by Mark Langill
Dinosaurs didn’t walk the earth during the first century of Major League Baseball, a time when great teams morphed into dynasties and free agency didn’t emerge until the mid-1970s.
But generations of rosters generally staying the same for a decade — and superstars spending their entire career with just one team — seems like definite Natural History Museum material.
Having just completed the first back-to-back World Series titles in the history of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles franchise, the 2026 Dodgers will climb into the time machine for their next challenge.
Three in a row?
Before flipping a coin to determine whether you’ll attend the stadium rally or downtown Los Angeles parade in 2026, consider the amazing accomplishment that just took place in Game 7 of the World Series at Toronto.
Setting aside the miracle finish and crazy storylines at Rogers Centre; the Dodgers became the first MLB team since the 1998–2000 New York Yankees to repeat as a World Series champion.
“This is so hard to do,” Dodger first baseman Freddie Freeman said moments after the Dodgers’ 5–4 victory in 11 innings. “What’s so cool is we get to use the same narrative next year because the Yankees are three time back-to-back.”
The Dodgers join the 1921–22 New York Giants and 1975–76 Cincinnati Reds as the National League’s only repeat champions.
Dominance in the American League is a different story, thanks to the industry-record 27 World Series won by the Yankees between 1923 and 2009.
The Dodgers are well aware of the Yankees’ October history. When the Yankees won five consecutive World Series from 1949 to 1953, three were against the Dodgers at a time Brooklyn hadn’t yet won a title. That would come in 1955, against the Yankees, of course.
The Yankees also won four consecutive World Series from 1936 to 1939, but none against the Dodgers, mired in five consecutive second-division finishes in the eight-team NL between 1933 to 1937.
The Dodgers also experienced the last of the pre-free agent dynasties of the 1970s. The Oakland A’s won their third consecutive title in the 1974 Fall Classic, defeating Los Angeles in five games.
2025 World Series: After one pair, three of a kind? was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.