With San Francisco currently in the basement of the NL West, a Giants fan wrote to us this week wondering how many times a World Series win was followed with a last-place finish. I ran the query in our database:

WS Winner Following Season Last Place? 2012 San Francisco Giants 5th place out of 5 teams * 2011 St. Louis Cardinals 2nd place out of 6 teams 2010 San Francisco Giants 2nd place out of 5 teams 2009 New York Yankees 2nd place out of 5 teams 2008 Philadelphia Phillies 1st place out of 5 teams 2007 Boston Red Sox 2nd place out of 5 teams 2006 St. Louis Cardinals 3rd place out of 6 teams 2005 Chicago White Sox 3rd place out of 5 teams 2004 Boston Red Sox 2nd place out of 5 teams 2003 Florida Marlins 3rd place out of 5 teams 2002 Anaheim Angels 3rd place out of 4 teams 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks 1st place out of 5 teams 2000 New York Yankees 1st place out of 5 teams 1999 New York Yankees 1st place out of 5 teams 1998 New York Yankees 1st place out of 5 teams 1997 Florida Marlins 5th place out of 5 teams * 1996 New York Yankees 2nd place out of 5 teams 1995 Atlanta Braves 1st place out of 5 teams 1993 Toronto Blue Jays 3rd place out of 5 teams 1992 Toronto Blue Jays 1st place out of 7 teams WS Winner Following Season Last Place? 1991 Minnesota Twins 2nd place out of 7 teams 1990 Cincinnati Reds 5th place out of 6 teams 1989 Oakland Athletics 1st place out of 7 teams 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers 4th place out of 6 teams 1987 Minnesota Twins 2nd place out of 7 teams 1986 New York Mets 2nd place out of 6 teams 1985 Kansas City Royals 3rd place out of 7 teams 1984 Detroit Tigers 3rd place out of 7 teams 1983 Baltimore Orioles 5th place out of 7 teams 1982 St. Louis Cardinals 4th place out of 6 teams 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers 2nd place out of 6 teams 1980 Philadelphia Phillies 3rd place out of 6 teams 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates 3rd place out of 6 teams 1978 New York Yankees 4th place out of 7 teams 1977 New York Yankees 1st place out of 7 teams 1976 Cincinnati Reds 2nd place out of 6 teams 1975 Cincinnati Reds 1st place out of 6 teams 1974 Oakland Athletics 1st place out of 6 teams 1973 Oakland Athletics 1st place out of 6 teams 1972 Oakland Athletics 1st place out of 6 teams WS Winner Following Season Last Place? 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates 1st place out of 6 teams 1970 Baltimore Orioles 1st place out of 6 teams 1969 New York Mets 3rd place out of 6 teams 1968 Detroit Tigers 2nd place out of 6 teams 1967 St. Louis Cardinals 1st place out of 10 teams 1966 Baltimore Orioles 6th place out of 10 teams 1965 Los Angeles Dodgers 1st place out of 10 teams 1964 St. Louis Cardinals 7th place out of 10 teams 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers 6th place out of 10 teams 1962 New York Yankees 1st place out of 10 teams 1961 New York Yankees 1st place out of 10 teams 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates 6th place out of 8 teams 1959 Los Angeles Dodgers 4th place out of 8 teams 1958 New York Yankees 3rd place out of 8 teams 1957 Milwaukee Braves 1st place out of 8 teams 1956 New York Yankees 1st place out of 8 teams 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers 1st place out of 8 teams 1954 New York Giants 3rd place out of 8 teams 1953 New York Yankees 2nd place out of 8 teams 1952 New York Yankees 1st place out of 8 teams WS Winner Following Season Last Place? 1951 New York Yankees 1st place out of 8 teams 1950 New York Yankees 1st place out of 8 teams 1949 New York Yankees 1st place out of 8 teams 1948 Cleveland Indians 3rd place out of 8 teams 1947 New York Yankees 3rd place out of 8 teams 1946 St. Louis Cardinals 2nd place out of 8 teams 1945 Detroit Tigers 2nd place out of 8 teams 1944 St. Louis Cardinals 2nd place out of 8 teams 1943 New York Yankees 3rd place out of 8 teams 1942 St. Louis Cardinals 1st place out of 8 teams 1941 New York Yankees 1st place out of 8 teams 1940 Cincinnati Reds 3rd place out of 8 teams 1939 New York Yankees 3rd place out of 8 teams 1938 New York Yankees 1st place out of 8 teams 1937 New York Yankees 1st place out of 8 teams 1936 New York Yankees 1st place out of 8 teams 1935 Detroit Tigers 2nd place out of 8 teams 1934 St. Louis Cardinals 2nd place out of 8 teams 1933 New York Giants 2nd place out of 8 teams 1932 New York Yankees 2nd place out of 8 teams WS Winner Following Season Last Place? 1931 St. Louis Cardinals 6th place out of 8 teams 1930 Philadelphia Athletics 1st place out of 8 teams 1929 Philadelphia Athletics 1st place out of 8 teams 1928 New York Yankees 2nd place out of 8 teams 1927 New York Yankees 1st place out of 8 teams 1926 St. Louis Cardinals 2nd place out of 8 teams 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates 3rd place out of 8 teams 1924 Washington Senators 1st place out of 8 teams 1923 New York Yankees 2nd place out of 8 teams 1922 New York Giants 1st place out of 8 teams 1921 New York Giants 1st place out of 8 teams 1920 Cleveland Indians 2nd place out of 8 teams 1919 Cincinnati Reds 3rd place out of 8 teams 1918 Boston Red Sox 6th place out of 8 teams 1917 Chicago White Sox 6th place out of 8 teams 1916 Boston Red Sox 2nd place out of 8 teams 1915 Boston Red Sox 1st place out of 8 teams 1914 Boston Braves 2nd place out of 8 teams 1913 Philadelphia Athletics 1st place out of 8 teams 1912 Boston Red Sox 4th place out of 8 teams WS Winner Following Season Last Place? 1911 Philadelphia Athletics 3rd place out of 8 teams 1910 Philadelphia Athletics 1st place out of 8 teams 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates 3rd place out of 8 teams 1908 Chicago Cubs 2nd place out of 8 teams 1907 Chicago Cubs 1st place out of 8 teams 1906 Chicago White Sox 3rd place out of 8 teams 1905 New York Giants 2nd place out of 8 teams 1903 Boston Americans 1st place out of 8 teams

As it turns out, if the Giants "hang on" to the bottom spot in the West, it will mark only the second time in the World Series era (1903-present) that a champion went on to finish last the following season. The only other team to do that were the 1998 Florida Marlins, who infamously jettisoned all of their talent a year after winning it all.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 13th, 2013 at 3:00 pm and is filed under Announcement, Baseball-Reference.com, History, Trivia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.