modern history. In Alex Cora's first season as manager, the Red Sox won a franchise-record 108 games during the regular season. Mookie Betts won AL MVP, while J.

D. Martinez finished fourth in voting. Mind you, the lineup also included Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts and Andrew Benintendi.

Boston took three of four games against New York in the ALDS, winning Games 1 and 4 each by just one run. However, after a Game 2 loss, the Red Sox responded with a 16-1 win over the Yankees in Game 3, with Brock Holt—of all people—driving in five runs. The Red Sox then eliminated the defending World Series champion Astros in five games in the ALCS.

The Astros won the first game of the series, but the Red Sox proceeded to rattle off four wins in a row after that, including Benintendi making a game-saving catch to help Craig Kimbrel close out the save in Game 4: In the World Series, the Red Sox lost only one game to the Dodgers. Even that one came in a 3-2 loss over 18 innings in Game 3. Steve Pearce was an unlikely World Series hero, homering three times and driving in eight runs to win series MVP.

Kimbrel—as he's been prone to do—ran out of gas in the postseason. So Cora turned to ace Chris Sale to close out the World Series, and he did so in Game 5, striking out Manny Machado to win it all. ALDS: Defeated Seattle Mariners 3-0 ALCS: Defeated New York Yankees 4-0 World Series: Defeated Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 While some teams have struggled with the first-round postseason bye since the current playoff format went into place in 2022, Dusty Baker's squad certainly didn't.

The Astros won an MLB-best 106 games during the regular season and swept the division-rival Mariners in the ALDS thanks to a Yordan Álvarez ninth-inning home run in Game 1. It wasn't the biggest home run Álvarez would hit that postseason. Five years after a classic ALCS that had since been mired with controversy given the emergence of the sign-stealing scandal, the Astros and Yankees once again met for the right to go to the World Series.

Houston swept the Yankees this time, with rookie Jeremy Peña homering twice to win ALCS MVP. A Phillies team on a magical postseason run jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the World Series, but the Astros responded with three consecutive wins to take the series. In Game 4, Cristian Javier, Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly combined to no-hit a powerful Phillies lineup, recording just the third no-no in playoff history.

In Game 6, Álvarez essentially put the series on ice with a mammoth go-ahead home run off José Alvarado in the bottom of the sixth inning: Peña also won World Series MVP, hitting .400 in the six-game series that finally netted Baker his first title as a manager. But while there were some notable differences, 2022 was a continuation of what, at the very least, was a mini-dynasty for the Astros.

It didn't erase the cheating scandal from 2017, but it was the fourth AL pennant and second World Series title for the Astros in six seasons. Anyone who thought that the Astros won singularly because of the sign-stealing scandal in 2017 was proven wrong, as Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Yuli Gurriel and Justin Verlander all earned their second rings..