Celebrate Leicester's magical run with tales of the five most improbable World Series champions

When Tottenham Hotspur drew with Chelsea on Monday afternoon, the impossible dream became reality: Tiny Leicester City -- a 5,000-to-1 longshot at the beginning of the season -- clinched their first English Premier League title in 132 years of existence.
This was no run-of-the-mill upset, either. Leicester didn't simply go worst-to-first -- the team had been mired in England's second division just a few years ago, entered 2016 with a bottom-four payroll and had never won a top-division title in 132 years of existence. Imagine the the Toledo Mud Hens are promoted to the big leagues tomorrow, then immediately sprint all the way to 90 wins and a World Series title -- then you'll begin to wrap your head around what the Foxes pulled off.
And so, in honor of their triumph, it's time to celebrate the Leicesters of MLB -- the teams that came from nowhere to capture the Fall Classic.
The 1969 Mets
Heading into the '69 season, the Mets had only existed for seven years -- and nothing the franchise had shown suggested they were ready to make a run. The team had won more than 70 games just once, and set a standard for futility with a 40-120 record in its debut season.
There were no marquee offseason acquisitions, no adjustments to speak of. New York stumbled to an 18-23 mark, and it seemed like business as usual. And then, suddenly, everything changed: Behind an all-world pitching staff led by Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Gary Gentry, the newly-named Miracle Mets caught fire, going 82-39 the rest of the way to finish eight games clear of the second-place Cubs -- with some help from a conspicuous black cat.

The fates squarely on their side, the team wouldn't miss a beat in October -- after sweeping the Braves in the first-ever NLCS, New York dispatched the Orioles in five games to cap one of the most remarkable turnarounds in baseball history.
The 1924 Senators
Speaking of turnarounds, the Senators had spent the better part of two decades in relative obscurity -- despite the awesomeness of future Hall of Famer Walter Johnson, Washington had finished within 10 games of the AL pennant just two times from 1908-1923. But in 1924, they finally got over the hump: 24-year-old Goose Goslin paced the offense, Johnson fired 277 2/3 innings with a 2.72 ERA en route to his second MVP and the Senators edged the Yankees by two games to reach the Fall Classic ... where the fun was just beginning
Four games in the 1924 World Series against the Giants were decided by one run, and two went extra innings -- including the deciding Game 7. After eking out a 2-1 win in Game 6, the Senators were forced to give the ball to Curly Ogden with the season on the line ... until manager Bucky Harris pulled a fast one. After Ogden faced two batters, Harris called on lefty George Modridge -- Harris had gone with Ogden to lock the Giants into their right-handed lineup.
After Washington tied the game at 3 in the eighth, they called on Johnson to take them home. The Big Train threw four scoreless innings in relief, and when Giants' shortstop Fred Lindstrom couldn't handle a ground ball with a runner on second, the Senators were on top of the baseball world.
The 1987 Twins
The Senators would eventually head to Minnesota in 1961, where they became the Twins -- where the team experienced great success in the 1960s, but soon fell on hard times. Minnesota hadn't seen the postseason since 1970, and coming off a 71-91 campaign, things didn't look great. 
Luckily for Kirby Puckett and Co., divisional alignments were on their side: Only two teams in the AL West finished above .500, and behind a dinger-happy offense led by Gary Gaetti, Kent Hrbek and Puckett (Bert Blyleven was the only Twins starter with an ERA of 4.00 or lower), Minnesota claimed the division at just 85-77. Once the Twins were in, though, they didn't look back.
The team steamrolled the Tigers in five games in the ALCS, setting up a showdown with the powerhouse Cardinals. The home team held serve for the first six games, setting up a do-or-die Game 7 back in the deafening and Hanky-filled Metrodome -- where Frank Viola was ready to take over.

After giving up two runs in the second, Viola settled in and pitched the game of his life -- eight innings, six hits, seven strikeouts. The Twins' bats would come to life, scoring in the fifth, sixth and eighth to capture the title.
The 2002 Angels
When a movie feels compelled to literally offer divine intervention to your team, things aren't going so well. Heading into 2002, the Angels had made three postseason appearances in their entire history -- and zero since 1986 -- while fluctuating between 75 and 85 wins for the past five seasons. They were a team in need of a spark, something to get them out of their funk. Enter the Rally Monkey:

Inspired by their magical primate -- and, of course, an offense led by Garret Anderson, Troy Glaus and Darin Erstad -- the Angels went 99-63 and won the AL Wild Card behind the Moneyball A's. But while they were a nice story, they faced an uphill battle in October. First up were the Yankees in the ALDS, a team that had won four straight AL pennants and four World Series in the last seven years ... until the Angels got past them in four games.
Then, after knocking off the Twins in five games in the ALCS, they met Barry Bonds and the Giants. It was a back-and-forth series, but after San Francisco won Game 5 decisively, they led 5-0 in the seventh inning of Game 6, and looked on the verge of winning it all. The Angels needed a hero. They needed a Rally Monkey:

Scott Spiezio's three-run dinger capped a six-run rally, and the Angels never looked back. They hung on for the win in Game 6 and took Game 7, 4-1.
The 1988 Dodgers
If you have one image of the 1988 World Series, it's probably this: Kirk Gibson hobbling around the bases, pumping his fist.What you might not remember, though, is that the Dodgers had sputtered in the late-'80s, going 73-89 in both 1986 and 1987. The team was picked to finish fourth in the NL West ... but that, as they say, is why they play the games.
The newly-signed Gibson won the NL MVP. Orel Hershiser won a Cy Young Award and threw a record 59 consecutive scoreless innings. Just three Dodgers hit double-digit home runs, but behind a lights-out pitching staff, L.A. won 94 games and the division crown.
Then all the Dodgers had to do was face down two of the powerhouses of the era: After surviving a seven-game battle with Doc Gooden and the Mets, L.A. advanced to take on the Bash Brothers from Oakland in the World Series. In Game 1, the favored A's jumped out to a lead with four runs in the second, and led 4-3 heading into the bottom of the ninth. With a man on and Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley on the mound, manager Tommy Lasorda made a bold move: He called on Gibson, with two injured legs, to pinch-hit. You know the rest.

That was Gibson's only at-bat of the Series, but it demoralized Oakland, and L.A. would win in five games.