2012 World Series: Explaining the Rankings

The Teams
National League: San Francisco Giants (94-68) - Fifth World Series (Won in 2010)
American League: Detroit Tigers (88-74) - 11th World Series (Won in 1935, 1945, 1968 1984)

OK, so this year's World Series was pretty much a downer. Well, Giants fans probably didn't think so, but pretty much everybody else was bored by it. It was a sweep, and while the games looked close on the scoreboard, they didn't really feel close. I threw it at number 88 in the rankings, and it's not really worth dedicating many more words to it.

But I figured it'd be worth explaining how I came to rank this one as the 88th best of all time so that people wouldn't think this was just a long drawn-out excuse to reiterate how the 1991 Series was the best of all time. Believe it or not, there was a method to my madness. The method wasn't perfect, but considering it was something I came up with in about 10 minutes back in January - seriously, I spent the entire year doing this? - it seemed to hold up pretty well, especially at the top end of the rankings.

Anyway, it was pretty simple. Points were awarded for each of the following:

• One point for every game played. I figured this would be an easy way to give a seven-game series an advantage over one that ended with a sweep. 
• One point for every game that was a two- or one-run game
• One point for every game where the winning team scored the winning run in its final at bat
• One point for every game in which, at a minimum, the tying run was at the plate at the end of the game (walk-off wins are included in this category)
• One point for every extra-inning game
• Bonus points (1 through 5) awarded for legendary moments (Kirk Gibson's home run, Babe Ruth's called shot, Floyd Bevens' lost no-hitter, etc.). This was by far the most subjective measure.

And that's it. It wasn't perfect, obviously, as one or two good games tended to skew the results. For example, virtually every extra-inning game also fell into most of the other categories. And my judgement in the "bonus" category could swing a series up as many as 20 places higher than it would have normally placed. But like I said, overall I'm happy with the order established.

So how did this year's Giants-Tigers World Series make the list as number 88? Count with me:

• Four games in the series (4 points total)
• Three two- or one-run games (3 points; 7 total points)
• One game where the winning run was scored in the final at bat (just Game 4; 8 total points)
• One game where the tying run was at the plate at the end (ditto Game 4; 9 total points)
• One extra-inning game (Game 4 again; 10 total points)
• No bonus points. To be fair, this one was the hardest to judge, as who knows what will be most remembered about this series in 10, 20, or 30 years. In reality, though, most people will see "Giants sweep Tigers" and have absolutely no recollection that this series ever actually happened.

Total: 10 points, good for a tie with spots 82-88. That reminds me of another thing: I had a lot of ties with this system. A lot of ties. When that happened, I did my best to rank the tied series using nothing more than my gut feeling. And my gut feeling says that the 2012 series was the worst of the 82-88 stretch. So it gets ranking number 88.

And now my World Series countdown is done. And I don't know what to do now. I unexpectedly spent an entire year doing this without a definite plan for what comes next. We'll see. For those who followed along from start to finished (mostly composed of people named Nicci), thanks.

Scores  
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Detroit	3	0	0	3
San Francisco	8	2	2	4 (10)

The List
I'm ranked all the World Series. Here they are:

1. 1991 - Minnesota (A) def. Atlanta (N) 4-3
2. 1975 - Cincinnati (N) def. Boston (A) 4-3
3. 1924 - Washington (A) def. New York (N) 4-3
4. 2001 - Arizona (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
5. 2011 - St. Louis (N) def. Texas (A) 4-3
6. 1912 - Boston (A) def. New York (N) 4-3 (1 tie)
7. 1992 - Toronto (A) def. Atlanta (N) 4-2
8. 1947 - New York (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-3
9. 1972 - Oakland (A) def. Cincinnati (N) 4-3

10. 2000 - New York (A) def. New York (N) 4-0
11. 1986 - New York (N) def. Boston (A) 4-3
12. 1962 - New York (A) def. San Francisco (N) 4-3
13. 1926 - St. Louis (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
14. 1995 - Atlanta (N) def. Cleveland (A) 4-2
15. 1960 - Pittsburgh (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
16. 1952 - New York (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-3
17. 1997 - Florida (N) def. Cleveland (A) 4-3
18. 1993 - Toronto (A) def. Philadelphia (N) 4-2
19. 1956 - New York (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-3

20. 1973 - Oakland (A) def. New York (N) 4-3
21. 2002 - Anaheim (A) def. San Francisco (N) 4-3
22. 1980 - Philadelphia (N) def. Kansas City (A) 4-2
23. 1911 - Philadelphia (A) def. New York (N) 4-2
24. 1915 - Boston (A) def. Philadelphia (N) 4-1
25. 1971 - Pittsburgh (N) def. Baltimore (A) 4-3
26. 1918 - Boston (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-2
27. 1988 - Los Angeles (N) def. Oakland (A) 4-1
28. 1946 - St. Louis (N) def. Boston (A) 4-3
29. 1925 - Pittsburgh (N) def. Washington (A) 4-3

30. 1957 - Milwaukee (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
31. 1985 - Kansas City (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-3
32. 1969 - New York (N) def. Baltimore (A) 4-1
33. 1935 - Detroit (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-2
34. 1934 - St. Louis (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-3
35. 1964 - St. Louis (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
36. 2003 - Florida (N) def. New York (A) 4-2
37. 1977 - New York (A) def. Los Angeles (N) 4-2
38. 1996 - New York (A) def. Atlanta (N) 4-2
39. 1921 - New York (N) def. New York (A) 5-3

40. 1953 - New York (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-2
41. 1941 - New York (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-2
42. 1958 - New York (A) def. Milwaukee (N) 4-3
43. 1959 - Los Angeles (N) def. Chicago (A) 4-2
44. 2008 - Philadelphia (N) def. Tampa Bay (A) 4-1
45. 1933 - New York (N) def. Washington (A) 4-1
46. 1929 - Philadelphia (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-1
47. 1982 - St. Louis (N) def. Milwaukee (A) 4-3
48. 1923 - New York (A) def. New York (N) 4-2
49. 1944 - St. Louis (N) def. St. Louis (A) 4-2

50. 1948 - Cleveland (A) def. Boston (N) 4-2
51. 1917 - Chicago (A) def. New York (N) 4-2
52. 1903 - Boston (A) def. Pittsburgh (N) 5-3
53. 1916 - Boston (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-1
54. 1949 - New York (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-1
55. 1942 - St. Louis (N) def. New York (A) 4-1
56. 1974 - Oakland (A) def. Los Angeles (N) 4-1
57. 1955 - Brooklyn (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
58. 1979 - Pittsburgh (N) def. Baltimore (A) 4-3
59. 1987 - Minnesota (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-3

60. 1936 - New York (A) def. New York (N) 4-2
61. 1909 - Pittsburgh (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-3
62. 2005 - Chicago (A) def. Houston (N) 4-0
63. 1950 - New York (A) def. Philadelphia (N) 4-0
64. 1906 - Chicago (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-2
65. 1981 - Los Angeles (N) def. New York (A) 4-2
66. 1943 - New York (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-1
67. 1954 - New York (N) def. Cleveland (A) 4-0
68. 1978 - New York (A) def. Los Angeles (N) 4-2
69. 2006 - St. Louis (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-1

70. 1922 - New York (N) def. New York (A) 4-0, 1 tie
71. 1970 - Baltimore (A) def. Cincinnati (N) 4-1
72. 1931 - St. Louis (N) def. Philadelphia (A) 4-3
73. 1967 - St. Louis (N) def. Boston (A) 4-3
74. 1968 - Detroit (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-3
75. 1920 - Cleveland (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 5-2
76. 1945 - Detroit (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-3
77. 1940 - Cincinnati (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-3
78. 2009 - New York (A) def. Philadelphia (N) 4-2
79. 1984 - Detroit (A) def. San Diego (N) 4-1

80. 1983 - Baltimore (A) def. Philadelphia (N) 4-1
81. 1913 - Philadelphia (A) def. New York (N) 4-1
82. 1930 - Philadelphia (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-2
83. 1914 - Boston (N) def. Philadelphia (A) 4-0
84. 1951 - New York (A) def. New York (N) 4-2
85. 1939 - New York (A) def. Cincinnati (N) 4-0
86. 1910 - Philadelphia (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-1
87. 1905 - New York (N) def. Philadelphia (A) 4-1
88. 2012 - San Francisco (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-0
89. 1965 - Los Angeles (N) def. Minnesota (A) 4-3
90. 1961 - New York (A) def. Cincinnati (N) 4-1

91. 1990 - Cincinnati (N) def. Oakland (A) 4-0
92. 1966 - Baltimore (A) def. Los Angeles (N) 4-0
93. 1927 - New York (A) def. Pittsburgh (N) 4-0
94. 2004 - Boston (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-0
95. 1932 - New York (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-0
96. 1908 - Chicago (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-1
97. 1999 - New York (A) def. Atlanta (N) 4-0
98. 1963 - Los Angeles (N) def. New York (A) 4-0
99. 2010 - San Francisco (N) def. Texas (A) 4-1
100. 1937 - New York (A) def. New York (N) 4-1

101. 1976 - Cincinnati (N) def. New York (A) 4-0
102. 1907 - Chicago (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-0 (1 tie)
103. 2007 - Boston (A) def. Colorado (N) 4-0
104. 1938 - New York (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-0
105. 1998 - New York (A) def. San Diego (N) 4-0
106. 1989 - Oakland (A) def. San Francisco (N) 4-0
107. 1928 - New York (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-0
108. 1919 - Cincinnati (N) def. Chicago (A) 5-3