That was 25 years ago, and no franchise has won consecutive championships since. Yet a few mini-dynastys and major surprises have sprung since then. With the 2025 Major League Baseball season approaching, USA TODAY Sports ranks the 25 World Series champions from, shall we say, least-accomplished to greatest in this century:

In what has become something of an unofficial start-of-season tradition, Yahoo Sports simulated the entire 2025 season in MLB The Show 25.

The Dodgers were a long way from Los Angeles on Tuesday but with Shohei Ohtani and two more Japanese stars they were the home team for Tokyo fans in a historic season-opening 4-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs.