The amount of people who predicted a 2023 Texas Rangers-Arizona Diamondbacks World Series is low. Their preseason odds to win the World Series were 50-1 for the Rangers and 66-1 for the Diamondbacks. Things can change during the regular season, but the Diamondbacks were even 40-1 at the beginning of the Wild Card series.

The Diamondbacks may not have even made the playoffs if it wasn't for an egregious outfield error by Seiya Suzuki (via ESPN) of the Chicago Cubs. They then had to navigate through the Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Dodgers, who they finished 16 games behind in the NL West division standings, and of course the Philadelphia Phillies.

Worst World Series winners of the last 25 years

If the Diamondbacks can finish the job, they will no doubt add their name to this list. They were also one loss away from having the same record as the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006. That team has the lowest winning percentage among any World Series winner. Let's look at the worst World Series champions of the last 25 years.

2000 – New York Yankees

The Yankees were getting a ton of respect during the 2000 season due to being back-to-back champions. Was it warranted? Maybe not.

The Yankees were two years removed from a 114-win season, considered one of the greatest teams ever. They won only 87 games in 2000 and made the playoffs only due to a weak American League East. The Yankees had the fifth-best record in the American League, meaning they would have finished third in the other divisions.

They only had the sixth-most runs in the league, and their pitching staff struggled with a 4.76 ERA. Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, and Jorge Posada had their typical great seasons, but the rest of their lineup and pitching let them down.

The Oakland Athletics dominated them 11-1 in game 4 of the ALDS and had to fly back to New York to try and win the series. They did and then dominated the Seattle Mariners in the ALCS. It was time for a New York World Series matchup as they faced the New York Mets. Unsurprisingly, they sent Little Brother home in five games.

Were the back-to-back champions taking it easy in the regular season to save their best for the playoffs? It's possible.

Diamondbacks upset the Yankees

2001 – Arizona Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks had the sixth-best odds to win the World Series heading into the regular season at 10-1. The only number that mattered was the 2-1 odds for the New York Yankees to win their fourth-straight championship. The Diamondbacks' odds were propped up by two of the greatest starting pitchers of all time, Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling.

They also had a great hitter in Luis Gonzalez. Schilling and Johnson combined to go 43-12 on the season, and all they needed was some run support in the playoffs.

Run support was what they got in the World Series. Gonzalez had an off-series by his standards, batting .259. However, Danny Bautista, Erubiel Durazo, Steve Finley, Mark Grace, Reggie Sanders, and Matt Williams all outhit Gonzalez. The Diamondbacks won two games, 9-1 and 15-2.

Randy Johnson had THREE wins out of four, and Schilling chipped in with a win in Game 1. The Diamondbacks may have won the series earlier on the heels of a Schilling gem in Game 4, but Byung-Hyun Kim allowed three runs in his 2.2 innings of work to blow the lead.

To put the icing on the cake, Mariano Rivera came to the mound in the ninth inning, winning 2-1, but gave up three hits and two runs to blow the save and the Yankees' chance at a fourth-straight World Series title. Gonzalez was quiet in the World Series but came through with the winning hit.

2003 – Florida Marlins

Several things had to swing in the right direction for the 2003 Marlins. They weren't outstanding in any area during the regular season, finishing eighth in runs scored and seventh in runs allowed. They only won 91 games and had to finish the season with a 15-6 record to even make the playoffs.

Their divisional-round matchup against the San Francisco Giants was won due to a costly error by Jose Cruz. Cruz was a sure-handed defender who made only two errors in 158 games during the regular season. Jeff Conine hit a lazy fly ball down the right-field line that Cruz couldn't snag. They beat the Chicago Cubs in the NLCS because some fan named Steve Bartman interfered with a foul ball, via MLB on YouTube.

No one gave them any chance in the World Series against the powerhouse New York Yankees. They came into the series at +190 odds to win. These odds were pretty good, considering the beginning of the season saw their odds at 75-1 while the Yankees were 2-1. Nevertheless, the Marlins beat the Yankees in six games thanks to a nine-strikeout complete game by Josh Beckett in Game 6 at Yankee Stadium.

2006 – St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals were a favorite heading into the season at 7-1 odds. Their performance on the field didn't match the preseason predictions, as they struggled to an 83-78 record. They had the lowest winning percentage for any eventual champion at .516.

Their starting pitchers went 6-11 with a 6.22 ERA in June, and their bullpen struggled throughout August. These problems led the Cardinals to two eight-game losing streaks, almost leaving them on the outside looking in for the playoffs. Lucky for them, the National League Central was weak in 2006. They earned a playoff berth on the last day of the regular season, via theScore.

Going into the divisional round against the San Diego Padres, the Cardinals had the same 7-1 odds to win the World Series as they had preseason. They got past the Padres and had to face the Mets, still having 5-1 odds while being among the final four teams. They made the World Series and were underdogs again (+175) but managed to dispose of the Detroit Tigers in four games.

Giants' dynasty?

2010 – San Francisco Giants

In hindsight, it's mindblowing that this team would end up being the dynasty of the 2010s. Their pitching was top-notch. They had a starting rotation of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, and Jonathan Sanchez. Brian Wilson, Sergio Romo, and Santiago Casilla were ready in the bullpen when the starters couldn't continue.

The Giants were 25-1 to win at the start of the season and only reached 18-1 throughout the year. The Philadelphia Phillies were the odds-on favorite to come out of the National League. The Giants were 10-1 to win the World Series at the beginning of the playoffs and still had the second-best odds in the NL.

They took care of the Phillies in six games in the NLCS and dominated the Texas Rangers in five games in the World Series. They answered any questions about their offense with 20 runs in the first two games and then held the Rangers to one total run in Games 4 and 5.

Aubrey Huff, Buster Posey, Edgar Renteria (.412 average and two home runs), Freddy Sanchez, Cody Ross, and Andres Torres led the charge for the Giants offense. Renteria's breakout in the World Series was even more unlikely since he was in the twilight of his career.

2011 – St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals were 7.5 games out of the wild card when they welcomed Atlanta to St. Louis for a three-game series. The Cards swept the Braves, cutting their lead to 4.5 games. They won three of four against the Philadelphia Phillies as the Miami Marlins took care of the Braves.

With nine games to play, the Cardinals were only 2.5 games out of the playoffs. The Cards miraculously went into Game 162, tied with the Braves for the wild card. The Phillies beat the Braves in the 13th inning, and the Cardinals won, sending the Cards to the playoffs.

The Cardinals' odds were 14-1 heading into the playoffs due to matching up with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Cardinals were down 2-1 in the series heading into a crucial Game 4, taking the win to head back to Philadelphia in a winner-take-all.

It was Chris Carpenter vs Roy Halladay in Game 5, which lived up to the hype. The Cardinals won 1-0 thanks to Carpenter's complete game three-hit gem. Halladay was outstanding as well, going eight innings with seven strikeouts. His one blemish was an RBI double from Skip Schumaker in the top of the 1st inning.

It wasn't the end of the Cinderella run for the Cardinals. They dispatched the Milwaukee Brewers in six games in the NLCS but found themselves down 3-2 to the Texas Rangers in the World Series.

They trailed 7-5 in the ninth inning with two outs and two strikes. David Freese roped a triple off the right field wall to tie the game and send it to extra innings. In the bottom of the 10th, Lance Berkman had a game-tying hit to send the game to another inning. Then, in the bottom of the 11th, Freese hit a bomb over the center-field wall to extend the series to Game 7.

The game was over before it began, with Chris Carpenter taking the mound. They won 6-2 and capped one of the more improbable September-October runs.

2014 – San Francisco Giants

It was the Giants' third World Series championship in five years. The 2010 edition of the team is already featured on this list, but they proved again that they were a playoff team. They returned much of the same roster as the 2012 title, but a 76-86 record in 2013 made people believe that the Giants' run was ending.

They improved to an 88-74 record in 2014, grabbing the wild-card spot. On September 1, 2014, the Giants had 20-1 odds to win the World Series, per sportsoddshistory.com. Their odds didn't lower until they made the NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals. It was the unstoppable force vs the immovable object as two perennial playoff winners faced off, with the Giants coming out on top.

The Giants faced the Kansas City Royals in the World Series, who were also a surprise entrant. The Royals had 40-1 odds to win at the start of the season. Despite this, oddsmakers made the Royals a slight favorite heading into the series.

The series went to seven, but the Giants won 3-2 in the deciding game. It's remembered for Madison Bumgarner's performance, getting the win in Games 1 and 5 and the save in Game 7.