After a Game 1 loss, even the dominant Dodgers can't match the 2005 White Sox's historic 11-1 playoff masterpiece, a benchmark of modern October baseball excellence.
It’s been over 30 years since Major League Baseball expanded its postseason format to include a Wild Card team from each league and a Division Series round.
Before 1995, the only way to punch your ticket to October baseball was to win your division. Do that, and you went straight to the League Championship Series for a shot at the pennant — and a trip to the World Series.
But once the Division Series arrived in 1995, the road to a title got longer, tougher, and far more demanding. Suddenly, it took 11 postseason wins to capture a championship. And for the modern Wild Card teams, that number jumps to 13. Sustained greatness — not just a hot few weeks — became the new standard.
And through that modern lens, one team still stands above them all.
The Greatest Postseason Run of the Modern Era
The 2005 Chicago White Sox remain the best playoff team ever since the expanded format began.
They opened October by sweeping the defending champion Boston Red Sox in the ALDS — a statement series that announced Chicago’ was for real. Then came the ALCS against the Angels, where the Sox responded to a Game 1 loss by rattling off four straight complete games from their starting pitchers — a feat so absurd it might never happen again.
That dominance punched their ticket to the World Series, and once they got there, it was over in a blink. The Sox swept the Houston Astros in four games, finishing the postseason 11–1 with a collection of unforgettable moments — Konerko’s grand slam, Podsednik’s walk-off blast, and an extra-inning solo shot by Geoff Blum.
No team since the Division Series was implemented has won the World Series with a better record. None. Only the 1999 Yankees have the same 11-1 mark.
Dodgers Fall Short With Game 1 Loss
The Los Angeles Dodgers had a chance to make history this year. A sweep of the Blue Jays would have made them 13-1 in the 2025 playoffs. But after dropping Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night, that 2005 mark remains untouchable.
That loss was the Dodgers’ second of the postseason — meaning even if they ran the table from here, they’d finish 13–2, a lower winning percentage than Chicago’s 11–1 masterpiece.
Eighteen years later, the Sox are still the pinnacle.
And that team, for whatever reason, never seems to get the national respect it deserves. But when you look at how dominant the Dodgers have been — and realize even they can’t top that 2005 run — it reminds you just how special that group truly was.
If White Sox fans can’t have a new playoff run to rally behind right now, at least they still own a postseason record that might never be broken.
