Baseball’s saddest record finally belongs to its most deserving team

The list of current MLB teams which have never won a World Series is fairly short: the Washington Nationals (ed note: as of Oct. 30, 2019, this is no longer true. The fact I have to include this edit note is, frankly, absurd. Please stop emailing me that this article is wrong as though I should have been able to predict the future), Tampa Rays, Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies, Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers have never tasted a championship. With the exception of the Rays and Rockies, children of the 90s, being on that list is a mark of historic futility and pain.

There is, however, a sadder list, and it’s now down to one.

When Tommy Edman flew out to Victor Robles to end the NLCS, Washington qualified for the World Series for the first time in their history. The Brewers, Rays, Padres, Rockies and Rangers have all made it there (and lost). That leaves one team without a single pennant to their name: the Seattle Mariners.

Any long-term follower of baseball knows this is good and right, that the record for profoundest modern-day futility should go to Seattle and Seattle alone. While Washington’s habit of choking at the divisional level was impressive, it had nothing on the Mariners’ special brand of ineptitude. With Seattle’s playoff drought now at voting age, it was time to reduce the Saddest Teams In Baseball club to a single, truly deserving member.

Congratulations to the Washington Nationals on their World Series appearance, and thank you for putting my favorite team in its rightful place: the basement.