The Seattle Mariners remain in a very unfortunate club of one.
A win on Monday would have sent them to the World Series for the first time in franchise history. Alas, with their 4-3 loss in ALCS Game 7 to the Blue Jays, the Mariners are still the only current MLB team without a pennant in its trophy case.
While Seattle is left to dream about what its first World Series experience will be like, let's take a look at what happened in every other big league team's first trip to the Fall Classic. We are highlighting the first World Series appearance by each team in its current city. If the team made the World Series previously while representing a different city, that is noted in italics.
Washington Nationals (2019)
The 1994 season will always be a “what could have been?” year for this franchise as the Montreal Expos owned the best record in the big leagues (74-40) before play was halted that August by the players’ strike. The franchise relocated to Washington in 2005 and upset the favored Astros in the 2019 World Series, winning Games 6 and 7 in Houston.
Texas Rangers (2010)
From 1972-09, the Rangers made just three trips to the postseason and didn’t advance past the Division Series round in any year. They faced the Yankees each time and lost nine of those 10 playoff games. In 2010, Texas earned a measure of revenge by beating the Yankees in six games in the ALCS. However, the Giants got the best of the Rangers in the World Series, outscoring them 29-12 over five games.
Tampa Bay Rays (2008)
The Rays enjoyed an incredible turnaround in 2008. The franchise, founded in 1998, didn’t win more than 70 games in any of its first 10 seasons of existence. Then it racked up 97 victories in ‘08, rolled past the White Sox in the ALDS and edged the Red Sox in a seven-game LCS. Tampa Bay fought tough against the Phillies but dropped three one-run games in the World Series en route to a five-game defeat.
Colorado Rockies (2007)
The Rockies' road to their first pennant was almost blocked before the playoffs began. They had to win a Wild Card tiebreaker -- technically their 163rd game of the regular season -- just to reach the postseason, and they did so in absolutely thrilling fashion. Once in October, the Rockies seemed to be unstoppable as they went 7-0 across the NLDS and NLCS. But Colorado had no answer for the Red Sox and found itself on the wrong end of a sweep in the World Series.
Houston Astros (2005)
The Braves and Cardinals were the Astros’ two biggest nemeses in the playoffs during the late 1990s and early 2000s. In 2005, Houston knocked off both clubs on its way to the franchise’s first World Series. It was a crowning achievement for franchise legends Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell, who endured all of Houston’s previous playoff heartbreak from 1997-2004. But the Astros would have to wait 12 more years for their first World Series championship as they were swept by the White Sox in ‘05.
Los Angeles Angels (2002)
In 1986, the Angels were just one strike away from their first pennant. Then Boston’s Dave Henderson launched one of the most iconic postseason home runs in ALCS Game 5 and changed both teams’ fortunes. The Angels wouldn’t even qualify for the playoffs again until ‘02. In that year’s World Series versus the Giants, the Halos overcame a 5-0 deficit in the later innings of Game 6 before winning it all with a 4-1 triumph in Game 7.
Arizona Diamondbacks (2001)
The D-backs, playing in just their fourth season, got past the Cardinals and Braves to punch their ticket to their first World Series in 2001. They were massive underdogs against a Yankees club looking for its fourth consecutive championship, but what unfolded over the course of seven games was one of the greatest, most memorable World Series in MLB history. The image of Luis Gonzalez fighting off a Mariano Rivera cutter and blooping it into shallow center field for a walk-off RBI single in Game 7 will certainly never be forgotten by any Diamondbacks fans.
Miami Marlins (1997)
Much like Arizona, the Marlins didn’t have to suffer through a long wait for their first pennant (five seasons). They also went up against a powerhouse team in Cleveland, a squad loaded with premier sluggers. The two sides fought to Game 7, wherein the Marlins celebrated following a championship-clinching hit from 21-year-old shortstop Edgar Renteria in the bottom of the 13th inning.
Toronto Blue Jays (1992)
The Blue Jays were on the precipice of a pennant in 1985 but squandered a 3-1 series lead in the ALCS versus the eventual champion Royals. Seven years later, they bested the A’s in six games and did the same to the Braves in the World Series. That was the front end of Toronto’s back-to-back World Series titles.
Atlanta Braves (1991)
The Braves won it all in Boston (1914) and Milwaukee (1957) in their first trip to a World Series. Once they moved to Atlanta in 1966, they endured a 25-year wait before notching their first playoff win. That came in ‘91 as they beat the Pirates in the LCS before falling to the Twins in a seven-game Fall Classic thriller capped by Minnesota’s Jack Morris pitching a 10-inning shutout in the finale.
Franchise’s first WS: 1914 Boston Braves
San Diego Padres (1984)
The Padres have never won a World Series, but they have won the pennant twice, with the first instance coming in 1984. San Diego failed to finish higher than fourth place in the six-team NL West in any of its first 15 seasons in franchise history. But that changed in ‘84. Led by first-time All-Star Tony Gwynn, the Padres rattled off three straight victories to defeat the Cubs in the NLCS, earning the nickname “Cub Busters.” The dream ride ended in the Fall Classic, with the Tigers taking the World Series in five games.
Milwaukee Brewers (1982)
The Brewers didn’t make the postseason until their 13th year as a franchise, losing to the Yankees in the 1981 ALDS. Their next trip to the playoffs was far more fruitful. A year later, Milwaukee won its first pennant -- then as a member of the American League -- and fell one win shy of a World Series title. After taking a 3-2 series lead, the Brewers lost Games 6 and 7 to the Cardinals, and the franchise remains without a championship to this day.
Kansas City Royals (1980)
Kansas City had plenty of chances to win the pennant in the 1970s, but it faced the same obstacle each year: the Yankees. New York eliminated the Royals in the ALCS in three consecutive seasons, from 1976-78. George Brett’s team finally broke through in 1980, with a three-game sweep of the Bombers to grab the franchise’s first pennant. But the Royals would have to wait five more years to hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy, as they lost to the Phillies in six games.
Athletics (1972)
After departing Oakland, the A’s began playing their home games in West Sacramento in 2025, while waiting for their new stadium to be built in Las Vegas. So for now, we will highlight their first Oakland World Series for the purposes of this exercise. That came in just their fifth season there after 13 seasons and no postseason trips in Kansas City. The 1972 World Series was the franchise’s first time playing for a championship in 41 years. The A’s grabbed a 3-1 series lead over the Reds, lost the next two, then triumphed in Game 7, 3-2, with Rollie Fingers retiring Pete Rose for the final out.
Franchise’s first WS: 1905 Philadelphia Athletics
New York Mets (1969)
The Mets did not win more than 73 games in any of their first seven seasons, finishing no higher than ninth place in the 10-team National League. But then came the “Miracle Mets” of 1969, who rallied out of a 10-game division hole in August – with help from a black cat – and stormed their way to the Fall Classic. There, they defeated the heavily favored Orioles in five games, completing the miracle.
Baltimore Orioles (1966)
The O’s dominated the 1966 season, winning an MLB-best 97 games during the regular season and then silencing the Dodgers during a four-game sweep in the World Series. They allowed two runs to L.A. through the first three innings of Game 1. But Baltimore then held the Dodgers scoreless for the remaining 33 innings of the series. Jim Palmer, Wally Bunker and Dave McNally each spun a shutout to make the franchise's first World Series appearance in Baltimore a triumphant one.
Franchise’s first WS: 1944 St. Louis Browns
Minnesota Twins (1965)
The Twins had been in Minnesota for only five seasons before they squared off against the Dodgers for the 1965 championship. But this was the franchise’s first showing in a World Series since 1933, when they were known as the Washington Nationals. The Twins took this series to a winner-take-all Game 7 that featured a Hall of Fame pitching matchup: Minnesota’s Jim Kaat versus Los Angeles’ Sandy Koufax. The Dodgers knocked Kaat out in the fourth inning after scoring two runs in the frame. That’s all the support Koufax needed; he struck out 10 Twins in a complete-game shutout.
Franchise’s first WS: 1924 Washington Nationals
San Francisco Giants (1962)
The Giants lost four of six World Series against the Yankees while both franchises resided in New York. This was their first faceoff for the championship after the Giants moved west in 1958, but the end result was another defeat. The two clubs alternated wins through the first six games before Yankees right-hander Ralph Terry pitched a Game 7 shutout in a 1-0 victory for New York. The Giants had a golden opportunity to win in the bottom of the ninth, but Terry got Willie McCovey to line out and end the game with runners on second and third.
Franchise’s first WS: 1905 New York Giants
Los Angeles Dodgers (1959)
The Dodgers captured nine pennants but just one championship while based in Brooklyn. They then moved to Los Angeles in 1958 and won the title in their first World Series appearance on the West Coast. Although the Dodgers got blanked by the White Sox in Game 1, 11-0, they bounced back to take four of the next five games. Los Angeles pitchers such as Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Johnny Podres held Chicago's offense to only 12 runs during that span.
Franchise’s first WS: 1916 Brooklyn Robins
St. Louis Cardinals (1926)
St. Louis won its first NL pennant in 1926, on the heels of an 89-win regular season. That set up a date with Goliath – the Yankees – who were back in the World Series after a two-year hiatus. But the Cardinals rose to the occasion, taking the best-of-seven series in a decisive seventh game behind a seven-out save from future Hall of Famer Grover Alexander. We’d see a World Series rematch just two years later, with the Yankees getting revenge via a four-game sweep in 1928. In fact, this is one of the most common postseason matchups, with five World Series between these two teams.
New York Yankees (1921)
The Bronx Bombers didn’t win their first of 27 titles until 1923, though their first of 41 World Series appearances came two years prior, in 1921. Babe Ruth, Wally Pipp, and Home Run Baker led the Yankees to wins in each of the first two games against their crosstown rivals, the New York Giants. But the best-of-nine format did the Yankees no favors, and their offense wilted late in the series, scoring just one run across Games 7 and 8 en route to a series loss. Things would eventually turn out all right: Ruth won four World Series titles with the Bombers.
Cleveland Guardians (1920)
Cleveland has won only two World Series titles and is in the midst of MLB’s longest active championship drought, at 77 seasons. But things sure were going well in 1920, when the franchise won its first AL pennant. In the World Series, Cleveland rallied out of a 2-1 series hole, winning the final four games to take the best-of-nine series from the Brooklyn Robins in seven games. Hall of Famers Stan Coveleski and Tris Speaker led the charge.
Cincinnati Reds (1919)
The 1919 World Series is perhaps best known for the losing side. It’s tarnished by the infamous Black Sox Scandal, when several White Sox players conspired to throw the series. Regardless, the Reds were the beneficiaries, taking the best-of-nine series in eight games. It would be 20 years before Cincinnati went on to win another pennant.
Philadelphia Phillies (1915)
The Phillies broke through to win their first pennant behind Grover Alexander, as the Hall of Famer posted a league-best 1.22 ERA with a league-high 31 wins. In the World Series, Alexander hurled a shutout to give the Phillies a 1-0 series lead over the Red Sox. But Philadelphia went on to lose the next four games, and the franchise would have to wait until 1980 for its first title.
Detroit Tigers (1907)
The Tigers were not a good baseball team for their first six years of existence, winning no more than 79 games in a season and finishing over .500 just once. But the tide turned in 1907, thanks in part to Ty Cobb, who hit .350 in his third big league season. It was the second year in a 23-year streak in which Cobb hit over .300. While the 92-win Tigers won the pennant, they lost four of five games in the World Series to the Cubs, with Game 1 ending in a 3-3 tie. It was the first of three straight World Series defeats for the Tigers, whose first championship didn’t come until 1935.
Chicago Cubs (1906)
The Billy Goat Tavern – whose owner perpetrated the storied Curse of the Billy Goat – was still 28 years from being established in 1906, when the Cubs had one of the best regular seasons in AL/NL history. Chicago won 116 regular-season games with a whopping .763 winning percentage; the latter is a feat that no team has come close to matching. And yet an all-time great season still ended on a sour note: In the World Series, the Cubs fell to the White Sox in six games.
Boston Red Sox (1903)
Long before the Curse of the Bambino -- and before any notion of an 86-year championship drought -- the Red Sox were arguably the most successful franchise in baseball. Boston’s first trip to the World Series came in 1903, the first modern World Series, as the Americans. They didn't become the Red Sox until 1908. Led by Cy Young, Boston defeated Pittsburgh in a best-of-nine series in eight games.
Pittsburgh Pirates (1903)
The first modern World Series pitted the Pirates -- champions of the National League – against Boston. A 91-win Pittsburgh team lost the best-of-nine series in eight games, forcing the Steel City to wait another six years for the franchise’s first World Series title, which would come in 1909.