The Seattle Mariners, who will enter Sunday’s Game 6 against the Toronto Blue Jays with a 3-2 advantage in the best-of-seven American League Championship Series, are on the cusp of the first World Series appearance in franchise history. This season is, by a certain definition, already the most successful in Mariners history, for they have never before been only five wins away from a World Series title.
So far as these things go, the Mariners are the most World Series-deprived franchise in all of Major League Baseball. While the Mariners are one of five franchises to never win a World Series, they’re the only member of that club to have never even played in one.
That could change in the coming days. First, though, here’s a refresher on those five teams and the extent of their title droughts. Do note the teams are listed in ascending order of their first season of play.
The Padres have reached the World Series twice in their nearly 60 years of existence, first in 1984 and then again in 1998. Alas, they combined for just one win across both trips to the Fall Classic. Overall, the Padres have won five division titles and have enjoyed six 90-plus-win efforts, including in 2024 and 2025. This has been something of a golden era for Padres baseball, albeit without a World Series appearance to show for it yet.
In a slightly different universe, the Brewers would be playing the Mariners in the World Series, with one team guaranteed to claim their first title. That won’t be the case, as the Brewers were denied in the NLCS by the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Brewers have appeared in just one World Series, with that coming back in 1982 when the club was still in the American League. They have won eight division titles (including an active streak of three in a row) since relocating from Seattle and rebranding from the “Pilots” identity in 1970.
3. Seattle Mariners (first season: 1977)
As noted in the introduction, the Mariners are MLB’s only team without a World Series appearance to its credit. In fact, this is only Seattle’s fourth LCS appearance, and sixth overall playoff appearance in nearly 50 years of play. The Mariners did tie MLB’s single-season record by winning 116 games in 2001, and that has to count for something.
Yes, even the Rockies have reached the World Series before, losing in a clean sweep against the Boston Red Sox in 2007. The Rockies have four other playoff appearances on top of that miraculous run, most recently in 2018. It may be a while before they notch No. 6.
The Rays may be the youngest franchise on this list, with fewer than 30 seasons to their credit. Nonetheless, they’ve reached the postseason nine times, including a pair of World Series trips: first in 2008, and then again in 2020. Obviously the Rays came up short both times, but it speaks to how much this franchise has reversed its fortunes since opening up with 10 consecutive losing seasons.
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