October might just be my favorite month out of the year.

It’s not because of the summer fleeting away into fall. It’s definitely not because of spooky season. It’s not even because of the Halloween Party: Presented by The Boys.

It’s because of my favorite event of the entire year: The MLB World Series.

The World Series is a seven-game spectacle in which the world champion of baseball is crowned before the nation. All of the series sit somewhere on the drama and intrigue spectrum between a Hollywood thriller worthy of winning an Oscar and The Emoji Movie. Here is a list of where all of the World Series stack up since the start of the century.

19. 2006: St. Louis Cardinals def. Detroit Tigers 4-1

Simply put, the 2006 World Series was a thorougly unappealing one.

Both the Cardinals and the Tigers limped into the playoffs after blowing or nearly blowing their division leads. Detroit slipped into the postseason as a wild card team after losing the AL Central lead to the Minnesota Twins on the last day of the regular season, while the Cardinals joined the playoff party due to the sheer futility showcased by the rest of the NL Central.

The series lacked any palpable tension or memorable moments. Each team traded a victory in Detroit to kick off the series and then the Redbirds used their home-field advantage at the shiny new Busch Stadium III to win three straight to secure the 10th Commissioner’s Trophy in franchise history.

St. Louis won baseball’s biggest prize with the lousiest record in the 100-plus years of the Series with an 83-78 clip. David Eckstein won World Series MVP despite starting out the series with just one hit in 11 at-bats, which emblematic of the entire series and its mediocrity.

There was nothing too offensive about this series. It featured two teams who had some history in The Fall Classic, each winning a seven-game series against the other prior to 2006, and there were some legendary players such as Albert Pujols and Hall of Famer Iván Rodríguez who participated. But there was not a single moment that is vividly remembered in baseball lore from this stinker of a series.

18. 2012: San Francisco Giants def. Detroit Tigers 4-0

There’s just something about the Detroit Tigers and October baseball that doesn’t seem to add up quite right.

One thing is keeping this series from not sitting at the worst position on this list and that is the fact that one of the games, the deciding Game 4, just so happened to go to extra innings. Aside from that, the 2012 World Series was defined by the abysmal offensive production from Detroit.

After dominating the New York Yankees in an ALCS sweep, the Tigers’ bats went silent for the entire series. Only six runs came across the plate during the four-game set and the Giants pitching staff blew through batter after batter. Detroit posted a .159 batting average collectively, which ranks third-lowest in World Series history.

Aside from Justin Verlander’s subpar Game 1 outing, the Tigers pitching held their own against the Giants offense and kept them in every game. But when your offense produces less than two runs a game, it doesn’t matter how good you’re hurling.

San Fran’s pitching very obviously dominated a usually stalwart offense led by Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera, but there wasn’t anything earth-shattering on their offensive end outside of Pablo Sandoval’s monster Game 1 performance. The Panda crushed three home runs off Justin Verlander in the series-opening rout.

Now that we have the two Tigers series out of the way, we can hopefully transition into some more interesting Fall Classics.

17. 2007: Boston Red Sox def. Colorado Rockies 4-0

Well, I guess I was wrong about the interest level rising with this blowout of a series.

The Red Sox almost tripled the Rockies run total over the course of the sweep and the Sox vastly overmatched the less experienced Rockies club from every aspect.

Boston and Colorado fought in a pair of one-run matchups, but neither were classics by any stretch of the imagination. What can be most representative of how this series panned out were the two contests in which Boston put up double digit runs against a lackluster Colorado pitching unit, including a 13-1 throttling at Fenway in Game 1.

The 2007 World Series is a sentimental favorite for me because these two teams were the first baseball teams I learned about. But aside from that, I don’t see any reason why it should be higher than it is currently placed from an action or intrigue perspective.

16. 2010: San Francisco Giants def. Texas Rangers 4-1

The first of the Giants three World Series during the 2010’s was a very cut and dry World Series victory. San Francisco put up some gaudy stats in the first two games of the series and then relied on the strength of their pitching staff to carry the load once the series shifted to Arlington.

Texas and San Francisco locked horns in a fun 11-7 shootout which was taken by the Giants and then the Giants came alive for a seven-run eighth inning the next night in a 9-0 victory a night later.

After a Game 3 loss, Madison Bumgarner gave a sneak preview to his postseason run of excellence by hurling eight shutout innings with only allowing three hits. The next night, series MVP Edgar Rentería’s three-run jolt proved to be the deciding blow and the electric Giants closer Brian Wilson came in to clinch the Giants first series win in the Bay Area.

There weren’t any moments that gained too much notoriety in the first World Series of the 2010s, but it was exciting to see offensive outbursts that can be rare in World Series, which can be defined more by the strength of a pitching staff.

15. 2008: Philadelphia Phillies def. Tampa Bay Rays 4-1

Tampa Bay couldn’t continue the magic of their first postseason run in franchise history while facing a powerful Philadelphia Phillies roster headlined by World Series MVP Cole Hamels and All-Stars like Chase Utley and Brad Lidge.

In the memorability department, there were a few notable moments that stood out in a somewhat unremarkable series. Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz hit a walk-off infield single, the only in World Series history, to give the Phils a 2-1 series lead that carried the City of Brotherly Love to its second world title.

Another happening that was momentous for the wrong reason was the inclement weather scenario which postponed the Phillies clinching the series for two days.

In the top of the sixth inning, rain started to pour down on Citizens Bank Park and the game was suspended by the umpiring crew. While the game would have been wrapped up then and there in almost any other circumstance, then-Commissioner Bud Selig had informed each team that the series couldn’t be clinched in a rain-shortened game. As a result of this, the series-deciding game that was started on Monday didn’t conclude until Wednesday evening.

The games were played relatively tight throughout, as only the 10-2 blowout in Game 4, but there wasn’t anything magical or king-making in this series. It was a World Series and it happened. Onto the next one!

14. 2009: New York Yankees def. Philadelphia Phillies 4-2

New York secured their most recent World Series title in a six-game series that was forgettable aside from a back-and-forth Game 4. This contest was punctuated by heads-up baserunning by Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon on a play in which he stole second and third base in one go to spur a three-run ninth.

There were some significant records that were tied or broken in the 2009 edition of the World Series as well. Chase Utley homered on five occasions despite the losing effort in the series while Yankees mainstays Andy Pettite and Mariano Rivera set records for career postseason wins (18) and career World Series saves (11), respectively.

The 2009 World Series was a fun one for baseball fans who love some offense, as the teams combined for 10 or more runs in four out of the six games. Another record-setting performance in the series was by series MVP Hideki Matsui, who tied Bobby Richardson’s precedent of six RBIs in the series-clinching Game 6 victory for the Bronx Bombers.

This was a fun series while it happened, but there was not much staying power once this series concluded, which is why it ranks towards the bottom of the list.

13. 2018: Boston Red Sox def. Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1

Los Angeles let many golden opportunities to win games in this series and they paid the price by dropping their second consecutive World Series in five games.

In three out of the five games played last year, the Dodgers blew leads in Games 2-4 and only managed to win one out of the three contests, a 3-2 18-inning marathon in Game 3.

The intensity of the 2018 World Series didn’t pick up until the action traveled from Boston out to Chavez Ravine. The aforementioned Game 3 lasted seven hours and twenty minutes and totaled 18 innings, each of which were established as new World Series records, while the Red Sox came back from being down by four runs in the seventh to score nine unanswered runs to win 9-6 and take a three games to one advantage over the Dodgers.

The Red Sox fourth World Series victory of the century was due in large part to pivotal contributions from members of the team who were not All-Star caliber players. Nathan Eovaldi ate up seven innings of relief and put on a stellar performance despite the loss in Game 3, and series MVP Steve Pearce earned himself a solid contract extension for his effort, which included a two-homer contest in a Game 5 victory.

12. 2013: Boston Red Sox def. St. Louis Cardinals 4-2

Boston and St. Louis faced off in their second World Series of the century in a more competitive yet less historic series than the first.

St. Louis jumped out to a 2-1 series lead off the pitching efforts of the sensational rookie Michael Wacha in Game 2 and a walk-off obstruction call, the first in World Series history, in Game 3. On the obstruction call, Allen Craig was tripped up by Red Sox third baseman Will Middlebrooks on his way home. Jim Joyce, the third base umpire, ruled that Craig would have scored if he was not impeded by Middlebrooks, thus giving the Cardinals the run and the win.

However, the Sox battled back for come from behind wins in both Games 4 and 5, and then Red Sox bats pummeled Wacha early in Game 6 to win their first World Series at Fenway Park since 1918.

Aside from the obstruction call, there wasn’t much history to report from this series. David Ortiz, the series MVP became the first non-Yankee since Orioles right hander Jim Palmer to win three world championships with the same team.

11. 2003: Florida Marlins def. New York Yankees 4-2

Going into the American League and National League Championship Serieses, there was a lot of potential hype for a monumental World Series clash pitting Curse versus Curse.

Red Sox versus Cubs. Curse of the Bambino facing off against the Curse of the Billy Goat. The Red Sox had not won a series since 1918, the Cubs since 1908.

However, the curses persisted and the people received a slightly underwhelming matchup of the National League wild-card Florida Marlins and the New York Yankees, who were making their sixth World Series appearence in eight seasons.

The Fish stuck to their 2003 postseason mantra by coming from behind in the Series for a third straight series after defeating the San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs, respectively. After falling behind in the Series two games to one, a 12th inning walk-off home run from Alex Gonzalez knotted the series at two games apiece. The Marlins won Game 5 before Marlins starter Josh Beckett closed out the Bronx Bombers with a complete-game shutout at Yankee Stadium, which was enough to garner him the accolade of World Series MVP.

This World Series is also significant due to the rarity that occurred in the composite box score compiled for all six games. Despite winning the World Series, the Marlins were outscored over the course of the series by a margin of 21-17.

While a Red Sox versus Cubs matchup could have been one for the ages, the action provided by the Marlins and the Yankees was sufficient enough to not be a complete bummer to those who wanted to see some history-making October magic.

10. 2004: Boston Red Sox def. St. Louis Cardinals 4-0

The 2004 World Series is not significant because of the epic back-and-forth games that comprised the series, nor is it significant because of individual plays that are shown in YouTube highlight reels.

This World Series is significant because of the sheer joy that a sports community felt when the Red Sox closer Keith Foulke tossed the ball to first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz for the final out of Game 4.

For 86 long years, Boston Red Sox faithful had to endure heartbreak after heartbreak, whether it be Billy Buckner’s inability to field a routine ground ball when he needed to the most or yet another loss to the Yankees in the postseason.

But on October 27, 2004, the Curse of the Bambino had been exorcised.

Only one game in the 2004 World Series is worth mentioning from a purely action perspective, that being the first game of the series, a seesaw 11-9 victory for the Sox which was won by Mark Bellhorn’s two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth off of Pesky’s Pole.

St. Louis was favored in this series since they had the best win-loss record in the MLB, but they never took the lead in any of the four games. Outside of Game 1, the Red Sox completely dominated the Cardinals through and through.

But this series was more than just about the work done by the players on the field. It was more than a composite box score. It was about Boston Red Sox fans who had parents or grandparents who had passed away before getting to experience a Commissioner’s Trophy being brought back to New England.

9. 2015: Kansas City Royals def. New York Mets 4-1

Unlike the 2014 World Series (which will be coming up shortly), the Kansas City Royals were no longer the plucky underdogs who slipped into the World Series from the wild-card spot. The Royals dominated the American League Central, winning the division by a dozen games, and fielded seven All-Stars in that year’s Midsummer Classic.

They continued their redemption season by outplaying the New York Mets in a five-game series that had some intriguing moments in the beginning and end of the series.

Game 1 started with a bang in the bottom of the first inning when Royals shortstop led off the frame with an inside-the-park home run, the first to occur in the World Series since Mule Haas hit one back in 1929. It also ended on an exciting note when Eric Hosmer gave the Royals a 1-0 series lead on a walk-off sacrifice fly in the 14th inning.

After the Royals won two of the next three, the Mets had a prime opportunity to salvage the series at Citi Field in Game 5. Mets starter Matt Harvey had pitched eight shutout innings and convinced his manager, Terry Collins, to let him finish out the game and send the series back to Kansas City.

Collins allowed Harvey to enter the ninth to complete the shutout, but his performance in the ninth was reminiscent of former Mets pitcher Al Leiter 15 years prior. He allowed the Royals to tie the game and eventually win the game and the series with an offensive explosion in the 12th inning.

Kansas City won their first World Series in 30 years after a hearbreaking loss the year before.

8. 2000: New York Yankees def. New York Mets 4-1

After the Giants and Dodgers left for greener pastures in the state of California in the 1950’s, baseball hadn’t seen a true Subway Series. But in 2000, baseball fans in The Big Apple were treated to the revival of the Subway Series on the biggest stage in baseball.

The Yankees prevailed to win their third straight title and their fourth in five years, but the five-game affair was more than meets the eye.

The first World Series of the new millenium was played close all five games, as every game was decided by two runs or less.

At Yankee Stadium, the Yanks took Game 1 on José Vizcaíno walk-off single in the 12th inning and then had to stave off a five-run Mets rally in the ninth to win 6-5 in Game 2. The second game was also notable for Yankees starter Roger Clemens throwing the splintered bat of Mets All-Star catcher Mike Piazza right back at him during Piazza’s first at bat.

The Mets avoided a sweep in the first game at Shea Stadium, but then proceeded to lose the next two, with Game 5 being decided by a Luis Sojo single in the ninth to put the Yankees up for good at 4-2.

While the Yankees finished their World Series three-peat in five games, every game felt like dramatic October baseball at its finest. These games weren’t high-scoring affairs by any stretch of the imagination and each manager leaned heavily on their rotation, but sometimes too heavily in the case of Bobby Valentine deciding to stick with Al Leiter for the ninth in Game 5 despite throwing over 140 pitches on the evening.

7. 2005: Chicago White Sox def. Houston Astros 4-0

Yes, I understand that this series was a sweep and it has become forgotten in a sense. But, like the Mets series a spot behind it, the outcome of this series was a lot more interesting than the sweep makes it seem.

First of all, with the 2005 World Series victory, the White Sox ended an 88-year schneid that dated back to 1917. Their drought was not nearly as historic or memorable as the Red Sox or their crosstown rivals, the Cubs, but their streak was long nevertheless.

Secondly, every game was competitive and was decided by less than two runs. Some of the most memorable games from the series include Game 2, which was highlighted by many momentum swings and ended with a walk-off Scott Podsednik home, and a pitchers’ duel between White Sox starter Freddy García and Astros starter Brandon Backe in a 1-0 White Sox victory in Game 4.

All four games in the series could have gone either way, but each and every game of the 2005 World Series just so happened to go the White Sox way. But that does not discount historical implications and competitiveness of the 2005 World Series.

6. 2014: San Francisco Giants def. Kansas City 4-3

The greatness of the 2014 World Series lies squarely on the left arm of San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner. It is hard to pore over each and every World Series and find a more brilliant pitching clinic than that of Mad Bum in 2014 against the Kansas City Royals.

There are very few words that can accurately describe Bumgarner’s pitching over the course of the seven game set. He stymied Royals bats throughout his three appearances, allowing a lone run in 21 innings pitched while securing two wins and saving another game to claim the World Series MVP honor

Each team traded comfortable wins in the first six games of the series, spare a 3-2 Kansas City win in Game 3. Even when the Royals had their backs against the wall in Game 6, they controlled the entire game in a 10-0 victory at Kauffman Stadium to force a winner take all Game 7.

That Game 7 of the 2014 World Series will be one that baseball fans will not soon forget. The Giants held a 3-2 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth when Giants skipper Bruce Bochy turned to his reliable lefty Bumgarner to save the day. After allowing an Omar Infante single in the fifth, Bumgarner retired 14 consecutive batters to bring the Giants one out away from World Series glory.

However, Bumgarner’s streak was snapped with two outs in the ninth when Royals left fielder Alex Gordon hit a sharp line drive that fell just in front of Giants center fielder Gregor Blanco, who misplayed the hop. The ball rolled all the way to the wall, where Giants left fielder Juan Pérez had trouble picking up the ball.

Gordon flew around the bases and looked primed for a game-tying inside-the-park home run. But in a controversial decision, Royals third base coach Mike Jirschele held Gordon at third just as the ball got into the cutoff man.

With the tying run standing on third, Madison Bumgarner stamped his legacy and the 2014 Giants as a whole into the history books by inducing a Series-clinching pop up from Royals catcher Salvador Pérez.

Up until Game 7, none of the six matchups from the 2014 World Series were worthy of being immortalized. But that Game 7 more than made up for the rest of the series.

5. 2002: Anaheim Angels def. San Francisco Giants 4-3

If you are an offensive-minded baseball fan, may I recommend the 2002 World Series?

The 2002 World Series was historic because it was the first time in MLB history where both the American League and National League wild card teams faced off for the Commissioner’s Trophy. It was also historic for the offensive displays by the Anaheim Angels and the San Francisco Giants in multiple games throughout the series.

Three games in this seven game series featured a team that put up double digits in the run column, including a 11-10 slugfest in Game 2 where the lead bounced back and forth between the Angels and the Giants at a frantic pace and a 16-4 Giants rout in Game 4 at Pacific Bell Park.

Even when the offensive output wasn’t spectacular across all seven games, the drama of October baseball was laid on thick with three games decided by one-run.

The peak of the 2002 World Series came in Game 6, when the Giants took a 5-0 lead into the seventh inning. Giants starter Russ Ortiz had his way with the Angels hitters all night aside from giving up a pair of singles to Angels third baseman Troy Glaus and designated hitter Brad Fullmer with one out in the seventh.

Once Ortiz was pulled, the Angels pounced on the Giants bullpen. Angels first baseman Scott Spiezio drove in Glaus and Fullmer on a three-run homer to cut the deficit down to two runs. The next inning, the Angels tacked on three more runs to win the game 6-5, overcoming the largest deficit in an elimination game in World Series history.

The Angels achieved their first World Series title in franchise history the next night in a 4-1 victory.

The 2002 World Series can be best remembered as a fun World Series packed with two solid offenses duking it out. The 85 runs between the two teams is the most ever in World Series history.

4. 2017: Houston Astros def. Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3

There might be a bit of recency bias in this being so high in the rankings since it hasn’t had a lot of time to age, but it was such a fun series to watch with many games that could be considered the best games of the 2010s.

The 2017 World Series was an evenly matched one where each team won at least 100 games and had some of the best offenses and pitching staffs in baseball. So evenly matched, in fact, that each team scored 34 runs over the course of the Series.

There were low-scoring games that featured fantastic pitching from each team’s stacked starting rotation like Game 4, where Alex Wood and Charlie Morton produced quality outings for the Dodgers and Astros, respectively. But there was plenty of offense to go around, especially from Astros outfielder and Series MVP George Springer, who tied Reggie Jackson and Chase Utley’s record with five home runs in the Series.

This World Series contained three of the games in this exciting series could be considered bona fide classics.

The first game was Game 2, where the Astros evened up the series at a game apiece. The Astros came back to tie the game at three. In the top of the 10th, José Altuve and Carlos Correa hit back-to-back home runs to give the Astros a two-run lead, but the Dodgers took their turn at coming back. The Astros scored two runs to make it a 7-5 game and the Dodgers couldn’t replicate the inning before, losing 7-6.

The next game was the pitching master class put on by Morton and Wood that was mentioned earlier. Each pitcher only allowed one run and allowed less than three hits in their time on the mound and the game was tied entering the ninth. Los Angeles’ offense exploded in the top of the ninth for five runs and put the game out of reach to even the series at 2-2.

Game 5 of this series might have been the best game for a casual baseball fan to watch in recent memory. Each team traded haymakers over the course of 10 innings before Alex Bregman drove in pinch runner Derek Fisher with an RBI single to give the Astros a 3-2 series lead.

The Dodgers lived to fight another day by taking Game 6 back in Los Angeles before Houston put up five runs in the first two innings of Game 7 to win their first World Series in franchise history.

The offensive production between the two teams was record-breaking throughout the series. Houston and Los Angeles combined for 25 home runs, the most in a single World Series, and there were a precedent-setting six game-tying home runs in the 2017 World Series.

3. 2011: St. Louis Cardinals def. Texas Rangers 4-3

In the first World Series to go the full seven games since 2002, the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers didn’t disappoint one bit.

It was a miracle that the Cardinals ended up in the postseason at all considering that Cards were sitting 10 and a half games behind the leaders of the wild-card race, the Atlanta Braves, on Aug. 25. St. Louis compiled the best record in the National League between Aug. 26 and Sept. 27 while Atlanta had the worst record in the league over that span to force a tie heading into the final game of the season. The Cardinals earned their spot with a win over the Houston Astros while the Braves fell to the Philadelphia Phillies in extra innings.

But once the Cardinals reached the World Series, it once again seemed like their season was coming to a close. The Cardinals had taken two games on a go-ahead Allen Craig single in Game 1 and a record-setting performance by Albert Pujols in Game 3, but late game heroics by Texas in Games 2 and 5 coupled with a stellar outing from Texas starter Derek Holland in Game 4 sent the Series back St. Louis with the Rangers up 3-2.

The Rangers held a 7-4 lead entering the bottom of the eighth when Cardinals outfielder Allen Craig, who had entered earlier in the contest to replace the injured Matt Holiday, slugged a homer to cut the lead to two. In the bottom of the ninth, the Rangers brought in their shutdown closer Neftalí Feliz to end the series, but he could not get the job done. With runners on first and second and two down in the inning, Feliz got Cardinals third baseman David Freese down to his final strike before he slapped a ball just over the outstretched glove of Rangers right fielder Nelson Cruz on a two-run triple to tie the game at 7-7.

The game was sent to the 10th, where former MVP Josh Hamilton launched a two-run home run to put the Rangers back on top. Once again, the Cardinals refused to die and tied the game in the bottom half of the 10th on a Ryan Theriot groundout that was followed up by a Lance Berkman RBI single when he was down to his last strike.

After the Cards’ Jake Westbrook didn’t allow a run in the top of the 11th, David Freese stepped to the plate to lead off the bottom of the 11th and took a full count pitch from Mark Lowe deep to keep the Cardinals Cinderella story alive.

Texas jumped out to a two-run lead in the first inning, but the lead evaported before long and the Cardinals scored six unanswered runs to win their eleventh championship in franchise history and their second in five years.

2. 2016: Chicago Cubs def. Cleveland Indians 4-3

Two teams, the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians, went into the World Series hoping to break their respective World Series dry spells. What resulted was World Series magic.

The Cubs had already ended a historic streak in the National League playoffs by defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 in the National League Championship Series to secure their first NL pennant since 1945. In that regard they had already made history. But they were ready to make some more.

Across the diamond from the Cubs were the Indians, who were in the midst of their own postseason slump. The Tribe had not won a World Series since 1948 and they were on the precipice of a World Series ring in 1997 before falling the Marlins in seven games.

Each team had a lot to play for in this Series and they both gave it their all.

The Cubs had to shake off some of their World Series rust early in the series and dropped three out of the first four games, including the first two at Wrigley Field, bringing the Indians one game away from winning it all.

Chicago stayed resilient and took Game 5 via a three-run fourth inning and a quality start turned in by Cubs starter Jon Lester. Once the Series headed back to Progressive Field, the Cubs bats lit up in a nine-run performance against the Indians pitching staff, which sent the 2016 World Series to a decisive Game 7.

Dexter Fowler started the action early with a lead-off home run in the first inning, which was the first lead-off home run to start a World Series Game 7. Chicago’s offense continued its hot streak and built a 6-3 lead.

After Game 5 starter Jon Lester got the first two batters out to start the bottom of the eighth inning, he gave up a single to Indians third baseman José Ramirez. Lester had reached the end of his leash and Cubs skipper Joe Maddon brought in his closer, Aroldis Chapman, to get the final four outs to clinch the club’s first World Series since 1908.

The only problem with the usually reliable Chapman was that his workload over the course of the World Series had been heavy. Maddon turned to him to throw 42 pitches in the Game 5 victory and brought him in again in Game 6 despite the Cubs having a sizable lead.

Chapman’s lack of stamina caught up to him, as he served up a run-scoring double to Indians outfielder Brandon Guyer and a game-tying home run by Indians outfielder Rajai Davis that barely managed to sneak over the high left field wall at Progressive Field.

Maddon kept Chapman in there to finish out the eighth and the ninth to send the game to extra innings. But right before the 10th frame was about to commence, rain began to pour down on Cleveland, causing the umpire crew to call for a 17-minute rain delay.

Once play resumed, Series MVP Ben Zobrist slapped a double down the left field line to break the 6-6 tie before Miguel Montero added an insurance run with a single into left.

The Cubs brought in Carl Edwards Jr. to close out the contest, but he had difficulty doing that once Rajai Davis came through in the clutch once again with an RBI single to make it a one-run game. Maddon then turned to Mike Montgomery to get the final out of the Series and make his first career save. Montgomery did just that by retiring Michael Martinez, a defensive replacement for Coco Crisp in the 10th inning, with a 5-3 groundout to break The Curse of the Billy Goat.

The buildup of drama that played into that fateful Game 7. The fact that the Cubs had to come back from a 3-1 series lead to win the World Series was impressive and the historical importance of the Cubs finally winning a ring after over 100 years of futility make this the second best World Series of the century.

1. 2001: Arizona Diamondbacks def. New York Yankees 4-3

I cannot speak highly enough of the 2001 World Series, which is why I placed at the top of my World Series ranking list.

Seven game series: check. Drama: check. Amazing storyline: check.

The 2001 World Series got underway on October 27, the latest a World Series had started since its inception, which was just one of the numerous ripple effects of the devastating 9/11 attacks that had occurred less than two months prior. Since one of the teams competing in this World Series was located in New York City, there were more implications that resulted from the 9/11 attacks.

Some of the effects were related to the pre-game happenings at Game 3, which was the first game of the series located at Yankee Stadium. Security was tight and metal detectors were brought in to make sure that the game went off without a hitch. Also, then-President George W. Bush threw out the first pitch at that night’s game while donning an FDNY fleece while he was showered with “U-S-A” chants from everyone in attendance.

Another effect came by the way of a change of sentiment towards the Yankees. Prior to 9/11, the consensus among all baseball fans not located in NYC was that the Yankees were a demon spawn that came to haunt the rest of the MLB (well, maybe their distaste wasn’t that strong, but they sure didn’t like them).

However, in a show of unity and rebuilding the nation, many who despised the Yankees for decades began to root for the Yankees and hoped to see them come out victorious against the Arizona Diamondbacks. All of this is despite the fact that New York had won four out of the five prior World Series leading into 2001.

All of that is just the storyline leading into the 2001 World Series. The play from both teams made the series an instant classic.

After dazzling performances from the Diamondbacks’ two-headed pitching monster consisting of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling in Games 1 and 2, the Snakes jumped out to a quick 2-0 series lead.

That lead quickly evaporated once the series shifted to New York City, which was a three game set that defined what October baseball is all about.

Yankees hurler Roger Clemens pitched one-run ball in a Game 3 victory before Diamondbacks closer Byung-hyun Kim blew saves in back-to-back nights allow the Yankees to take a 3-2 series lead heading back down to Phoenix.

Derek Jeter was the Game 4 hero, hitting a walk-off home run just minutes after the calendar turned into the month of November, thus earning the moniker “Mr. November”, while Alfonso Soriano gave the Yankees the series lead with a Game 5 walk-off single.

The Arizona Diamondbacks were not fazed by the mystique of the Yankees and flat out embarrassed the Yankees with a 15-2 victory in Game 6. It was the most lopsided Yankees defeat in postseason history at that point in time.

The Game 6 D-Backs victory set the stage for one of the greatest baseball games of all time: a Game 7 matchup pitting two of the greatest pitchers in the game, Clemens for the Yankees, Schilling for the Diamondbacks, against each other.

Each pitcher threw masterfully for the first five and a half frames before Clemens allowed an RBI double to Diamondbacks outfielder Danny Bautista to grab a 1-0 lead. However, much like the series lead a few days earlier, the Yankees wiped away the lead with a run in the seventh and the eighth.

In order to keep the deficit at one run, Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly brought in Randy Johnson, who was fresh off throwing 104 pitches in the Game 6 win one night prior. Johnson shut down the Yankees in the eighth and ninth to give the D-Backs one last shot to salvage the game.

The Diamondbacks got to Yankees closer Mariano Rivera they were held at bay in the eighth. After Tony Womack doubled home the tying run, Rivera hit Diamondbacks infielder Craig Counsell to load up the bases with one out, which brought up NL MVP candidate and Diamondbacks outfielder Luis Gonzalez to the plate.

In order to cut down the possible tying run, Yankees manager Joe Torre ordered his infielders to move in. That move backfired on him, as Gonzalez hit a soft fly ball over the heads of infielders to bring home the winning run on a walk-off single.

Game 7 was ranked as the Best Postseason Baseball Game of the Decade by Sports Illustrated in 2009 and my description of the game does in no justice. It was such an emotional game that shows how great sports can be.

Just thinking about everything that went into the 2001 World Series gives me chills and I wasn’t even alive to witness it. That is how magnificent this series is and it is why I place the 2001 World Series at number one.

From the uninspiring to the legendary, every World Series deserves to be mentioned in baseball history. At the time I am writing this, the 2019 World Series has just gotten underway between the Washington Nationals and the Houston Astros. I am so excited for this World Series and for every World Series to come after it