Longest waits for a World Series rematch
Only nine times in World Series history have the same two teams met in back-to-back World Series.
But sometimes, the wait for a Fall Classic rematch stretches on for much longer before finally ending — try 43 years, in the case of the Dodgers and Yankees, who’ve both punched their ticket to the 2024 World Series. Even then, the Dodgers-Yankees matchup drought has nothing on the one once shared by the Dodgers and Red Sox, which dragged on for over a century.
- World Series Game 1, presented by Capital One: Friday on FOX
Here then is a look at the longest gaps between between World Series matchups involving the same two franchises since the event began back in 1903.
- Get your postseason tickets!
Red Sox vs. Dodgers, 102 years (1916-2018)
Boston won the first two games of the 1916 World Series, with 21-year-old Babe Ruth making his postseason pitching debut in Game 2. The lefty was brilliant, pitching all 14 innings of the Red Sox’s 2-1 victory, giving up one run on six hits, walking three and striking out four. At the plate, Ruth went 0-for-5. The game-winning hit came courtesy of Del Gainer, who hit a walk-off single to center field. Brooklyn won Game 3, but Boston came back to win Games 4 and 5, outscoring the Robins, 10-3.
Baseball looked just a little bit different by the time the rematch rolled around in 2018, but the result was the same. Boston once again won in five games, with its only loss in the series coming in a dramatic, 18-inning marathon in Game 3. The Red Sox won the next two to clinch a championship at Dodger Stadium, with World Series MVP Steve Pearce homering twice, David Price throwing seven strong innings and Chris Sale finishing things off out of the bullpen.
A’s vs. Giants, 76 years (1913-89)
The A’s and Giants met in the 1989 World Series, which was dubbed the “Bay Bridge Series” after the bridge that connects Oakland and San Francisco. The two franchises squared off in the Fall Classic three other times prior to that, in ’05 (Giants won in five games), ’11 (Giants won in six games) and ’13 (Athletics won in five games). All of those, of course, were played while the Giants were in New York and the A’s in Philadelphia.
In 1989, the World Series was interrupted by a massive earthquake in the Bay Area. Twelve days after the earthquake, the Series resumed, and the A’s swept the Giants, with right-hander Dave Stewart winning the World Series MVP Award.
