World Series

In baseball, the World Series is the championship series of Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada, played in October after the end of the regular season between the pennant winner of the American League and the pennant winner of the National League. The Series winner is determined through a best-of-seven playoff (except in 1903, 1919, 1920 and 1921 when the winner was determined through a best-of-nine playoff) and is awarded the World Series Trophy, as well as World Series rings. Baseball has employed various championship formulas since the 1850s. The modern World Series has been an annual event since 1903, with the exception of 1904 and 1994. The New York Yankees have the most World Series titles, with 26 championships through the 2004 season.

Introduction

The first two games of the series are played in one team's home ballpark, the next three in the other team's ballpark, and the final two, if necessary, back in the first team's ballpark. That has been the pattern since 1924, with the exception of World War II when travel restrictions were in place. Until 2003, the team given the home-field advantage was switched every year between the American League and the National League. Starting in 2003, however, the league that wins the All-Star Game is given the home-field advantage in the World Series.

Related Topics:
1924 - World War II - 2003 - All-Star Game

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The designated hitter rule is applied based on the league in which the host team plays. In an American League ballpark, both teams use a Designated Hitter to hit for the pitcher. In a National League ballpark, both team's pitchers must hit.

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A portion of the gate receipts from the World Series - and, from 1969 onward, the other rounds of postseason play preceding it - is used to fund a Players' Pool, from which descending shares are distributed to the World Series winner, the World Series loser, all the other teams qualifying for the playoffs which did not reach the World Series, and certain other teams which did not qualify for the playoffs, the criteria for the latter changing at various times. Prior to 1969, teams finishing in the first division, or top half of the leagues' standings, received such shares; today only the teams finishing in second place in their division but not earning a wild card receive them, because there are more divisions and each division is smaller. The shares for the actual participants are limited to the gate receipts of the minimum number of games necessary to play the series. That rule has been in place from the beginning, to keep the games "honest".

Related Topics:
1969 - First division - Wild card

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The "World" appellation has stuck despite the fact that only teams in the two major leagues, which happen to cover only the United States and Canada, actually participate. At the time the term was first used, baseball at the major league level was only played in the United States. While some would contend that there is no reason to believe that the World Series winner is a significantly better team than any club team outside Major League Baseball, no challenges have been made by other leagues.

Related Topics:
United States - Canada - Major League Baseball

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The World Series winners have occasionally played winter exhibition series against the best players of other leagues around the world, such as Japan. Sometimes the Japanese have gained the upper hand in those series, but since they are only exhibitions, their results cannot be regarded as conclusive. Attempts to pit the North American champions against champions in the Japanese or Latin American leagues in a truly meaningful way have, so far, not succeeded.

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A persistent myth is that the "World" in "World Series" came about because the New York World newspaper sponsored it. Baseball researcher Doug Pappas refutes that claim, demonstrating a linear progression from the phrase "World's Championship Series" (used to describe the 1903 series as well as some of the 19th century post-season series) to "World's Series" (a term first used in the 1880s and which persisted for decades) to "World Series". Furthermore, investigation of the New York World for the relevant years revealed no evidence of the supposed sponsorship. (For details, see Mr. Pappas' web page on the subject).

Related Topics:
New York World - Doug Pappas - 1903

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In deference to any controversy, more and more the term "World Series Championship" is being used, the subtlety being that it is merely a title and not a political statement. Thus the term has come full circle from the original "World's Championship Series".

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An amusing and perhaps ever-more-appropriate variation was the term used by early 20th century sportswriter and satirist Ring Lardner: "World's Serious".

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Baseball tournaments between international teams do occur, notably at the world championships and at the Olympic Games. To the Summer Olympics, the US has always sent a team of minor-league players, since the MLB hasn't been willing to stop playing and thus free its players during the Olympics until now. The US team won the gold medal in 2000, suggesting that a major-league team could defeat any non-American national team. Of course, major league teams do not consist entirely of US nationals; for example, about 10% of MLB players are from the Dominican Republic. Not all of the US nationals in MLB are eligible for Team USA; a significant minority are from Puerto Rico, which fields its own teams in international sports competitions. The famed Cuban national team (which was beaten by the Americans in 2000) has defeated Major League teams in some confrontations. At the 2004 Summer Olympics the USA was not represented, since its minor-leaguer team did not survive qualifying. The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) has tried to lobby MLB into suspending play during the Summer Olympics, so that MLB players could compete for their respective national teams. The IBAF is of the opinion that if this does not happen at the 2008 Olympics, baseball is likely to be removed from the Olympics to make room for Rugby sevens. The IBAF has agreed to shortening the Olympic tournament if the MLB agrees to freeing its players. According to the IBAF chairman, such a move would do more for popularizing baseball around the world than any amount of money spent by the MLB for its current worldwide marketing.

Related Topics:
Olympic Games - Summer Olympics - Minor-league - 2000 - Dominican Republic - Puerto Rico - Cuba - 2004 Summer Olympics - International Baseball Federation - Rugby sevens

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Recently, Major League Baseball officially revealed its plans for the World Baseball Classic, to be held in March 2006. It will be the first international baseball competition to feature Major League players. In light of the international Olympic Committee recently voting baseball out of the Summer Games as a medal sport, this competition hopes to prove to the IOC that baseball is truly an international game. Many Major Leaguers have expressed interest in playing in such a competition, including Miguel Tejada of the Baltimore Orioles (Dominican Republic), Dontrelle Willis of the Florida Marlins (USA), Carlos Lee of the Milwaukee Brewers (Panama), and Andruw Jones of the Atlanta Braves (from the island of Curaçao, but because it is a Dutch colony he will compete for the Netherlands). The tournament will be held in sites around North America, Central America, and Asia. Teams will be split into four groups of four and play a round robin schedule, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the next round. Most of the big baseball-playing nations have committed to participating (the United States, Dominican Republic, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, etc.), but the country outside of the USA where baseball is most widely played has yet to commit: Cuba. Commissioner Bud Selig, among others, has high hopes that this tournament could be as big as soccer's World Cup.

Related Topics:
World Baseball Classic - March - 2006 - International Olympic Committee - Miguel Tejada - Baltimore Orioles - Dominican Republic - Dontrelle Willis - Florida Marlins - USA - Carlos Lee - Milwaukee Brewers - Panama - Andruw Jones - Atlanta Braves - Curaçao - Colony - Netherlands - Central America - Asia - Japan - Mexico - South Korea - Bud Selig - Soccer - World Cup

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The term World Series has since been appropriated by other championships, such as the College World Series, the Little League World Series, the World Series of Golf, the World Series of Poker, the World Series of Birding and the World Series of Martial Arts. World Series Cricket was a short-lived but influential cricket competition.

Related Topics:
College World Series - Little League - World Series of Golf - World Series of Poker - World Series of Birding - World Series of Martial Arts - World Series Cricket - Cricket

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