Baseball is a sport filled with history.
Yet, something historic could happen on Tuesday night in the Bronx, as the Los Angeles Dodgers look to win the World Series in convincing fashion over the New York Yankees.
Freddie Freeman and the Dodgers have jumped out to a 3-0 series lead, putting Aaron Judge and the Yankees on the brink of elimination. World Series sweeps are rare, and it’s been over a decade since it last happened.
Here’s a look at all the sweeps in World Series history:
List of World Series sweeps in history
There have been 21 sweeps in World Series history, but none since 2012. The first one happened way back in 1907, and four have occurred since the turn of the century. Here’s the full list:
- 1907: Chicago Cubs 4, Detroit Tigers 0 (one game was a tie, so the series went five games)
- 1914: Boston Braves 4, Philadelphia Athletics 0
- 1922: New York Giants 4, New York Yankees 0 (one game was a tie, so the series went five games)
- 1927: New York Yankees 4, Pittsburgh Pirates 0
- 1928: New York Yankees 4, St. Louis Cardinals 0
- 1932: New York Yankees 4, Chicago Cubs 0
- 1938: New York Yankees 4, Chicago Cubs 0
- 1939: New York Yankees 4, Cincinnati Reds 0
- 1950: New York Yankees 4, Philadelphia Phillies 0
- 1954: New York Giants 4, Cleveland 0
- 1963: Los Angeles Dodgers 4, New York Yankees 0
- 1966: Baltimore Orioles 4, Los Angeles Dodgers 0
- 1976: Cincinnati Reds 4, New York Yankees 0
- 1989: Oakland Athletics 4, San Francisco Giants 0
- 1990: Cincinnati Reds 4, Oakland Athletics 0
- 1998: New York Yankees 4, San Diego Padres 0
- 1999: New York Yankees 4, Atlanta Braves 0
- 2004: Boston Red Sox 4, St. Louis Cardinals 0
- 2005: Chicago White Sox 4, Houston Astros 0
- 2007: Boston Red Sox 4, Colorado Rockies 0
- 2012: San Francisco Giants 4, Detroit Tigers 0
The Los Angeles Dodgers moved one win away from clinching a World Series title, taking a 3-0 series lead over the Yankees.
Have the Yankees ever been swept in the World Series?
Yes — three times.
The first instance, in 1922, was a five-game series after Game 2 ended in a tie. The Giants won the other four games, which technically makes it a 4-0 sweep. Forty-one years later, the Dodgers swept the Yankees with Sandy Koufax winning MVP. The most recent time the Yankees were swept was in 1976, when Johnny Bench and the Reds rolled to the title.
Have the Dodgers ever swept the World Series?
Yes — once.
As aforementioned, the Dodgers swept the Yankees back in 1963. That is their only World Series sweep to date, but they could pull it off again while playing the same opponent 61 years later.
