Historically, the New York Yankees, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Boston Red Sox have had long periods of dominance in MLB.
In fact, those are the teams with the most World Series victories.
The Yanks have 27 (the last one coming in 2009), the Cardinals are second with 11 (the most recent one being in 2011), and the Red Sox are tied with the Oakland Athletics (previously Philadelphia and Kansas City Athletics) with nine.
Since 1993 and up until 2022, a span covering 30 seasons, at least one of those teams was in the playoffs, often all three and sometimes two of them.
However, all good things (and bad, too) come to an end.
2023 will be the first season in 30 years in which none of those three historically relevant franchises will be in the postseason, according to ESPN.
For the first time in 30 years, the MLB postseason will not include the Yankees, Red Sox or Cardinals 😳 pic.twitter.com/yXEKYCFHV5
— ESPN (@espn) September 27, 2023
The Yankees are the only team of the bunch with a positive record, but things went south almost from the beginning.
Aaron Judge had two long stints on the injured list, Giancarlo Stanton regressed, and Carlos Rodon was either injured or inconsistent, not to mention a myriad of injuries to starters, relievers, and lineup regulars.
The Red Sox made huge strides with their farm system, but even though they stayed relevant and competitive for most of the year, couldn’t get key wins and all their AL East foes are just better.
The Cardinals’ pitching was never good enough for the team to contend.
With demanding fanbases and a sense of urgency, all three teams will likely find a way to contend soon enough.
For now, though, they will have to watch the postseason on TV.
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