Best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 956 (the 2005 MLB Finals or "World Series") pits the series 954-winning Chicago White Sox versus the series 955-winning Houston Astros. Let us define the parameter Consecutive Missed World Series (CMWS) as a means of quantifying how long a given team has been absent from the World Series. For the Chicago White Sox, whose last World Series appearance was in 1959 (best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 130 against the Los Angeles Dodgers), the Pale Hose's number of Consecutive Missed World Series is 44: The White Sox missed every World Series from 1960 through 1993 (inclusive) and from 1995 through 2004 (inclusive). The Houston Astros, which began play in 1962 as the Houston Colt .45's, have suffered 42 Consecutive Missed World Series (1962-1994; inclusive; 1995-2004, inclusive). Thus, the 2005 World Series brings together two teams whose combined CMWS is 86.

That combined Consecutive Missed World Series of 86 is the largest ever for any two teams to meet in the World Series -- at least through October 2005.

The combined CMWS of 86 by the 2005 Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros shatters the previous high combined CMWS value, set in 1948 by the Boston Braves and Cleveland Indians in best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 71. The Boston Braves had not appeared in a World Series since 1914, and the Cleveland Indians had not done so since 1920 (when the World Series followed a best-of-9 format). Thus, Boston entered the 1948 World Series with 33 CMWS, and Cleveland did so with 27 CMWS. Thus, the 1948 Boston Braves and Cleveland Indians had a combined CMWS of 60. The 2005 Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros exceeded this combined CMWS by 43 1/3%.

In third place on this combined CMWS list (as defined above and as of October 2005) is the 2002 World Series, featuring the Anaheim Angels and the San Francisco Giants (in best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 872). Since beginning play in the 1961 MLB season, the Angels (as the Los Angeles Angels, California Angels, and Anaheim Angels) had 40 Consecutive Missed World Series from 1961 through 2001, inclusive. The San Francisco Giants had last appeared in a World Series in 1989 (series 550, against the Oakland Athletics), and had 11 CMWS from 1990 through 2001, inclusive. The 2002 World Series combatants thus had a combined CMWS of 51.

In terms of largest combined CMWS, there was in October 2005 a four-way tie for fourth place. The 1995, 1980, 1959, and 1944 World Series all featured two teams whose combined Consecutive Missed World Series stood at 40. In 1995, the Atlanta Braves were only one World Series removed from their previous appearance in 1992, but the Cleveland Indians had missed 39 consecutive World Series since their previous appearance in 1954. In 1980, the Philadelphia Phillies had missed 29 consecutive World Series since their 1950 appearance, while the Kansas City Royals, which debuted in the 1969 MLB season, were making their first-ever World Series appearance in 1980 (taking 11 Consecutive Missed World Series into that appearance). The Dodgers had missed only one World Series while Los Angeles-based before reaching the MLB Finals in 1959; the Chicago White Sox, conversely, reached the 1959 World Series with 39 CMWS since their best-of-9 1919 appearance. In 1944, the St. Louis Cardinals were returning to the World Series fresh off their 1943 appearance (and thus with 0 CMWS), while the St. Louis Browns were making their first-ever World Series appearance in 1944, bringing 40 CMWS with them.

Regarding these four fourth-place World Series in terms of combined CMWS: Note how the 2005 Chicago White Sox (44 CMWS) and the 2005 Houston Astros (42 CMWS) alone had missed more consecutive World Series than any two pair of teams combined in the 1995, 1980, 1959, or 1944 World Series (with a combined CMWS of 40 in each case). This last fact vividly illustrates just how foreign the World Series has been to the White Sox and Astros. Their combined CMWS of 86 is likely to be the top such value for some time. Of course, if and when the other teams from Illinois and Texas (i.e., the Chicago Cubs [59 CMWS and counting] and the Texas Rangers [33 CMWS and counting]) meet in the World Series, that mark for highest combined CMWS set by the 2005 World Series participants will have been exceeded.

20 October 2005