A few days ago, I was watching highlights of the 2020 World Series. Julio Urias struck out Willy Adames to help the Dodgers win the first title since 1988. I was just wondering whether it’s common to see a pitcher throw a strikeout to end the World Series.
So, I tried to see what happened in the last 20 years.
It’s very rare to see a walk-off hit to win the World Series. In 2001, Luis Gonzalez hit a bases-loaded bloop single against Mariano Rivera to help the Diamondbacks win the first World Series title and it was the 3rd World Series to end in a bases-loaded, walk-off hit.
The 2000 World Series was the Subway series. The Yankees defeated the Mets to win the 26th title. Mike Piazza, who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2016, was the last out. On the mound, the pitcher was another Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera. Piazza hit a fly ball off Rivera and it was loud. However, the center field caught it and the game was over. In 2002, the Angels beat the Giants to lift the Commissioner’s trophy and the last out was that Darin Erstad caught a fly ball from Kenny Lofton in the right-center field. Moreover, in the 2011 World Series, the final out was that David Murphy hit a fly ball to left field and it was caught by Allen Craig. Also, Pablo Sandoval caught a pop fly by Kansas City Royals Salvador Perez during the ninth inning of Game 7 to win the 2014 World Series. These fly balls didn't travel far enough to change the series.
In addition, there are 6 times that we saw a ground out to end the World Series between 2000 and 2020. The most impressive ground out to end the World Series was probably that Kris Bryant caught the ground ball and made the throw to Anthony Rizzo for the final out in game 7 of the 2016 World Series to help the Cubs break the 108-year World Series drought. Moreover, in 2004, the Red Sox also ended the curse with a ground out, which was hit by Cardinals shortstop Edgar Renteria.
Finally, let’s review those strikeouts. Between 2000 and 2020, 10 pitchers threw a strikeout to end the World Series. Adam Wainwright was the closer for the Cardinals in the 2006 World Series and he struck out Brandon Inge to record the final out. In 2007, Jonathan Papelbon struck out Seth Smith for the final out of the season. The next season, Brad Lidge fanned Eric Hinske to help the Phillies defeat the Rays in the 2008 World Series. Brian Wilson threw a strikeout to end the 2010 World Series and in 2012, Sergio Romo struck out Miguel Cabrera to help the Giants win the title. In 2013, Koji Uehara punched out Matt Carpenter and the Red Sox won the 3rd World Series Championships in this century. In the 2015 World Series, Wade Davis threw a strikeout in the bottom of the 12th inning and the Royals won the championship. In 2018, Chris Sale threw a nasty slider to strike out Manny Machado and the Red Sox won the 4th title in the 21st century. The next season, Daniel Hudson struck out Michael Brantley on a slider to clinch the World Series for the Nationals. Last year, Julio Urias was the pitcher to throw a strikeout to clinch.
Between 2000 and 2020, we did see 10 strikeouts to end the season. In addition, over the last 3 seasons, three final outs were strikeouts. What will the 2021 World Series end with?
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