In lieu of the three biggest World Series upsets, here is a look at three more from the American League Championship Series. These represent some of the biggest shocks in the ALCS, with teams that defined the odds. These teams may not have captured the coveted World Series trophy, but made history in the process.
Without further deliberation here are the three.
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Tampa Bay Rays defeat Houston Astors 4-3 (2020)
The most recent upset the American League was the 2020 Tampa Bay Rays. En route to a World Series, Tampa Bay beat the New York Yankees and Houston Astros.
No knock against the Tampa Bay, but when matched up against the Yankees, no one thought the Rays could hang with the Bronx Bombers.
After the Rays won the divisional round 3-2, it matched up with the Houston Astros. If no one thought Tampa Bay should beat the Yankees, the sentiment was more so in the ALCS.
It took Tampa Bay all seven games, but the Rays pulled off an incredible upset behind heroics from Randy Arozarena.
Blake Snell also pitched incredible throughout postseason play with a 3.03 ERA and an opponent batting average of .194.
However the magic ran out and Tampa Bay lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 in the World Series.
Minnesota Twins defeat Detroit Tigers 4-1 (1987)
Heading into the postseason, Minnesota posted an 85-77 record, but its’ opponents outscored the team by 20 runs.
This looked hardly like a team ready for a deep postseason run, but the offense heated up for the Twins at the right time.
When faced against the Detroit Tigers, who owned the best record in baseball, no one saw the Twins making it much of a series. The duo of Bert Blyleven and Frank Viola stymied the Tigers. The offense also carried Minnesota over Detroit in five games.
The momentum poured into the World Series as the Twins bested the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games that gave the state of Minnesota its’ first championship.
Boston Red Sox defeat New York Yankees 4-3 (2004)
The Red Sox fell under the “Curse of the Bambino,” and it felt real to all of the sports world that this team was incredibly unlucky with many postseason blunders.
The New York Yankees fell victim to a World Series upset in 2003 to the Florida Marlins.
In terms of postseason success, it looked like polar opposites. If anything, it felt more like the Yankees series because of the year before, and this following year seemed like redemption.
When New York clobbered Boston, and quickly gained a 3-0 lead, it was almost a foregone conclusion.
Then Boston pulled off something in baseball that never happened before, and has not happened since. The Red Sox came back from the almost insurmountable deficit and won the next four games.
This was enough to break the curse as Boston won against the St. Louis Cardinals in a four-game sweep.