50 best MLB teams that didn’t win the World Series
Lost in National League Playoff. 1962 Los Angeles Dodgers. 10. player. 71. . 102-62
In one of the greatest overall seasons in Major League Baseball history, the 1962 Los Angeles Dodgers came up just short of a spot in the World Series.
The season was historic for several Dodgers, including Don Drysdale, who won his only Cy Young Award with a 25-9 record and 2.83 ERA in a Major League leading 314.1 innings and 41 starts. The legendary Sandy Koufax was 14-7 with a 2.54 ERA. Offensively, 23-year old Tommy Davis won the NL Batting title with a .346 batting average and also led the Majors with 230 hits and 153 RBI. Frank Howard hit 31 home runs and drove in 119 runs, and Maury Wills recorded an eye-popping 104 bases and won the NL MVP.
After 162 games, the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants were tied atop the National League standings with identical 101-61 records. In the days before division play and the NLCS, the Giants and Dodgers squared off in a winner-take-all three-game playoff for the NL pennant.
The first game of the series was held at Candlestick Park, and the Giants won easily, 8-0. Los Angeles hosted Game 2 at brand-new Dodger Stadium, which was in its first year of existence. The Dodgers won 8-7 to force Game 3 at home the next day. Leading 4-2 heading into the ninth inning, the Dodgers allowed four runs in the top of the frame, and the Giants won the right to face the New York Yankees in the World Series.
However, the team that won the 1962 NL pennant is also one of the best to fall short of a World Series title.
Next: 1962 San Francisco Giants