5. 2012 Giants
Offensively wise the Giants fit the part of a Cinderella story. They were lead by MVP Buster Posey who had 24 homeruns and 103 RBI's and hit .336, but they had only 2 other players in Melky Cabrera and Pablo Sandoval who hit more than 10 homeruns. To make matters worse Melky Cabrera was suspended for the rest of the season in August because he took PED's. Brian Sabean their GM knew that offense would be an issue so he acquired Hunter Pence and Marco Scutaro which would pay dividends later. Their pitching on the other hand was elite, they were lead by Matt Cain who would pitch a perfect game that was saved in the 8th inning by a miraculous catch by Gregor Blanco. They also had 3 other quality arms in Madison Bumgarner, Ryan Vogelsong, and a nice comeback season by Barry Zito. What made the Giants a Cinderella story was in the postseason, they won their division so they faced the Cincinnati Reds in the Division Series. They lost game's 1 and 2 and were tied 1-1 in extras in game 3. In the top of the tenth Posey and Pence singled and then utility man Joaquin Arias hit a ball to Scott Rolen who bobbled it and Posey scored which proved to be the turning point in the series. The Giants won game 4 thanks to homeruns by Angel Pagan, Gregor Blanco, and Pablo Sandoval, and finished the improbable comeback in game 5 thanks to a 6 run 4th inning. In the ALCS the Cardinals won 3 out of the 1st 4 games to take a 3-1 lead in the series. The Giants won Game 5 thanks to a masterful performance by Barry Zito who was often the punching bag of insults by Giants fans. A funny moment during the broadcast of Game 5 is that when hearing the crowd in San Francisco cheer "Barry, Barry" Joe Buck said "this crowd hasn't said that in a while" in reference to the fact that they used to cheer that for Barry Bonds when he played there, but Tim McCarver misinterpreted it because he forgot about Barry Bonds and he said "What, since the last Barry Manilow concert." The Giants won Game 6 and completed the comeback in Game 7 thanks to Hunter Pence's 2 RBI single which hit his bat twice. This is illegal but it is very difficult for umpires to tell so they often let it slide. The Giants then faced the Tigers in the World Series and in Game 1, Pablo Sandoval tied a series record by hitting 3 homeruns in a Giants win, the Giants shut out the Tigers in Game 2 and 3 and finished the sweep in game 4 thanks to an extra inning go ahead single by Marco Scutaro.
4. 1914 Boston Braves
The 1914 Boston Braves were not expected to be contenders. They had finished 5th place the year prior with a 69-82 record and weren't expected to improve much the next season. They spent the first part of the season in 10th place and had a record of 26-40 in early July but from then on they went on a miraculous 70-19 run and they won the National League Pennant by 10 and a half games. They were lead offensively by Joe Connolly who had a team leading 9 homeruns and .306 batting average. Pitching was the real story for this team however as they had 3 aces. Dick Rudolph and his 26-10 record and 2.35 ERA, Bill James and his 26-7 record and 1.90 ERA, and Lefty Tyler and his 16-13 record and his 2.69 ERA. In the World Series they faced Connie Mack's heavily favored Philadelphia Athletics. In Game 1 the Braves won handily by a score of 7-1. They won 1-0 in Game 2 on a 2 out RBI single in the top of the 9th inning by Les Mann. In Game 3 the Braves won in 12 innings on an error by "Bullet" Joe Bush, and they finished the sweep in Game 4.
3. 2007 Colorado Rockies
The 2007 Colorado Rockies had a very good offense, they were lead by Matt Holliday who was 2nd in the MVP race, who hit 36 homeruns and 137 RBI's and hit .340, Troy Tulowitzki the rookie shortstop who had 24 homeruns and 99 RBI's, Garrett Atkins and Brad Hawpe combined for 54 homeruns and 227 RBI's, and they had their captain Todd Helton who hit 17 homeruns and hit .320. On their pitching staff they were lead by Jeff Francis and his 17 win season, however no Rockies starter had an ERA below 4. The Rockies were thought to be out of the race in September, however they won 14 of their last 15 games and their final 11 to force a 1 game playoff with the San Diego Padres. In that playoff the Rockies won a hard fought battle in which Jamey Carroll hit a sac fly in the 12th inning to score Matt Holliday. They then swept the Phillies and the Diamondbacks in the Division Series, and Championship Series. This stretch from the end of September to the Championship Series was nicknamed Rocktober due to the Rockies success in winning important games. Unfortunately, the Rockies were swept by the Red Sox in the World Series which is why they are not higher on the list.
2. 1969 Mets
The Mets became in expansion team in 1962 and before 1969 they had never finished above .500, not only had they never finished above .500 but they never were above .500 at any point in the season after their 9th game. In 1969 the Mets started out 18-23 but they went 82-39 for the rest of the season, which included 2 streaks of 11 consecutive wins. On offense they were lead by Tommy Agee who hit 26 homeruns and Cleon Jones who hit .340. On the pitching staff they had 3 elite starters who all had ERA's under 3.50 in Gary Gentry, Tom Seaver, and Jerry Koosman. The Mets went 100 and 62 and then swept the Braves in the Championship Series and they faced the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. The Orioles won 109 games and had hitters Frank Robinson, Boog Powell, and Brooks Robinson and star pitchers Jim Palmer, Dave McNally, and Mike Cuellar. The Orioles won Game 1 in extra innings but the Mets miraculously swept the next 4 games to win the series, which is why this Mets team is called "The Miracle Mets". In addition Nolan Ryan was an oft used relief pitcher and occasional spot starter for this team and he won his only World Series with them.
1. 2011 Cardinals
The 2011 Cardinals are the ultimate Cinderella team because of how they were able to overcome so much adversity. They were lead on offense by Albert Pujols who hit 37 homeruns and Lance Berkman who hit 31 and they were lead on their pitching staff by Chris Carpenter. The Cardinals suffered from many injuries to their core players such as Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, and David Freese, and lost ace Adam Wainwright to Tommy John Surgery in the middle of Spring Training. At the beginning of August the Cardinals were 2.5 games behind the Brewers in the divisional standings, but by August 24 they were 10 games out of the division and 10.5 games back of the wild card leading Braves. Then in September things started to change, the Cardinals went 18-8 for the month while the Braves went 9-18 and the Cardinals clinched a wild card spot on the final day of the season completing the comeback. The Cardinals played the Phillies in a tight Division Series showdown that went back and forth but the Cardinals ended up winning on a complete game 3 hit shutout by Chris Carpenter over Roy Halladay. The Cardinals then beat the Brewers in 6 games in the Championship Series and had to face the Rangers in the World Series. The Cardinals and Rangers split games 1 and 2 and in Game 3 the Cardinals won on Albert Pujols 3 homeruns. However the Rangers won the next 2 games so they were up 3 games to 2 going into Game 6. In the bottom of the 9th inning in Game 6 with two outs and two strikes on David Freese, he hit a game tying 2 run triple which ended up sending the game into extras. The Rangers scored in the top of the 10th and the Cardinals scored again on Lance Berkman's RBI single after being down to their last strike again. The Cardinals won the game in the bottom of the 11th on David Freese's walkoff homerun, and they won Game 7 to clinch the series.
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