Try Not to Suck II — Elect to Boo-the-Blue
Cubs the latest champion to be Breakin’ Bad
Since Major League Baseball crowned its last repeat champion at the conclusion of the New York Yankees Subway Series win over the Mets in 2000, title-holders have failed, to varying degrees, to reclaim their victorious mojo the following season. This year, though currently in the midst of a six-game winning streak, the Cubs are still a full eight games off their 2016 pace. Following is a look at the results of each of this millennium’s dynasty don’ts as of July 20th of their encore campaign:
2001 New York Yankees 56–40
2002 Arizona Diamondbacks 57–40
2003 Anaheim Angels 49–47
2004 Florida Marlins 47–46
2005 Boston Red Sox 52–42
2006 Chicago White Sox 58–36
2007 St. Louis Cardinals 44–49
2008 Boston Red Sox 57–43
2009 Philadelphia Phillies 52–38
2010 New York Yankees 58–34
2011 San Francisco Giants 57–42
2012 St. Louis Cardinals 48–45
2013 San Francisco Giants 45–51
2014 Boston Red Sox 46–52
2015 San Francisco Giants 49–44
2016 Kansas City Royals 47–47
2017 Chicago Cubs 49–45
The ’06 White Sox may have been the most snakebitten of the bunch. Despite finishing 18 games above .500 (90–72), the Sox missed the playoffs in a brutally tough division, won by a resurgent Minnesota Twins club that closed out the regular season at a blistering 49–26 clip. The eventual AL Champion Detroit Tigers beat out Chicago for second place and the final playoff spot. Honorable mention goes to the ’10 Yankees, who swept the Twins in the divisional round, only to lose in the ALCS to Texas in six games.
Other ring-bearers chose to accept their fate early on. The ’07 Cardinals were already battered at five games under .500 by mid-July. Oddly, though, even with only one 30-game starter sporting a winning record (Adam Wainwright 14–12), the Cards wrapped the year just 5½ games behind the finish of their 2006 World Series-winning squad, which posted a paltry 83–78 regular-season mark. The Giants, masters of even-year Series success, realized 2013 was an odd number and folded the tent early. Starter Matt Cain, who clinched divisional and NLCS victories in ’12, saw his record fall from 16–5 to 8–10 and his ERA rise from 2.79 to 4.00 in the intervening year.
