Who are the 5 biggest betting long shots to win the World Series?

The 2023 Texas Rangers were the biggest preseason long shots to win the World Series in 20 years.

The Rangers, who entered the season with odds of 50-1 to win it all after finishing 68-94 in 2022, went 90-72 in the regular season.

They swept the Tampa Bay Rays in two games in the American League Wild Card Series and the Baltimore Orioles in three games in the AL Division Series.

Texas eliminated its in-state rival and defending World Series champion Houston Astros in seven games in the American League Championship Series. The Rangers then defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games to claim the first World Series title in franchise history.

Texas went 11-0 on the road to set a record for most road wins in a postseason in MLB history.

Here are the other biggest preseason long shots to win the World Series since 1985, when sportsoddshistory.com started tracking MLB futures odds.

2002 Anaheim Angels, 40-1

The Angels won the franchise’s first AL pennant and World Series title a year after finishing 41 games behind the Seattle Mariners, who won an MLB record 116 games in 2001, in the AL West. They went 99-63 in the regular season before beating the New York Yankees in four games in the ALDS and the Minnesota Twins in five games in the ALCS.

The Angels won the World Series in dramatic fashion. Trailing the series 3-2 to the San Francisco Giants, Anaheim rallied from a 5-0 deficit in the seventh inning of Game 6 en route to a 6-5 win. The Angels then erased an early 1-0 deficit in Game 7 on their way to a 4-1 victory.

1987 Minnesota Twins, 50-1

Having won only 85 games during the regular season, the Twins won the World Series with the then-fewest regular season wins since MLB expanded to a 162-game schedule in 1961. They also became the first team to win the World Series despite being outscored by their opponents in the regular season, 806-786.

Minnesota won the ALCS in five games over the Detroit Tigers. The Twins topped the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games in the first World Series in which the home team won every game. Minnesota erased an early 2-0 deficit in Game 7, and Frank Viola tossed eight strong innings en route to World Series MVP honors.

2003 Florida Marlins, 75-1

The Marlins became the second team in baseball history to win a World Series title after being 10 games under .500 (19-29) during the season. The other team was the 1914 Boston Braves. Florida went 72-42 after its slow start to finish 91-71. It upset the heavily favored defending National League champion Giants in the NLDS to set up an NLCS matchup with the long-suffering Chicago Cubs.

The Cubs led the series 3-1 and appeared poised to win their first NL pennant since 1945 with a 3-0 lead in the eighth inning of Game 6 before the infamous Steve Bartman incident. The Cubs fan deflected a foul ball near the wall to prevent Chicago left fielder Moises Alou from catching it for the second out of the inning. The Marlins then exploded for eight runs in the inning en route to an 8-3 win. They won Game 7 the next day at Wrigley Field to advance to the World Series, where they upset the Yankees in six games behind ace Josh Beckett.

1991 Minnesota Twins, 80-1

The Twins were the first team to go from a last-place finish to a World Series championship. Minnesota finished last in the division in 1990 with a 74-88 record. It reeled off a team-record 15-game win streak during the 1991 season en route to a 95-67 mark. The Twins beat the Atlanta Braves — who joined Minnesota that season as the first teams to go from worst to first — in seven games in what is widely regarded as one of the greatest World Series ever.

Five of the World Series games were decided by one run, four were decided in the final at-bat, and three went to extra innings. Game 7 was a scoreless tie through nine innings. Minnesota won 1-0 in the 10th inning when Dan Gladden hit a leadoff double and scored on Gene Larkin’s one-out single. Twins starter Jack Morris pitched a complete game en route to World Series MVP honors.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.