Prospectus Matchups

The 10 Biggest Mismatchups in World Series History

by Jim Baker

Any team that follows the rules and beats all comers in the first two rounds of the playoffs deserves to be in the World Series. That the team does so in spite of having the worst third-order percentage ever for a World Series participant make it more or less of an accomplishment? The Cardinals, at .471, have gotten this far in spite of pushing down hard on the lower perimeter of Series participation (lowering the standard by 17 points from previous the low team, the 1987 Minnesota Twins); it's something of a wonder as well as a testament to the foibles of short series participation.

Beginning tonight, they find themselves aligned against a team that is nearly 100 points higher in third-order winning percentage. Detroit's mark of .567 puts them 96 points ahead of St. Louis and lands them squarely on the list you see below: the 10 biggest mismatchups in World Series history as defined by third-order won-loss records. Because of this disparity, can we assume the outcome of the Series? Let's take a look at what happened the previous 10 times before answering that.

138: 1906 -- Chicago Cubs (.715) vs. Chicago White Sox (.577)
Result: White Sox 4-2

The lesson was given very early in the postseason process and yet, it still doesn't seem to have sunk in 100 years later. A century ago this month, the team with the best winning percentage ever mustered in the so-called modern era was taken down by a team that won 23 fewer games during the regular season. There it was for all to see: anything can happen in a short series. In just the third World Series played in the 20th Century, Exhibit A was made available for inspection for the jury: bad things can happen to great teams. In this case, Mordecai Brown of the Cubs had the misfortune to have one of the worst starts in his career in Game Six, putting them down 7-1 after two, a deficit from which they never recovered. The White Sox were known as the "Hitless Wonders" but did manage a league average 3.70 runs per game during the regular season. Regardless, they scored eight runs twice against the Cubs.

117: 1939 -- New York Yankees (.713) vs. Cincinnati Reds (.596)
Result: Yanks 4-0

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