Last Updated: June 17th, 2026 by Michael Griffin
Baseball is a cruel mistress. For every champagne-soaked celebration, there are locker rooms filled with players wondering what just happened. These nine teams learned that having the best record, the most talent, or even destiny on your side sometimes isn’t enough. Here are the greatest teams that should have been champions… but ended up as footnotes in someone else’s story.
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2006 Mets: When Beltran Watched Strike Three Break Queens’ Heart
They had it all: Wright and Reyes in their prime, a lineup that could bash with anyone, and the best closer in New York. Then Adam Wainwright’s curveball froze Carlos Beltran with the bases loaded in Game 7, and Shea Stadium’s final great moment became its most painful memory. It’s so painful that I won’t even post an image of that pitch. Have this one of Beltran instead. That 97-win team never got another chance, since the 2007 AND 2008 teams frittered away division leads.
2001 Mariners: 116 Wins and Nothing to Show For It
Ichiro’s rookie year. Bret Boone’s career season. A team that tied the all-time wins record. But in October, they ran into a Yankees team carrying New York’s post-9/11 emotions on their shoulders. The greatest regular season team of the modern era didn’t even make the World Series. It had to have been a small consolation to see the Bronx Bombers lose in Game 7 to Arizona.
1969 Orioles: How the Miracle Mets Crushed Baltimore’s Dream Season
109 wins. Three 20-game winners. The best team money couldn’t buy. But sometimes magic beats machinery, and the Miracle Mets didn’t care about Baltimore’s superior stats. The O’s would win 108 games the next year and claim their title, but ’69 was the one that got away.
1954 Indians: When Willie Mays Broke Cleveland’s Heart
111 wins and a pitching staff for the ages. Then Willie Mays turned his back to home plate, and baseball history changed forever. The Catch in Game 1 deflated Cleveland’s spirit, and the Giants swept what might have been the Indians’ greatest team.
1988 A’s: The Night Kirk Gibson Limped Into History
The Bash Brothers. Dennis Eckersley. A 104-win juggernaut that seemed unstoppable. Then a hobbled Kirk Gibson stepped to the plate in Game 1, and Vin Scully’s voice told us what couldn’t happen, did happen. The A’s never recovered from that punch to the gut. The 1988 Mets could also claim this one, since they lost a heartbreaking series to those Dodgers despite owning them during the regular season. Orel Hershiser and the team got hot at JUST the right time.
1964 Phillies: The Greatest Collapse Nobody Talks About
Six and a half games up with 12 to play. Then Gene Mauch panicked, started his pitchers on short rest, and watched his team lose 10 straight. The City of Brotherly Love spent the winter wondering what might have been.
2004 Cardinals: When Boston’s Curse Breakers Swept Baseball’s Best
105 wins. The best record in baseball. A lineup that could mash and a rotation that could dominate. But they ran into a Red Sox team riding 86 years of destiny, and became a footnote in Boston’s greatest story. Sometimes, fate picks the other guys.
2003 Cubs: The Bartman Game That Changed Everything
Five outs away. Prior dealing. Wrigley rocking. Then a foul ball, a fan’s reach, and Alex Gonzalez’s error opened the floodgates. The curse would last another 13 years, but no moment hurt quite like this one.
2022 Dodgers: 111 Wins Until San Diego Played Spoiler
A franchise-record 111 wins. The best run differential since the ’39 Yankees. Then their little brothers from down south shocked the baseball world in four games. It didn’t help that ace Clayton Kershaw continued to have playoff issues, only going five innings in one start with a 5.40 ERA. Sometimes, having the better team on paper means nothing in October.