A Brewers-Rays World Series would fit a modern pattern that’s still rare: the two No. 1 seeds from the Wild Card Era meeting on the sport’s biggest stage. Milwaukee finished with 103 wins, Tampa Bay with 98, and both clubs have spent all year showing that “small-market” doesn’t mean small-time.
That kind of matchup has only happened five times since the wild card changed the playoff landscape in 1995. And when it has happened, it has delivered a mix of sweeps, tight finishes, and star turns that swung entire series.
The first came in 1995, the season after the labor-shortened year, when the Braves and Indians were the class of baseball. Cleveland had the best record in the sport at 100-44, but Atlanta took the title in six games.
Five of those six were decided by one run, and the lone exception was a 5-2 Braves win in Game 4. Tom Glavine earned MVP honors after posting a 1.29 ERA in two starts, while Greg Maddux turned in a 2.25 ERA.
Atlanta also powered its way through the series with eight homers, including three from Ryan Klesko.
Four years later, the Yankees showed what a dynasty could do to the team with the league’s best regular-season record. Atlanta won 103 games, more than New York’s 98, but the Yankees swept the Braves and outscored them 21-9. Mariano Rivera picked up a win and two saves to earn MVP, Derek Jeter hit .353, and Roger Clemens, David Cone and Orlando Hernandez all handled the pressure on the mound.
Then came a long wait before another top-seed matchup. In 2013, the Red Sox dropped Game 1 to St.
Louis, then lost the next two and found themselves in trouble again in Game 4. That’s when David Ortiz pulled his teammates together for a pep talk.
Jonny Gomes then blasted a three-run homer in the sixth inning to put Boston ahead for good, and the Red Sox never trailed again in the series. Ortiz was the runaway MVP after going 11 for 16, a .688 clip, with two doubles, two homers and six RBI.
He also drew eight walks against just one strikeout, finishing with a 1.948 OPS. Jon Lester added two wins and a 0.59 ERA.
The 2020 World Series brought the wild-card era’s most unusual setting, with a 60-game season, no fans and a 16-team postseason. Even then, the two best clubs still got there: the Dodgers at 43-17 and the Rays at 40-20.
Los Angeles launched 12 home runs in the series, with Mookie Betts, Corey Seager and Justin Turner each hitting two. Tampa Bay grabbed Game 4 in dramatic fashion on a walk-off aided by an error at home plate, tying the series at 2-2.
But the Dodgers took Game 5, then closed things out in Game 6 after Blake Snell was dealing through five innings with a 1-0 lead. After Snell allowed a single with one out in the sixth and was pulled, Los Angeles scored two runs following the pitching change to finish the job.
Seager won MVP.
Most recently, the Dodgers and Yankees met in 2024, with Los Angeles at 98 wins and New York at 94. Freddie Freeman’s ankle was a major storyline before the opener because he could barely walk.
Then he opened the series with a walk-off grand slam, homered again in Game 2 and again in Game 3. He took home MVP after blasting four homers and driving in 12 runs over the five games.
The Dodgers led 3-0 before the Yankees won Game 4 and then jumped out to a 5-0 advantage in Game 5, only to cough it up in the fifth inning amid multiple defensive mistakes. The final score said 4-1, but the series was much tighter than that record shows, and Los Angeles was the team that kept answering when it mattered most.
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