"The New York Yankees won the World Series in 2000 - their third consecutive championship - then lost the World Series in 2001. Since then, only one champion has even returned to the World Series the following year. Over half the time - 12 times in 23 years - the World Series champion did not even qualify for the postseason the following year. Seven champions lost in the next year's league championship series. Three lost in the next year's division series."
"The historical record indicates winning the World Series is tough and winning the next is tougher, but Rollins would not concede that. "I don't think it was harder than it was the first time," said Rollins, working the NLCS as an analyst for TNT Sports. "I think the first time was the hardest. "You haven't gone there. You haven't made it to the top and had that success. It was more about motivation: We're the champs now, we're just taking another step.""
Repeating as World Series champions has been historically rare and difficult, with many reigning champions failing to make the postseason or advance far the following year. Since the Yankees' early-2000s run, only one champion returned to the World Series the next season, and over half of champions in the past 23 years missed the postseason entirely the following year. The Dodgers have compiled a 7-1 postseason record and are two victories away from returning to the World Series, a feat accomplished recently only by the 2008-09 Philadelphia Phillies. Veteran voices frame the repeat as about sustained motivation rather than greater difficulty.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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