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. 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.
The "World" appellation has stuck despite the fact that only teams in the United States and Canada participate. Attempts to pit the North American champions against champions in the Japanese or Latin American leagues have, so far, not succeeded.
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) to "World's Series" to "World Series". (For details, see Mr. Pappas's web page on the subject: http://roadsidephotos.com/baseball/name.htm ).
Baseball tournaments between international teams do occur, notably at the world championships and at the Olympic Games. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, the US sent a team of minor-league players, which won the gold medal, 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, and the famed Cuban team (which was beaten by the Americans in 2000) has defeated Major League teams in some confrontations.
The term World Series has since been appropriated by other championships, such as the World Series of Poker, the College World Series, the World Series of Birding and the World Series of Martial Arts.
During the 1880s, the National League and American Association champions met on occasion, to determine the Championship of the United States. The series were not well-planned and the clubs in them organized things themselves. The series varied from six to 15 games.
Early World Series (1884-1900)
In 1892, the National League (expanded to twelve teams after taking in four of the American Association clubs) played a split season, with the first-half and second-half champions meeting in a postseason series. The split-season experiment was not repeated.
In 1894, the first-place and second-place National League teams met in postseason play. The games became known as the Temple Cup games, after Pittsburgh sportsman William C. Temple donated a cup to serve as the trophy. The games did not draw the interest people had hoped for.
After two years of bitter competition and player raiding, the National and American Leagues made peace and, as part of the accord, agreed to a postseason series between the league pennant winners.
The 1904 Series was supposed to be between the AL's Boston Pilgrims and the NL's New York Giants. The Giants' owner, John Brush, refused to allow his team to play, citing the inferiority of the upstart American League. Brush also cited the lack of rules under which the games would be played and the money would be split. During the winter of 1904/05, however, Brush proposed what came to be known as the "Brush Rules", under which the series would be played over subsequent years.
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 new governing body for the sport, which was able to cover much of its annual operating expenses from World Series revenue).
The list 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).
Starting in 1969, the World Series pitted the National League Championship Series winner against that of the American League Championship Series.
Note: New York NL (1) represents the New York Giants (1883-1957), later the San Francisco Giants. New York NL (2) represents the New York Mets (1962-present).
See also: Caribbean World SeriesThe First Attempt
The Boycott of 1904
List of World Series after 1904
The World Series has been a best-of-seven series except in the years 1903, 1919, 1920 and 1921, when it was best-of-nine.1905-1919: The "Deadball Era"
1920-1941: The "Lively Ball Era" (sometimes "The Golden Age")
1942-1945: The war years
1946-1960: The postwar years
1961-1968: The first expansion period
1969-1976: Second expansion
1977-1992: Third expansion
1993-1997: Fourth expansion
Starting in 1995, MLB introduced the wild-card, allowing the non-division winner with the best record from each league a spot in the postseason. The American League Division Series and National League Division Series were introduced to determine which teams would play in the ALCS and NLCS.1998-present: Fifth expansion
†Denotes wild-card team (since 1995).