There are eight major league baseball teams that have yet to win a World Series. The team that has suffered the longest without winning any World Series is the Texas Rangers whose franchise is approaching 50 years of World Series futility. The nearby Houston Astros are only one year behind in futility.
Three of the teams on this list have a good chance of making the playoffs this year but whether or not they can go on to win the Fall Classic for the first time is a big question mark and the odds are against all three.
Texas Rangers/Washington Senators
The Texas Rangers started out in 1961 as the expansion Washington Senators which was the second baseball team named the Senators to play in Washington. In 1972 the team moved to Texas and became the Texas Rangers and neither the Senators or Rangers have won a World Series.
In fact the team has yet to even play in a World Series and has only made the playoffs three times in 48 years though the 2010 team will make the playoffs this season. All three times the Texas Rangers made the post-season they lost to the New York Yankees.
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros started out as the Houston Colt .45s in 1962 but changed their name to the Astros 3 years later when they moved into the Astrodome. The Astros have made the playoffs eight times and went to the World Series in 2005 but were swept by the Chicago White Sox in 4 games.
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres became a major league baseball team in 1969 through expansion and have made it to the World Series twice but lost both times. In 1984 the Detroit Tigers beat them 4-1 and in 1998 one of the best major league baseball teams of all time the New York Yankees who won 125 games that year including the post-season swept the Padres 4-0.
Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos joined major league baseball in 1969 and made it to only one post-season in 1981 where the lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 1994 the Montreal Expos had the best record in baseball when the players went on strike on August 11 and there was no post-season or World Series that year. In 2005 the team moved to Washington and became the Nationals who have yet to make the playoffs.
Seattle Pilots/Milwaukee Brewers
The Seattle Pilots played the 1969 season in major league baseball and went bankrupt. Bud Selig then bought the team and moved them to Milwaukee where they remain today. The Brewers went to the playoffs just twice in 1982 and 2008 and advanced to the World Series in 1982 only to lose to the St. Louis Cardinals in 7 games. Of the nine teams never to have won a World Series the Brewers have come the closest.
Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners became a major league team in 1977 and have made it to the post-season 4 times but have yet to appear in a World Series. The 2001 season was especially tough as the Mariners won 116 regular season games but lost in the playoffs to the New York Yankees who themselves would go on to lose a heartbreaking 7th game in the World Series to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Colorado Rockies
The Colorado Rockies joined major league baseball in 1993 as an expansion team and made the World Series in 2007 but were swept by the Boston Red Sox 4-0. Amazingly the 2007 Colorado Rockies went 13-1 over their last 14 regular season games then beat the San Diego Padres in a one game playoff to be the NL Wild Card Team. The Rockies then swept the Philadelphia Phillies 3-0 and the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-0 to make the World Series.
So the Rockies went 21-1 before being swept by the Red Sox in the World Series. It was an amazing run and if the Rockies had somehow won that World Series that team would be a legendary team today.
The Tampa Bay Rays joined major league baseball in 1998 and made it to the World Series in 2008 and were favored to win but were defeated by the Philadelphia Phillies 4-1. The Rays will make the playoffs in 2010 and try to remove their name from the this list of major league baseball teams that have never won a World Series.
Sources:http://www.baseball-reference.com/
