These five championship series were the best since the dawn of baseball's television age.

Baseball has seen many great World Series games from the beginning of the rock-and-roll decade through the first few years of the new millennium. Willie Mays's acrobatic catch saved Game 1 of the 1954 Fall Classic. Bob Gibson struck out 17 Detroit Tigers in the first game of the 1968 Series. Reggie Jackson smacked three straight home runs on three consecutive pitches from three different hurlers to win Game 6 the 1977 Series. Kirk Gibson hit a home run that would have stunned even the great Roy Hobbs.

But as far as World Series that were great from Games 1 through 7, five Fall Classic stand above the rest. So here they are. The Five Best World Series SInce 1950.

Number 5. 1991 - Minnesota Twins vs. Atlanta Braves.

This seven game war featured three extra inning classics. Game 3 lasted twelve frames and finally ended with Mark Lemke's RBI single off Rick Aguilera in the bottom of the twelfth.

Game 6 was even more dramatic. With the Twins down three games to two and facing elimination, future Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett homered off Atlanta's Charlie Liebrandt in the bottom of the eleventh inning. The walk-off homer forced a Game 7, prompting announcer Jack Buck to issue his now famous call: "And we'll see you tomorrow night!"

"Tomorrow night" was the classic Game 7 pitching matchup between John Smoltz and Jack Morris. The two starters dueled to a mutual seven-inning shutout before the Braves lifted Smoltz from the game. Morris powered on through ten shutout innings, and got the win when Minnesota pinch hitter Gene Larkin blooped a single over the Braves' drawn-in outfield to drive home Dan Gladden and win the Twins second World Series in five years.

Series MVP: Jack Morris (2-0, 1.17 ERA)

Number 4. 2001 - New York Yankees vs. Arizona Diamondbacks. This Series took place in the shadow of the horrific September 11 terrorist attacks. Just seven weeks after the Twin Towers came crashing down, the Yankees made their fourth straight World Series appearance, and for the first time in history, much of the nation actually was rooting for New York.

The Series was highlighted by three of the most heart-stopping games ever played in Fall Classic history.

In Game 4, with the Yankees on the verge of falling behind three games to one in the Series, Tino Martinez hit a game tying two-run homer with two outs and two strikes in the bottom ninth inning off Arizona's Byung-Hyun Kim. One inning later, as the clock struck 12:00 midnight on November 1, Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter crushed a walk-off home run to win the game 4-3, inspiring Yankee announcer Michael Kay to make the now classic call "and Derek Jeter is Mr. November."

Fast forward to the next night. Game 5. Same scenario. Bottom of the ninth inning. Yankees down by two runs, with two outs and a man on base. Byung-Hyun Kim on the mound. Kim tried to blow a fastball past Scott Brosius, who drove the pitch high and deep into the left field stands.

Game tied! Game tied!

Kim collapsed on the mound, going into a full crouch and putting his face in his hands, trying to hide from a brutal moment that Fox announcer Joe Buck could only describe as "surreal." The Yankees won the game in the bottom of the twelfth inning when Alfonso Soriano singled home Chuck Knoblauch.

Then, in Game 7, with just three outs to go for their fourth straight World Series title, the Yankees sent the previously unflappable Mariano Rivera to the mound. But Rivera flapped. A single, an error, a double and another single, this one a bloop off the bat handle by Luis Gonzalez, and it was all over. Diamondbacks win the game, 3-2. Diamondbacks win the World Series, 4-3.

As Yankee radio announcer might have called it: "Game over. World Series over! Yankee Dynasty over!!"

Series MVPs: Randy Johnson (3-0, 1.04 ERA) and Curt Schilling (1-0, 1.69 ERA).

Number 3. 1960 - New York Yankees vs. Pittsburgh Pirates. This was a wild one. The Yankees outscored the Pirates 55-26 in the seven game series. They also out-homered the Bucs 10 to 4. But it was Bill Mazeroski's walk-off blast in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 that broke a 9-9 tie and gave the Pirates their first World Series title since 1925.

The heart-stopping loss caused the Yankees to fire manager Casey Stengel, and gave birth to the 1961 squad, a team that won 109 games and whom many consider the best team in history. Mazeroski, a player always known for his gold glove fielding prowess, was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame in 2001, something that probably would not have happened but for his Series-winning home run.

Series MVP: Bobby Richardson, who hit .367 with 12 RBI in a losing cause.

Number 2. 1955 - Brooklyn Dodgers vs. New York Yankees.

This one changed everything for the Brooklyn Dodgers. After losing to the Yankees in the 1941, 1947, 1949, 1952 and 1953 Fall Classics, the Dodgers finally broke through and beat their arch-enemies from the Bronx.

The seven game series featured eleven future Hall of Famers. The Dodgers had Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, Roy Campanella, Sandy Koufax, and manager Walter Alston. The Yankees featured Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Phil Rizzuto, and skipper Casey Stengel.

With the Series knotted at three games apiece, the Dodgers sent young Johnny Podres to the mound to shut down the Yankees lethal lineup. He came through, hurling a complete game shutout to beat the Bronx Bombers 2-0. Brooklyn's first baseman Gil Hodges, who is still not in the Hall of Fame despite an impressive career record (370 HR and 1,274 RBI), drove in both of the Dodgers' runs in the victory.

Brooklyn fans celebrated in the streets. Schools were shut down for two days. The Bums had finally knocked off the button-down Yankees. There may never have been a better moment in the Borough.

But just two years later the Brooklyn Dodgers were gone forever, off to Los Angeles, and breaking the hearts of perhaps the finest fans in baseball history.

Series MVP: Johnny Podres (2-0, 1.00 ERA)

Number 1. The 1975 World Series (Cincinnati Reds vs. Boston Red Sox). This Fall Classic matched the most dominant team of the 1970s, Cincinnati's Big Red Machine, who won 107 games in 1975, against the Boston Red Sox, a team that had three American League MVPs its the roster (Carl Yastrzemski -1967, Fred Lynn -1975, and Jim Rice - 1978).

Five of the contests were decided by just one run, including the Classic Game 6, which featured Carlton Fisk's legendary walk-off blast in the bottom of the twelfth inning. Alas, Fisk's shot would only keep the Red Sox alive for one more game; the Machine won the Series the next night when Joe Morgan singled home the winning run in the ninth inning of Game 7.

It would take another 29 years before the Red Sox finally won the 2004 Series to break the Curse of the Bambino.

Series MVP: Pete Rose (.370 Batting Average).

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World Series Records

MLB Postseason Records

Game 6 of the 1975 World Series

Game 6 of the 1986 World Series