I admit that I may have recently bought this card for too much money. It’s what sellers count on from fans of the team that wins the World Series. And if the card shows a photo of a play that you don’t remember ever seeing before – or at least you can’t remember seeing it in a do-or-die situation in the bottom half of the 9th inning of Game 7 of the World Series – then buy It.
I won’t get my hands on it until next month, but I know how that goes because I experienced the same thing when I bought a Topps Now card to commemorate the Dodgers’ victory in the 2024 World Series.
While I wait, I have more time to think about whether what I just saw was the best World Series game I’ve ever seen.
This is 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 I quickly gave up. But yesterday at work I was wandering through my Facebook memories of the day (yes, I’ve still pulled the plug on that stupid site) and discovered that I was actually ranking the best World Series games I’ve ever seen — nine years ago.
That was after the Cubs’ Game 7 win in 2016, which also raised questions about the “best World Series game ever.” At the time I thought it deserved to be in my top 10, but definitely not the best ever.
So inspired by that, I’ve since gone through a quick review of the World Series and immediately knew I needed an update. That list from 2016 is extremely outdated.
What I have for you now is my top 12 — in reverse order. This is super subjective, focused on series with the Dodgers, and heavy on nostalgia. Your list would definitely be different depending on your favorite team and probably how old you were when your favorite Series took place.
For me, I considered the years 1979 through 2025. I’ve seen parts of the 1976-78 World Series, but not a single complete game, so I’ll ignore that. My first memories of the World Series were in 1975 and I know that if I was conscious enough to watch all those games, Game 6 would be my #1 – I’ve read plenty about it. But I’ll leave it aside here.
Here we go:
12. 1991, Atlanta Braves vs. Minnesota Twins, Game 6
Twins 4, Braves 3, 11 innings
The Kirby Puckett game where 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 the worst through first teams. But the games were exciting, especially Games 6 and 7, so it’s one of the few 90s series that sticks in my head.
11. 2001, Arizona Diamondbacks vs. New York Yankees, Game 4
Yankees 4, Diamondbacks 3, 10 innings
The famous Mr. competition November in which Derek Jeter hit a walk-off home run in the 10th inning off the Diamondbacks’ Byung-hyun Kim. This was another series where I didn’t care about the contestants, but living in the Northeast, everyone around me was buzzing about the Yankees and September 11th loomed over the entire 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
This game would undoubtedly be higher on many fans’ lists and in many cases #1 (certainly for Blue Jays fans). Maybe it was the effect of watching this on a small black and white TV in my apartment, but it was still great. I wasn’t there for Bill Mazeroski’s game-winning HR in 1960, so it was mind-boggling to see a walk-off home run to decide a World Series. And it was a good thing we got such an epic ending, because it was to get us through a strike the following year that wiped out the 1994 World Series.
9. World Series 2024, Los Angeles Dodgers vs. New York Yankees, game 5
Dodgers 7, Yankees 6
Maybe a little high since I’m a Dodgers fan, but the fifth inning of this game holds the honor of being the most watched inning by me of any baseball game in the history of the sport. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen this inning. Not even 100 times, but I’ll get there someday. This is the game in which the Dodgers erased a 5-0 deficit in one inning thanks to several fielding errors by the Yankees. 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
This game is still considered by many to be the best World Series Game 7 and featured many twists, including a brief rain delay to start the extra innings! The Indians came all the way back from a four-run deficit when Rajai Davis hit a tying home run in the eighth, which was then the last tying home run in a Game 7 in history until Miguel Rojas this year. Ben Zobrist provided the go-ahead goal in the 10th and the Cubs held on in another Davis-inspired rally to end their long losing streak.
7. 2011, St. Louis Cardinals vs. Texas Rangers, Game 6
Cardinals 10, Rangers 9, 11 innings
Not the outcome I was hoping for – I was rooting for the Rangers and the Cardinals were deep in the “Devil Magic Era” that was only going to get worse. St. Louis came back from two separate two-run deficits in the ninth inning and in overtime, ultimately eliminating the Rangers on David Freese’s game-winning explosion and forcing Game 7. But it was a decent match.
6. 1985, Kansas City Royals vs. St. Louis Cardinals, Game 6
Royals 2, Cardinals 1
It would have been the craziest ninth inning of a World Series game I’ve ever seen if not for a few Series appearances on this list. No one 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 throw St. Louis into complete turmoil, which then messed up a few fielding plays until Dane Iorg — Dane Iorg! — yielded the 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’ve ever seen until this year. (In terms of time, it is unrivaled as the longest game at over 7 hours). As seven years have passed, I’ve forgotten how many ups and downs this game had. I had recorded this game (and luckily was home several times to extend the recording time) to hold on to it forever and ever. But it has since been cleared – thanks to a cable company upgrade. Max Muncy is really the one big thing Dodgers fans can hold on to from the 2017-2018 WS era. 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 LA in the postseason. In fact, I can’t believe his grand slam that ended Game 1 of the 2024 World Series wasn’t on this list. Freeman’s home run in Game 3 ended a wild game in which Shohei Ohtani intentionally walked FIVE TIMES and allowed hits the other four times, including two home runs. Six outs were also 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
This has been the “second best” World Series game on my list for a long time. The 80’s World Series was so great, I’m leaving so many 80’s games off the list. Kirk Gibson’s home run is still the greatest dramatic World Series moment I’ve ever seen. And I will always remember watching part of the match at my grandmother’s house and the rest at my mother-in-law’s house. My wife – then my girlfriend of less than 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. I guess I’ll have to give it ten years to see if it’s still #2 on the list. But after seeing this game in its entirety, I still don’t believe it when I see someone telling everything that happened. Such a wonderful game that reads like a movie theater. Sure, it helps that the Dodgers came back from the dead to win the game, but at the very least it has to be one of the best 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 that Game 6 of the 1986 World Series was the best World Series game I’ve ever seen, and nothing has ever surpassed it, though I wonder if that’s because everything that happens when you’re twenty years old is the best thing that ever happened. But if you could stand in the living room of my uncle’s house in October 1986 and watch the three fans sitting around the TV with their mouths open after the Mets won, you would know this was something special. All of us hoped that the Red Sox would win – and I distinctly remember thinking “this is it, the Red Sox are actually going to win a World Series” – and were deeply disappointed. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s the best I’ve ever 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 greatest 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.
Many more, probably things I never want to see again, like all the Giants titles from twelve years ago. And I have to revisit that 1982 World Series, which seemed epic as a teenager.
Still, if I was aware of it, I think Game 6 of the 1975 World Series might top them all. Or maybe that game from 1960.