THAT Game Five really was a strange game, indeed...the Yankees did a bizarre volte-face after looking as though they were serious about getting back to LA.
The Dodgers' surreal five-run rally got us thinking...how many 5+-run innings have occurred in the Worls Series. To answer that question, we dug into Forman et soeur's online data resources...
IN all the craziness of that Dodger fifth inning, we might easily forget that the Yankees also had a five-run inning (the night before in Game Four--in the eighth inning to break that game open).
All in all, we 've had 105 5+-run innings in World Series history. which have occurred in 69 of the 120 World Series that have taken place since 1903.
Now for some of the details in the chart, working backwards in time:
In 2023, the Texas Rangers had two 5+-innings in the same game en route to winning the World Series.
In 1993, the Phillies and Blue Jays had 5+ run innings in the same game (Game 4, a 15-14 slugfest won by Toronto). The Phils actually had three such innings in that Series, but still managed to lose.
In 1987 the Twins had two and the Cards had one, but none in the same game--Minnesota won the Series in the first instance of the home team winning all of the games played.
In 1979, the Orioles had three such innings and the Pirates none, but the O's still lost the series in seven games.
In 1975, the Red Sox did it twice while the Big Red Machine had no such big inning, but the Reds still won the Series.
In 1968, the Tigers only did it once...but it was a ten-run inning, tying the record most runs in a World Series inning (make your guesses now as to the identity of the team that did it first).
In 1961, the Yankees had two such innings in the same game en route to a 13-5 win (and a Series win) over the Reds.
In 1960, the Yankees had three such innings, in the three games where they routed the Pirates (Games 2, 3, 6), but the Pirates had one of their own in G7 and won the game and the Series on Maz's homer.
In 1956, the Yankees and the Dodgers had such innings in the same game (Game 2, won by the Yanks, 13-8; Game 5 was Larsen's perfect game).
In 1952, the Yankees had two such innings, but they actually lost one of the games in which they did it (though they did win the Series).
In 1942, the Cardinals and the Yankees had 5-run innings in the same game; it was won by the Cards 9-6 en route to a surprising Series win over the Bombers in five games.
In 1936, the Yankees had three such innings against the Giants, two of them in a game where they set the record for the most runs scored in a World Series game (18). They won the Series in six games.
In 1929, the Cubs and the A's had 5+ run innings in the same game (Game 4); the Cubs got five in the sixth to take an 8-0 lead, but the A's scored ten (10!) in the seventh in the biggest World Series comeback ever.
In 1923, the Yankees had two such innings and finally won their first World Series against the Giants (after having lost to them in 1921 and 1922).
In 1912, the Giants had two such innings (Games 6 and 7), but there was a tie game in the Series that year and they lost Game 8 to the Red Sox (who won their first title...there would be three more that decade before the Curse of the Bambino would set in).
In 1908, the Cubs had two such innings, beating the Tigers for the second straight time in the Series (Detroit would lose again in 1909, becoming the only team to lose three World Series in a row).
One last fact: World Series teams who've scored 5+ runs in an inning almost always win (no big surprise there!), but there have been seven losing teams who've done so in the Series: the Cubs in '29, the Yankees in 1942, 1953, and 1956, the Mets in 2000...
--And the Phillies in 1993, who managed to lose two games in the same series (!!) in which they scored 5+ runs in an inning.
So the '24 Yanks are, after all is said and done, just a slightly anomalous underachiever. As was the 2024 World Series itself--looking as though it might be more interesting, then turning into mush with the two MVPs unable to replicate (via slump and injury) their regular-season dominance. So it goes...
