Home Runs can’t guarantee to win the World Series

Red Sox won the world series in 2004, 2007, 2013 and 2018

Winning the World Series championship is the ultimate goal for every baseball player. It’s a long journey for the teams to reach the World Series. After playing 162 regular season games, you have to win the division series and league championship series to reach the final, by the way, the 2019 World Series Champions Washington Nationals even played the wild card game. However, it might still be a little bit far away to think of the World Series since we still don’t know when the baseball will return. The 2020 MLB season has been postponed. Since there’s no game, there’s truly nothing to do with fantasy baseball. While reviewing some stats of the World Series, I was thinking that if these stats were put in the fantasy, which team should win?

Using some categories in one of my fantasy leagues, this time let’s look at the offense from 2000 to 2019 World Series.

Runs (Total)

Year	Winner	R	Runner-up
2000	New York Yankees	19:16	New York Mets
2001	Arizona Diamondbacks	37:14	New York Yankees
2002	Anaheim Angels	41:44	San Francisco Giants
2003	Florida Marlins	17:21	New York Yankees
2004	Boston Red Sox	24:12	St. Louis Cardinals
2005	Chicago White Sox	20:14	Houston Astros
2006	St. Louis Cardinals	22:11	Detroit Tigers
2007	Boston Red Sox	29:10	Colorado Rockies
2008	Philadelphia Phillies	24:15	Tampa Bay Rays
2009	New York Yankees	32:27	Philadelphia Phillies
2010	San Francisco Giants	29:12	Texas Rangers
2011	St. Louis Cardinals	38:30	Texas Rangers
2012	San Francisco Giants	16:6	Detroit Tigers
2013	Boston Red Sox	27:14	St. Louis Cardinals
2014	San Francisco Giants	30:27	Kansas City Royals
2015	Kansas City Royals	27:19	New York Mets
2016	Chicago Cubs	27:27	Cleveland Indians
2017	Houston Astros	34:34	Los Angeles Dodgers
2018	Boston Red Sox	28:16	Los Angeles Dodgers
2019	Washington Nationals	33:30	Houston Astros

There’s probably no much doubt. Only 2 teams that scored less in total won the World Series, the 2002 Angels and the 2003 Marlins. However, the differences were not huge.

Home Runs (Total)

Year	Winner	HR	Runner-up
2000	New York Yankees	4:4	New York Mets
2001	Arizona Diamondbacks	6:6	New York Yankees
2002	Anaheim Angels	7:14	San Francisco Giants
2003	Florida Marlins	2:6	New York Yankees
2004	Boston Red Sox	4:2	St. Louis Cardinals
2005	Chicago White Sox	6:3	Houston Astros
2006	St. Louis Cardinals	2:4	Detroit Tigers
2007	Boston Red Sox	3:3	Colorado Rockies
2008	Philadelphia Phillies	9:4	Tampa Bay Rays
2009	New York Yankees	6:11	Philadelphia Phillies
2010	San Francisco Giants	7:3	Texas Rangers
2011	St. Louis Cardinals	8:9	Texas Rangers
2012	San Francisco Giants	4:3	Detroit Tigers
2013	Boston Red Sox	4:2	St. Louis Cardinals
2014	San Francisco Giants	2:3	Kansas City Royals
2015	Kansas City Royals	2:6	New York Mets
2016	Chicago Cubs	8:7	Cleveland Indians
2017	Houston Astros	15:10	Los Angeles Dodgers
2018	Boston Red Sox	8:6	Los Angeles Dodgers
2019	Washington Nationals	11:11	Houston Astros

Hitting home runs is exciting. However, 7 teams that hit more home runs in the WS did not win the series. The Giants showed lots of power in the 2002 World Series, hitting 14 home runs, but they fell short in Anaheim. In the 2009 World Series, the Phillies hit 11 home runs, 5 from Chase Utley, but the Phillies couldn’t win the WS again. Homers can’t guarantee.

Runs Batted In (Total)

Year	Winner	RBI	Runner-up
2000	New York Yankees	18:15	New York Mets
2001	Arizona Diamondbacks	36:14	New York Yankees
2002	Anaheim Angels	38:42	San Francisco Giants
2003	Florida Marlins	17:21	New York Yankees
2004	Boston Red Sox	24:8	St. Louis Cardinals
2005	Chicago White Sox	20:14	Houston Astros
2006	St. Louis Cardinals	15:11	Detroit Tigers
2007	Boston Red Sox	29:10	Colorado Rockies
2008	Philadelphia Phillies	23:14	Tampa Bay Rays
2009	New York Yankees	30:27	Philadelphia Phillies
2010	San Francisco Giants	29:12	Texas Rangers
2011	St. Louis Cardinals	36:30	Texas Rangers
2012	San Francisco Giants	15:6	Detroit Tigers
2013	Boston Red Sox	27:12	St. Louis Cardinals
2014	San Francisco Giants	29:27	Kansas City Royals
2015	Kansas City Royals	25:18	New York Mets
2016	Chicago Cubs	27:23	Cleveland Indians
2017	Houston Astros	32:31	Los Angeles Dodgers
2018	Boston Red Sox	27:14	Los Angeles Dodgers
2019	Washington Nationals	32:30	Houston Astros

RBI, well, no much doubt. Only 2 teams with less RBIs won, the 2002 Angels and the 2003 Marlins.

Stolen Bases (Total)

Year	Winner	SB	Runner-up
2000	New York Yankees	1:0	New York Mets
2001	Arizona Diamondbacks	2:1	New York Yankees
2002	Anaheim Angels	6:5	San Francisco Giants
2003	Florida Marlins	2:2	New York Yankees
2004	Boston Red Sox	0:1	St. Louis Cardinals
2005	Chicago White Sox	5:5	Houston Astros
2006	St. Louis Cardinals	1:1	Detroit Tigers
2007	Boston Red Sox	2:1	Colorado Rockies
2008	Philadelphia Phillies	7:7	Tampa Bay Rays
2009	New York Yankees	4:5	Philadelphia Phillies
2010	San Francisco Giants	1:2	Texas Rangers
2011	St. Louis Cardinals	0:1	Texas Rangers
2012	San Francisco Giants	3:0	Detroit Tigers
2013	Boston Red Sox	1:3	St. Louis Cardinals
2014	San Francisco Giants	1:1	Kansas City Royals
2015	Kansas City Royals	7:1	New York Mets
2016	Chicago Cubs	8:4	Cleveland Indians
2017	Houston Astros	3:1	Los Angeles Dodgers
2018	Boston Red Sox	2:0	Los Angeles Dodgers
2019	Washington Nationals	4:6	Houston Astros

Running seems to be not that important in modern baseball. 6 teams with more stolen bases lost the series. However, the 2015 World Series is a very interesting series. The Royals ran much more than the Mets, the Royals had 7 stolen bases, 4 from Lorenzo Cain, and the Royals lifted the trophy. Meanwhile, the Cubs ran more than the Indians in 2016. The Cardinals' win in 2011 was dramatic, but the team tried to steal three times, all went unsuccessful.

Giants won the 2012 world series 

Strikeouts (Total)

Year	Winner	SO	Runner-up
2000	New York Yankees	40:48	New York Mets
2001	Arizona Diamondbacks	70:63	New York Yankees
2002	Anaheim Angels	38:50	San Francisco Giants
2003	Florida Marlins	48:49	New York Yankees
2004	Boston Red Sox	20:32	St. Louis Cardinals
2005	Chicago White Sox	30:36	Houston Astros
2006	St. Louis Cardinals	34:37	Detroit Tigers
2007	Boston Red Sox	20:36	Colorado Rockies
2008	Philadelphia Phillies	38:36	Tampa Bay Rays
2009	New York Yankees	56:50	Philadelphia Phillies
2010	San Francisco Giants	43:31	Texas Rangers
2011	St. Louis Cardinals	47:51	Texas Rangers
2012	San Francisco Giants	41:36	Detroit Tigers
2013	Boston Red Sox	59:43	St. Louis Cardinals
2014	San Francisco Giants	51:43	Kansas City Royals
2015	Kansas City Royals	37:46	New York Mets
2016	Chicago Cubs	64:69	Cleveland Indians
2017	Houston Astros	54:65	Los Angeles Dodgers
2018	Boston Red Sox	53:56	Los Angeles Dodgers
2019	Washington Nationals	61:51	Houston Astros

In the playoffs, you have to make good contacts. World Series champs were great contact hitting teams that didn’t strike out much. Well, 8 teams weren’t struck out more than their opponents, but didn’t win the champions. The 2001 WSC Arizona Diamondbacks were struck out 70 times in the 2001 World Series, on average, 10 strikeouts per game.

Batting Average

Year	Winner	BA	Runner-up
2000	New York Yankees	0.263: 0.229	New York Mets
2001	Arizona Diamondbacks	0.264: 0.183	New York Yankees
2002	Anaheim Angels	0.310: 0.281	San Francisco Giants
2003	Florida Marlins	0.232: 0.261	New York Yankees
2004	Boston Red Sox	0.283: 0.190	St. Louis Cardinals
2005	Chicago White Sox	0.286:0.203	Houston Astros
2006	St. Louis Cardinals	0.228:0.199	Detroit Tigers
2007	Boston Red Sox	0.333:0.218	Colorado Rockies
2008	Philadelphia Phillies	0.262:0.212	Tampa Bay Rays
2009	New York Yankees	0.247:0.227	Philadelphia Phillies
2010	San Francisco Giants	0.249:0.190	Texas Rangers
2011	St. Louis Cardinals	0.243:0.254	Texas Rangers
2012	San Francisco Giants	0.242:0.159	Detroit Tigers
2013	Boston Red Sox	0.211:0.224	St. Louis Cardinals
2014	San Francisco Giants	0.277:0.249	Kansas City Royals
2015	Kansas City Royals	0.239:0.193	New York Mets
2016	Chicago Cubs	0.249:0.237	Cleveland Indians
2017	Houston Astros	0.230:0.205	Los Angeles Dodgers
2018	Boston Red Sox	0.222:0.180	Los Angeles Dodgers
2019	Washington Nationals	0.241:0.272	Houston Astros

It’s not easy to hit in the intense World Series games. Sometimes, you need some “luck” to have a hit. However, we looked at batting average. Only 4 teams with lower BA won. The Red Sox only hit .211 in the 2013 World Series, however, WS MVP David Ortiz bat .688, 11 hits in 16 ABs, with 2 HRs and 6 RBIs.

On-Base Plus Slugging Percentage

Year	Winner	OPS	Runner-up
2000	New York Yankees	0.765:0.627	New York Mets
2001	Arizona Diamondbacks	0.719:0.528	New York Yankees
2002	Anaheim Angels	0.835:0.857	San Francisco Giants
2003	Florida Marlins	0.582:0.743	New York Yankees
2004	Boston Red Sox	0.882:0.562	St. Louis Cardinals
2005	Chicago White Sox	0.847:0.643	Houston Astros
2006	St. Louis Cardinals	0.675:0.581	Detroit Tigers
2007	Boston Red Sox	0.936:0.629	Colorado Rockies
2008	Philadelphia Phillies	0.853:0.576	Tampa Bay Rays
2009	New York Yankees	0.725:0.782	Philadelphia Phillies
2010	San Francisco Giants	0.756:0.546	Texas Rangers
2011	St. Louis Cardinals	0.762:0.745	Texas Rangers
2012	San Francisco Giants	0.683:0.489	Detroit Tigers
2013	Boston Red Sox	0.621:0.572	St. Louis Cardinals
2014	San Francisco Giants	0.697:0.653	Kansas City Royals
2015	Kansas City Royals	0.625:0.552	New York Mets
2016	Chicago Cubs	0.720:0.691	Cleveland Indians
2017	Houston Astros	0.765:0.683	Los Angeles Dodgers
2018	Boston Red Sox	0.690:0.550	Los Angeles Dodgers
2019	Washington Nationals	0.739:0.794	Houston Astros

It’s very interesting to see the 2003 Marlins. The Marlins’ OPS was even lower than .600, but they still defeated the Yankees. Nonetheless, only 4 teams with lower OPS won.

Overall, good offense helps the team win the World Series. However, we can see that home runs can’t guarantee to win in October. Hitters always face good MLB pitchers in the World Series, it’s not easy to hit against them. It’s important to make “good” contacts, but making contacts in the world series might not be that easy.