"Forgotten" Champions
October 2017- Every so often a professional sports team that wins a championship is "forgotten". Of course their fans will forever remember the taste of victory, but the rest of the world somehow forgets about them. There's instances of this in every sport for various reasons. These reasons could be: a lack of star power, a small fan base that can't on the legacy or a team not having the name of a high market competitor. Here are examples of "forgotten" teams in every sport.
MLB
2001 Arizona Diamondbacks (4-3 series win over NYY): The 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks were against the impossible facing the three time defending World Series Champion, New York Yankees. But in only their 4th year as an expansion team, they pulled off one of the biggest upsets in sports history when Luis Gonzalez singled off a legendary closer Mariano Rivera to walk it off.
San Francisco Giants Dynasty from 2010-2014: The SF Giants won 3 WS crowns in 5 years in one of the most remarkable stretches in MLB history.
2010: This Giants team had a few stars in Buster Posey, Tim Lincecum and Brian Wilson, but were mainly a veteran team built for an October run. They defeated the star powered Texas Rangers in 5 games to shock the MLB.
2012: After an up and down regular season, the Giants put together an incredible October run to win the 2012 crown. In the NLDS they went down 2-0 to the Reds and won three straight divisional series elimination games, becoming the first team to ever do so. Then in the NLCS they went down 3-1 to the St. Louis Cardinals and make another improbable comeback winning the next 3 games. The World Series was surprisingly the easy part for the Giants, as they swept the Tigers in 4 games to win another crown.
2014: This was the most star studded roster the Giants had within this five year stretch as they had: Linceum, Bumgarner, Morse, Posey and Cain. This team also provided the most known hit of this stretch when Travis Ishikawa hit a walk-off home run vs the Cardinals in game 5 of the NLDS to send the Giants to the World Series. They defeated the Royals in a 7 game thrilling series.
NBA
2011 Dallas Mavericks (4-2 series win over Miami Heat): In LeBron James first year with the Miami Heat, the Mavs spoiled the party by winning it all. However, this series is more known for the Heat not winning, more than Dallas actually winning in pretty dominant fashion. The Mavs weren't star studded, but they did have Dirk and Jason Kidd. They went to the playoffs as the third seed in the west and swept the two seed LA Lakers in the WCSF. They then upset the Heat in 6 games behind a strong series from Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzski, and a breakout 27 point performance in game 7 by Jason Terry to win their first ever NBA Title.
NFL
2013 Baltimore Ravens (34-31 win over 49ers): This was the Ravens second ever NFL Title. But of you asked most fans around the league, I'm sure some people think they have zero. Ever since this epic "lights out" win, the question of "Is Joe Flacco Elite?" has been asked. I'll answer that for you, no. He was in this game however as he threw for 3 touchdowns and was named MVP of the Super Bowl.
2009 New Orleans Saints (31-17 win over Colts): This win wasn't just for the players and fans of the Saints, but the entire city of New Orleans. Four years after the devastating Hurricane Katrina the Saints one their first NFL Title to help boost the morale of the still rebuilding city. One thing many NFL fans don't remember about this season is the Saints starting the season with a remarkable 13-0 record. Defeating NFL Legend Peyton Manning in the process, Drew Brees cemented his own legacy as he was named MVP.
2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (48-21 win over Raiders): Their first ever NFL Title came in dominant fashion with a 27 point thrashing of the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII. The Raiders came into the game as four point favorites but were down 20-3 at halftime. Coached by Jon Gruden, who coached the Raiders the previous season, the Bucs went on to score 34 unanswered points to win it all for the first time in franchise history.