I admit I might have purchased this card for too much money the other day. It's what sellers are counting on from fans of the team that wins the World Series. And when the card shows a photo of a play you don't ever remember seeing before -- or at least don't remember seeing in a do-or-die situation in the bottom of the 9th inning of Game 7 of the World Series -- you buy it.
It's not going to get into my hands until next month, but I know how that goes, having experienced the same thing when I bought one Topps Now card to commemorate the Dodgers' win in the 2024 World Series.
While I'm waiting, I'll have more time to think about whether what I just saw was the best World Series game I have ever witnessed.
This has been a popular topic among national commentators and fans in general. When I first thought about it, I tried to rank the best World Series games in my head but quickly gave up. However, yesterday at work I was wandering through my Facebook memories for the day (yeah, I still haven't pulled the plug on that stupid site yet) and discovered that I actually did rank the best World Series games I ever saw -- nine years ago.
That was after the Cubs' Game 7 victory in 2016, which also produced "best World Series game ever" questions. At the time I thought it deserved to be in my top 10, but certainly not the best ever.
So, inspired by that, I went through a quick review of the World Series since and knew right away I had to an update. That 2016 list is wildly out of date.
What I have for you now is my top 12 -- in reverse order. This is super subjective, biased toward Series that featured the Dodgers, and heavily weighed down by nostalgia. Your list would definitely be different, depending on your favorite team and probably what age you were when your favorite Series were taking place.
For me I considered 1979 through 2025. I saw parts of the 1976-78 World Series but not a single complete game, so I disregard those. My first memories of the World Series are from 1975 and I know if I was aware enough to watch all those games, Game 6 would be my No. 1 -- I've read enough about it. But I'm discounting it here.
Here we go:
12. 1991, Atlanta Braves vs. Minnesota Twins, Game 6
Twins 4, Braves 3, 11 innings
The Kirby Puckett game in which he hit a walk-off home run in the 11th inning. My interest in this Series was at an all-time low as I had little interest in either worst-to-first team. But the games were exciting, especially Games 6 and 7, so it's one of the few '90s Series that sticks in my brain.
11. 2001, Arizona Diamondbacks vs. New York Yankees, Game 4
Yankees 4, Diamondbacks 3, 10 innings
The famed Mr. November game as Derek Jeter hit a walk-off home run in the 10th inning off the Diamondbacks' Byung-hyun Kim. This was another Series in which I couldn't care less about the participants, but living in the Northeast everyone around me was abuzz about the Yankees and 9/11 loomed over the whole Series. I got a bit caught up. Plus, I hated the Diamondbacks.
10. 1993, Philadelphia Phillies vs. Toronto Blue Jays, Game 6
Blue Jays 8, Phillies 6
No doubt this game would rank higher on many fans' lists and be No. 1 in a lot of cases (definitely for Blue Jays fans). Maybe it was the effect of watching this on a tiny black and white TV in my apartment, but still it was amazing. I wasn't around for Bill Mazeroski's winning HR in 1960 so seeing a walk-off home run to decide a World Series was mind-blowing. And it was a good thing we got such an epic ending because it had to sustain us through a strike the next year that wiped out the 1994 World Series.
9. 2024 World Series, Los Angeles Dodgers vs. New York Yankees, Game 5
Dodgers 7, Yankees 6
Maybe a bit high because I'm a Dodgers fan, but the fifth inning of this game has the honor of being the most-watched inning by me of any baseball game in the history of the sport. I've lost count how many times I've watched this inning. Not quite 100 times but I'll get there at some point. This is the game in which the Dodgers made up a 5-0 deficit in a single inning thanks to several Yankees fielding lapses. Teoscar Hernandez would deliver the game-tying double in the inning.
8. 2016, Chicago Cubs vs. Cleveland Indians, Game 7
Cubs 8, Indians 7, 10 innings
Still considered the greatest World Series Game 7 by many, this game contained many twists and turns including a brief rain delay to kick off extra innings! The Indians came all the way back from a four-run deficit as Rajai Davis hit a game-tying home run in the eighth, what was then the latest game-tying home run in a Game 7 in history until Miguel Rojas this year. Ben Zobrist delivered the go-ahead double in the 10th and the Cubs held on through another Davis-inspired rally to end their long Series losing streak.
7. 2011, St. Louis Cardinals vs. Texas Rangers, Game 6
Cardinals 10, Rangers 9, 11 innings
Not the result I was hoping for -- I was rooting for the Rangers and the Cardinals were deep into the "Devil Magic Era" that would only get worse. St. Louis came back from two separate two-run deficits in the ninth inning and in extras, finally finishing off the Rangers on David Freese's winning blast and forcing Game 7. But it was quite the game.
6. 1985, Kansas City Royals vs. St. Louis Cardinals, Game 6
Royals 2, Cardinals 1
Would've been the craziest ninth inning of a World Series game I ever saw if not for a couple of Series to come on this list. Nobody scored in this game until the Cardinals in the eighth. Then Jorge Orta and Don Denkinger struck in the bottom of the ninth and that missed call seemed to completely rattle St. Louis, which flubbed a couple of fielding plays afterward until Dane Iorg -- Dane Iorg! -- delivered the game-winning hit.
5. 2018, Boston Red Sox vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, Game 3
Dodgers 3, Red Sox 2, 18 innings
The longest World Series game I had ever seen until this year. (In terms of time, it's unmatched as the longest game at 7-plus hours). With the passage of seven years, I've forgotten how many ups and downs this game had. I had recorded this game (and fortunately was home to extend the recording time, multiple times) to hold on to it forever and ever. But it's since been erased -- thanks to a cable company upgrade. Max Muncy is really the only big thing to hold on to for Dodgers fans from that 2017-18 WS period. So glad I have it.
4. 2025, Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Toronto Blue Jays, Game 3
Dodgers 6, Blue Jays 5, 18 innings
The "other 18 inning World Series game involving the Dodgers". Freddie Freeman has had a lot of big moments for L.A. in the postseason -- in fact I can't believe his grand slam to end Game 1 of the 2024 World Series didn't make this list. Freeman's home run in Game 3 ended a wild game that including Shohei Ohtani being intentionally walked FIVE TIMES and getting hits the other four times, including two home runs. Also, six outs were recorded on the bases, which is a record and added to the excitement.
3. 1988, Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Oakland A's, Game 1
Dodgers 5, A's 4
For the longest time, this has been the "second-best" World Series game on my list. The 1980s World Series were so great, I am leaving so many games from the '80s off the list. Kirk Gibson's home run is still the single greatest dramatic World Series moment I've ever witnessed. And I will always remember watching part of the game at my grandmother's and then the rest at my mother-in-laws. My wife -- then my girlfriend of not even a year -- saw how much of a baseball fan I was that day.
2. 2025, Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Toronto Blue Jays, Game 7
Dodgers 5, Blue Jays 4, 11 innings
Possibly -- probably -- there is recency bias here. I guess I'll have to give it 10 years to see if it's still No. 2 on the list. But having watched this game in its entirety, I still don't believe it when I see someone recount everything that happened. Such a delightful game that reads like cinema. Sure, it helps, that the Dodgers came back from the dead to win it, but it's got to rank, at least, as one of the greatest World Series games ever.
1. 1986, Boston Red Sox vs. New York Mets, Game 6
Mets 6, Red Sox 5, 10 innings
From the moment I witnessed it, I knew Game 6 of the 1986 World Series was the best World Series game I ever saw, and nothing has topped it, though I wonder if it's because everything that happens when you're 20 years old is the greatest thing ever. Still, if you could look into the living room of my uncle's house in October 1986 and look at the three fans sitting around the TV with their mouths open after the Mets pulled off the victory, you'd know this was something special. Every one of us was rooting for the Red Sox to win -- and I still remember distinctly thinking "this is it, the Red Sox are actually going to win a World Series" -- and were deeply disappointed. But that doesn't stop it from being the best I've seen.
So that's what I came up with. There are so many other candidates, the aforementioned Game 1 of the 2024 World Series, the 14-inning Game 3 of the 2005 World Series, Game 7 of the 1991 World Series, Game 3 of the 1981 World Series (Ron Cey's finest moment), Game 7 of the 1997 World Series, Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, Game 6 of the 2002 World Series, Game 5 of the 2017 World Series and Game 6 of the 2025 World Series.
Lots more, too, probably from stuff I never want to see again, like any of the Giants' titles from a dozen years ago. And I need to review that 1982 World Series again, that seemed epic as a teenager.
Still, I think Game 6 of the 1975 World Series, if I was aware of it, just might top them all. Or maybe that game in 1960.
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