MLB Showdown Obsession

 Many World Champions make their title(s) part of a longer sustained run of competitiveness. It's not unreasonable though to have a title run happen right after a terrible season when suddenly everything clicks...or even a title run come right before a terrible season where everything strangely falls apart. Such terrible seasons preceding or following a title finish are usually shrugged off as blips on the radar of an otherwise strong team...but only once has that been reversed, where terrible seasons are briefly interrupted with a random World Series title. The 2011-2015 era of the Red Sox deserves study. 2011 was the famous "Chicken and Beer" collapse where the Red Sox choked away what was a nearly locked up trip to the playoffs. 2012 saw them follow up with a last place finish in the AL East. In 2014 and '15, they also finished dead last in the division...but 2013 saw them immediately click with new Manager John Farrell. They finished the season 97-65, 5.5 games ah...