O'Neill: Major league parity evident in World Series
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Fans of balance in the horsehide ecosystem unleashed a collective cheer last week when the New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez took a called third strike to send the Texas Rangers to their first World Series.
The following night, another highly paid slugger for a big-budget team, Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies, also struck out looking, sending the San Francisco Giants to the Series.
Thus continued the most-balanced era in baseball history.
It might be hard to see here at the shallow end of the baseball lagoon, where the Pirates just finished their 18th consecutive losing season. But if parity is defined by the number of teams that make it to, and win, the World Series, consider these facts:
• The Rangers are the 19th team to make it to the 17 World Series since 1993, when the Pirates began professional sports' longest losing streak. (There was no Series in 1994 due to the baseball strike.)
• Either team that wins this year will be the 11th to win in 17 Series. This is the first Series for the Rangers, a franchise that began in Washington in 1961 and moved to Texas in '72. The Giants haven't won since 1954, four seasons before they traded Manhattan for California.
• Ending long droughts has been a frequent October theme in recent years. The Boston Red Sox won in 2004 and '07 after going without a championship since 1918. The Chicago White Sox won in 2005 for the first time since 1917. The Angels won their first Series in '02, their 42nd season, and the Houston Astros reached their first Series in '05, their 44th season.
• Short droughts ended, too. Four teams that didn't exist the last time the Pirates had a winning season have been to the Series since 1993: the Tampa Bay Rays, Colorado Rockies, Florida Marlins and Arizona Diamondbacks. Those last two teams have three Series between them.
• Go back to 1990 to grab an even 20 World Series, and you can add two more Series winners (Cincinnati Reds in '90 and Minnesota Twins in '91) and one more Series entry (Oakland A's in '90). That's 13 winners and 22 teams in 20 Series.
That's about par with the past 20 Super Bowls, with 13 winners spread among 23 teams, and Stanley Cup championships, with 12 winners among 22 teams.
First Published October 27, 2010 12:00 am
