List of World Series sweeps
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In the World Series, a sweep refers to a Major League Baseball (MLB) team winning four straight games and losing none in a best-of-seven format.
There have been 19 sweeps in World Series history. The American League has been responsible for thirteen of the sweeps, with the New York Yankees account for more than half of those, with a record eight. The National League is responsible for the remaining six sweeps, with the New York / San Francisco Giants and the Cincinnati Reds each achieving two.[1]
The first sweep is credited to the 1914 "Miracle" Boston Braves who defeated the 1914 Philadelphia Athletics in four straight games. The most recent sweep occurred in the 2012 World Series, when the San Francisco Giants defeated the Detroit Tigers.[2]
List of sweeps
| National League team (NL) | |
| American League team (AL) |
Disputed
There is a dispute as to whether the following World Series can be considered sweeps as, in both cases, while the team did win four games and lost none, each series had a tied game. A number of sources do not recognize them as official sweeps while others list them as such.[22][23]
| Year | Winning team | Manager | Series result | Losing team | Manager | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1907 | Chicago Cubs | Frank Chance | 4–0–(1) | Detroit Tigers | Hugh Jennings | [24] |
| 1922 | New York Giants | John McGraw | 4–0–(1) | New York Yankees | Miller Huggins | [25] |
Sweeps by franchise
The New York Yankees have completed the most numbers of sweeps in MLB history, with eight. The New York / San Francisco Giants, Cincinnati Reds, and Boston Red Sox are tied at second with two each. To date, the Red Sox are the only team with multiple sweeps to have never been swept themselves.
The most times a team has been swept is two, with four teams "earning" the distinction: Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia / Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals. Of those teams, the Cubs and the Cardinals have never completed a sweep themselves.
| Franchise | No. of sweeps achieved | No. of sweeps by opponent |
|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 8 | 2 |
| Boston Red Sox | 2 | 0 |
| New York / San Francisco Giants | 2 | 1 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 2 | 1 |
| St. Louis Browns / Baltimore Orioles | 1 | 0 |
| Chicago White Sox | 1 | 0 |
| Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers | 1 | 1 |
| Boston / Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves | 1 | 1 |
| Philadelphia / Kansas City / Oakland Athletics | 1 | 2 |
| Cleveland Guardians | 0 | 1 |
| Houston Astros | 0 | 1 |
| San Diego Padres | 0 | 1 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 0 | 1 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 0 | 1 |
| Detroit Tigers | 0 | 1 |
| Colorado Rockies | 0 | 1 |
| Chicago Cubs | 0 | 2 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 0 | 2 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 0 | 0 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 0 | 0 |
| Seattle Mariners | 0 | 0 |
| Texas Rangers | 0 | 0 |
| Montreal Expos / Washington Nationals | 0 | 0 |
| Kansas City Royals | 0 | 0 |
| Miami Marlins | 0 | 0 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 0 | 0 |
| Washington Senators / Minnesota Twins | 0 | 0 |
| New York Mets | 0 | 0 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 0 | 0 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 0 | 0 |
Instances where a sweep was prevented
In the 25 times teams have taken a 3-0 World Series lead, the opponent has forced a Game 5 four times.[26] No team which has forced a World Series Game 5 has gone on to force a Game 6, let alone complete a comeback, i.e. a "reverse sweep."[27]
| Year | Winning team | Manager | Series result | Losing team | Manager | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1910 | Philadelphia Athletics | Connie Mack | 4–1 | Chicago Cubs | Frank Chance | [28] |
| 1937 | New York Yankees | Joe McCarthy | 4–1 | New York Giants | Bill Terry | [29] |
| 1970 | Baltimore Orioles | Earl Weaver | 4–1 | Cincinnati Reds | Sparky Anderson | [30] |
| 2024 | Los Angeles Dodgers | Dave Roberts | 4–1 | New York Yankees | Aaron Boone | [31] |