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.

The modern World Series (1903-present)

The first attempt

After two years of bitter competition and player raiding, the National and American Leagues made peace and, as part of the accord, several pairs of teams squared off for inter-league exhibition games after the 1903 regular season. These series' were arranged by the individual teams, not by the leagues directly, the same as the 1880s World's Series matches had been, and which had often proved troublesome. One of these series at the end of 1903 was a meeting between the two pennant-winners. It had been arranged well in advance by the owners of the respective teams, as both were league-leaders by large margins. In essence, it would be a World's Championship. And so it came to pass that the first modern World Series was held.

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: 1903: Boston AL defeats Pittsburgh NL, 5 games to 3.

Related Topics:
1903 - Boston AL - Pittsburgh NL

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:::Pittsburgh wins 3 of the first 4 games, then falters, Boston winning the last 4 in a row, behind the strong pitching of Bill Dinneen (3 wins) and Cy Young (2 wins). Much will be made of the influence of the "Royal Rooters", although Boston only goes 2-2 at home but 3-1 at Pittsburgh.

Related Topics:
Bill Dinneen - Cy Young

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:::In an amusing oddity, the Pirates' benevolent owner Barney Dreyfuss added his share of the gate receipts to the players' share, so the losing team actually finished with a larger individual share than did the winning team.

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The boycott of 1904

The 1904 Series would have been between the AL's Boston Americans and the NL's New York Giants. The Giants' owner, John T. Brush, refused to allow his team to play, citing the "inferiority" of the upstart American League. At the time of the announcement, their new cross-town rivals, the Highlanders, were leading the AL. Boston won on the last day of the season, but Brush stuck to his original decision. Brush also cited the lack of rules under which the games would be played and how the money would be split. During the winter of 1904/05, however, feeling the sting of press criticism, Brush saw the light and proposed what came to be known as the "Brush Rules", under which the series would be played over subsequent years.

Related Topics:
1904 Series - Boston Americans - New York Giants - Highlanders

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One rule was that player shares would come from gate receipts from the first four games only. This was to discourage teams from throwing early games in order to prolong the series and make more money. Receipts for later games were split among the two teams and the National Commission, the governing body for the sport, which was able to cover much of its annual operating expenses from World Series revenue.

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Most importantly, the now-official (and compulsory) World's Series match was to be operated strictly by the National Commission itself, not on the whims of individual teams.

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The list of post-season rules evolved over time. In 1925, Brooklyn owner Charles Ebbets convinced owners to adopt the current 2-3-2 system of scheduling World Series games (one team would host the first two games, the other team would host the next three, and the first team would host the last two if necessary; the leagues alternated which representative would host the first games). In fact, that same 2-3-2 pattern had been observed in the 1924 Series. In 1925 it became a permanent rule. Prior to 1924, the pattern generally had been to alternate, or to make other arrangements convenient to both clubs.

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