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{{Use British English|date=April 2021}}
{{short description|Sports term for series in which the winning team wins all the games}}
{{refimprove|date=February 2014}}
In sport, a '''whitewash''' or '''sweep''' {{small|([[North American English|N. America]])}} is a series in which a person or team wins every game.

==Usage by sport==
===Baseball===
In [[Major League Baseball]], teams typically play multiple games against each other; if one team wins all the games in that series, it is considered a "series sweep", or, more commonly, simply a "sweep". In many cases, fans of the team in the favoured position, when all but one contest in the current series have been won, will bring brooms (either real brooms or large props for better visibility) to the ballpark with which to taunt the losing team.

On rare occasions, a "season sweep" can be accomplished, in which every contest between two teams is won by the same team. Intra-division season sweeps are relatively rare, since with the relatively large number of games against intra-division teams (19 per divisional matchup), the division rivals are more likely to find at least one lucky matchup. In cases where two teams only play each other once in the season, there is no distinction made between a series and season sweep.

The [[World Series]] has been a best-of-seven series since its inception in 1903, except for the period between 1919 and 1922 when it was a best-of-nine series. There have been nineteen occasions where the championship was decided in four games: {{wsy|1914}}, {{wsy|1927}}, {{wsy|1928}}, {{wsy|1932}}, {{wsy|1938}}, {{wsy|1939}}, {{wsy|1950}}, {{wsy|1954}}, {{wsy|1963}}, {{wsy|1966}}, {{wsy|1976}}, {{wsy|1989}}, {{wsy|1990}}, {{wsy|1998}}, {{wsy|1999}}, {{wsy|2004}}, {{wsy|2005}}, {{wsy|2007}}, and {{wsy|2012}}.

===Basketball===
The [[NBA Playoffs]] comprises four rounds of best-of-seven series; any team that wins the first four games of a playoff series would have accomplished a series sweep. There have been nine occasions where the [[NBA Finals]] ended in four games: {{nbafy|1959}}, {{nbafy|1971}}, {{nbafy|1975}}, {{nbafy|1983}}, {{nbafy|1989}}, {{nbafy|1995}}, {{nbafy|2002}}, {{nbafy|2007}}, and {{nbafy|2018}}. The [[Golden State Warriors]] are the only team to have swept two NBA Finals series.
===Ice hockey===
The [[Stanley Cup Playoffs]] comprises four rounds of best-of-seven series; any team that wins the first four games of a playoff series would have accomplished a series sweep. The [[Stanley Cup Finals]] became a best-of-seven series in 1939; since that year, there have been nineteen occasions where the cup was decided in four games: {{scfy|1941}}, {{scfy|1943}}, {{scfy|1944}}, {{scfy|1949}}, {{scfy|1952}}, {{scfy|1960}}, {{scfy|1968}}, {{scfy|1969}}, {{scfy|1970}}, {{scfy|1976}}, {{scfy|1977}}, {{scfy|1982}}, {{scfy|1983}}, {{scfy|1988}}, {{scfy|1992}}, {{scfy|1995}}, {{scfy|1996}}, {{scfy|1997}}, and {{scfy|1998}}. As of 2020, there has not been an instance where a team has achieved a 4–0 series sweep in the Stanley Cup Finals since 1998; as a result, the NHL has gone 21 seasons (or 22 years) without a sweep in the finals, making it the longest active drought in the history of the North American [[major professional sports leagues]].

===Cricket===
{{Prose|section|date=April 2021}}
In [[cricket]], a whitewash is when a team wins all the matches played in a series of at least 3 matches.{{Citation needed|reason=Where does it officially say it has to be at least 3 matches|date=September 2019}}

Examples include:

* [[Australian cricket team|Australia]]'s 5–0 defeat of [[England cricket team|England]] to win the [[English cricket team in Australia in 1920–21|1920–21 Ashes series]]
* [[West Indian cricket team|West Indies]]' consecutive 5–0 defeats of [[England cricket team|England]] in [[West Indian cricket team in England in 1984|1984]] and [[English cricket team in the West Indies in 1985-86|1985–86]]. These two [[Wisden Trophy]] results are also commonly labelled "blackwashes" because of the dark skin of the West Indies players.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/ilove/jamaica/sports1.shtml |title=Blackwash |work=I love Jamaica |publisher=BBC |access-date=19 February 2014}}</ref>
* [[Australian cricket team|Australia]]'s 5–0 defeat of the [[West Indies cricket team|West Indies]] in 2000–01 to win the [[West Indian cricket team in Australia in 2000–01|Frank Worrell Trophy]]
* [[Australian cricket team|Australia]]'s 5–0 defeat of [[England cricket team|England]] to win the [[2006–07 Ashes series]]
* [[England cricket team|England]]'s 4–0 defeat of [[Indian cricket team|India]] to win the [[Pataudi Trophy]] during India's tour of England in 2011
* [[Australian cricket team|Australia]]'s 4–0 defeat of [[Indian cricket team|India]] to win the 2011–12 [[Border-Gavaskar Trophy]]
* [[Indian cricket team|India]]'s 4–0 defeat of [[Australian cricket team|Australia]] to win the 2012–13 [[Border-Gavaskar Trophy]]
* [[Australian cricket team|Australia]]'s 5–0 defeat of [[England cricket team|England]] to win the [[2013–14 Ashes series]]
*[[India national cricket team|India]]'s 5–0 defeat of [[New Zealand national cricket team|New Zealand]] to win the [[Indian cricket team in New Zealand in 2019–20|2019–20 T20I series]]
*[[New Zealand national cricket team|New Zealand]]'s 3–0 defeat of [[India national cricket team|India]] to win the [[Indian cricket team in New Zealand in 2019–20|2019–20 ODI series]]

===Rugby===
The term whitewash is also used in [[rugby football|rugby]] when one team loses every match in a particular series. The team that comes last in the [[Six Nations Championship]] has the ignominy of being awarded the [[Wooden spoon (award)#Rugby union|wooden spoon]], even if they have not suffered a complete whitewash.

===Tennis===
In [[ATP (tennis)|ATP]] and [[WTA (tennis)|WTA]] tennis, the term ''whitewash'' is used when a player fails to win a game in a match (6–0, 6–0, 6–0; or 6–0, 6–0), also called a triple- or double-bagel respectively. Double bagels are more common.

==See also==
* [[Podium sweep]]
* [[Shutout]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Sports terminology]]
[[Category:Terminology used in multiple sports]]
[[Category:Perfect scores in sports]]

Whitewash (sport) - Revision history

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