Alejandro Kirk's bat shattered. The ball dribbled toward shortstop. Mookie Betts scooped it and flipped to second for the season-ending double play.

Just like that, the 2025 World Series was over. The Dodgers had won their second straight championship in one of the most thrilling Game 7s anyone had ever seen. An 11-inning battle. Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitching on zero days rest. The series going the distance after an 18-inning marathon in Game 3.

Where does it rank among the best World Series ever played? Pretty high, actually.

Since 1900, baseball has given us 41 seven-game World Series. Some were forgettable. Others carved themselves into the sport's history with late-inning comebacks, pitching heroics, and moments that still get replayed decades later. The 2025 series belongs in that second group. Yamamoto joined an elite club by winning three games, matching feats accomplished by only a handful of pitchers in World Series history. The Dodgers became the first repeat champions since the Yankees won three straight from 1998-2000.

But how does 2025 stack up against the legends? Here are 13 World Series since 1900 that either match or surpass what we just witnessed in Toronto and Los Angeles. This is Part 1, covering series ranked 13 through 7. Tomorrow, we'll count down the top six, saving the best for last.

13. 1965: Los Angeles Dodgers over Minnesota Twins (4-3)
Sandy Koufax (LHP, LAD) couldn't pitch Game 1. It fell on Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. The Dodgers started Don Drysdale (RHP, LAD) instead, and he got hammered. The Twins won 8-2. Minnesota won Game 2 as well, beating Koufax 5-1.

Down 2-0 in the series, the Dodgers turned to Claude Osteen (LHP, LAD) for Game 3. He threw a five-hit shutout, and suddenly the series was alive again. Koufax pitched Game 5 and tossed a four-hit shutout. Seven to nothing, Dodgers.

Game 7 came down to Koufax on two days rest. He'd thrown a complete game in Game 5. Now he had to go again. The Twins' Jim Kaat (LHP, MIN) matched him inning for inning. Neither pitcher allowed a run through five innings.

Lou Johnson (OF, LAD) homered in the fourth to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. They added another run in the fifth. Koufax made it hold up. He threw a complete-game shutout in Game 7, allowing just three hits. Final score: 2-0, Dodgers.

Koufax finished the series with a 0.95 ERA in three starts. Two shutouts. Game 2 was his only loss, and he still went seven innings in that one. He won his second straight World Series MVP Award, but this one came at a cost. His elbow was shot. He retired after the 1966 season at age 30, unable to pitch through the pain anymore.

12. 1971: Pittsburgh Pirates over Baltimore Orioles (4-3)
Roberto Clemente (OF, PIT) had been one of the best players in baseball for 15 years. Four batting titles. Twelve Gold Glove awards. Two championships with the Pirates. But he'd never gotten the national recognition he deserved. Too many games in Pittsburgh, not enough on prime time television.

The 1971 World Series changed that. Game 7 was played at night, a World Series first. America got to watch Clemente play. He hit .414 for the series with two home runs. He made spectacular catches in right field. He threw out runners with that rocket arm. Steve Blass (RHP, PIT) won Games 3 and 7, but Clemente was the story.

He finished the series with 12 hits, four runs scored, and one unforgettable moment after another. Finally, the whole country understood what Pittsburgh fans already knew: Roberto Clemente was one of the greatest players who ever lived.

Clemente died in a plane crash on December 31, 1972, just over a year after the World Series, while trying to deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. He was 38 years old. The Hall of Fame waived its five-year waiting period and inducted him in 1973.

11. 1926: St. Louis Cardinals over New York Yankees (4-3)
Grover Cleveland Alexander (RHP, STL) was-39-years old. He'd won 27 games during the 1926 regular season for the Cardinals, pitching through hangovers and whatever else came his way. In the World Series, he won Games 2 and 6.

Game 7 at Yankee Stadium saw the Cardinals leading 3-2 in the seventh inning. The Yankees loaded the bases with two outs. Tony Lazzeri (2B, NYY) came to the plate. Cardinals manager Rogers Hornsby called for Alexander from the bullpen.

Alexander had pitched nine innings the day before. He was hung over. He walked to the mound, took his warmup tosses, and got Lazzeri to strike out swinging. He pitched the final 2.1 innings without allowing a run.

In the ninth inning with two outs, Babe Ruth (OF, NYY) walked. The Yankees had Bob Meusel coming up, a dangerous hitter. Ruth took off for second base, trying to steal. Catcher Bob O'Farrell (C, STL) threw him out. Series over.

The Cardinals won their first World Series in franchise history. Alexander became a legend. Ronald Reagan later played him in a movie called "The Winning Team."

10. 1960: Pittsburgh Pirates over New York Yankees (4-3)
Bill Mazeroski (3B, PIT) wasn't a great hitter. He was a second baseman known for his glove. Career .260 batting average. But on October 13, 1960, he did something no one had ever done before.

The score was tied 9-9 in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7. Mazeroski led off against Ralph Terry (RHP, NYY). Second pitch, fastball. Mazeroski swung. The ball sailed over the left field wall at Forbes Field. Walk-off home run to win the World Series.

It remains the only Game 7 walk-off homer in World Series history.

The series itself was weird. The Yankees outscored the Pirates 55-27 over seven games. New York won their three games by scores of 16-3, 10-0, and 12-0. Pittsburgh won four close games. Final records meant nothing. The Pirates won the championship on Mazeroski's swing.

9. 2011: St. Louis Cardinals over Texas Rangers (4-3)
David Freese (3B, STL) grew up in St. Louis. He played college ball at South Alabama and worked his way through the minor leagues before making the Cardinals in 2009. In Game 6 of the 2011 World Series, he became a hometown hero.

The Rangers led 7-5 in the bottom of the ninth. They were one strike away from winning the championship. Freese tripled to right-center, scoring two runs to tie it. The game went to extras.

Texas scored twice in the top of the 10th to go up 9-7. Again, the Rangers were one strike away from winning. Lance Berkman (1B/OF, STL) hit a two-run single to tie it again.

Freese led off the bottom of the 11th. Mark Lowe (RHP, TEX) threw a fastball. Freese hammered it over the center field wall. Walk-off home run. Cardinals win, 10-9.

Game 7 felt like a formality after that. The Cardinals won 6-2 behind strong pitching from Chris Carpenter (RHP, STL). But Game 6 will live forever. Twice down to the final strike. Twice the Cardinals came back. Freese won World Series MVP.

8. 1986: New York Mets over Boston Red Sox (4-3)

"Little roller up along first, behind the bag. It gets through Buckner! Here comes Knight, and the Mets win it!"

Vin Scully's call of Bill Buckner's (1B, BOS) error in Game 6 is permanently burned into baseball history. The Red Sox led 5-3 in the 10th inning with two outs and nobody on base. They were one strike away from winning the World Series. Twice.

The Mets rallied. Gary Carter (C, NYM) singled. Kevin Mitchell (OF/3B, NYM) singled. Ray Knight (3B, NYM) singled to score Carter. Bob Stanley's wild pitch scored Mitchell to tie it. Mookie Wilson (OF, NYM) hit a ground ball to first. Buckner couldn't field it cleanly. The ball rolled through his legs. Knight scored from second. Mets win, 6-5.

Game 7 was almost anticlimactic. The Mets won 8-5 to capture their second championship. But everyone remembers Game 6. Everyone remembers Buckner. The Red Sox wouldn't win another World Series until 2004.

7. 2016: Chicago Cubs over Cleveland Indians (4-3)

The Cubs hadn't won a World Series since 1908. One hundred and eight years. The longest championship drought in American sports history.

Cleveland was trying to win its first title since 1948. Game 7 at Progressive Field had everything. The Cubs scored twice in the fifth to take a 5-1 lead. Cleveland scored three in the sixth to cut it to 5-4. Kyle Schwarber (OF/DH, CHC) homered in the seventh to make it 6-4 Cubs.

Aroldis Chapman (LHP, CHC) came in to pitch the eighth. He got through it, but barely. In the ninth, Brandon Guyer (OF, CLE) singled. Rajai Davis (OF, CLE) stepped in. Chapman threw a fastball. Davis crushed it over the left field wall. The game was tied, 6-6.

A rain delay hit in the 10th inning. Seventeen minutes. Long enough for the Cubs to regroup. When play resumed, Chicago scored twice. Ben Zobrist (2B/OF/SS, CHC) doubled home the go-ahead run. Miguel Montero (C, CHC) singled in an insurance run.

Cleveland got one back in the bottom of the 10th, but Mike Montgomery (LHP, CHC) got Michael Martinez to ground out to third for the final out. The Cubs won, 8-7. The curse was over.

Tomorrow in Part 2, we'll count down the top six World Series since 1900, building to the greatest Fall Classic ever played. The drama gets even better from here.