World Series Facts

The World Series is a best-of-seven playoff pitting the winner of the National League against the winner of the American League. It is played in late October and decides the champion of Major League Baseball each year.

  1. Time Frame

    • This competition began in 1903. In 1904, there was no World Series, but it has been played every year since except for 1994 when a strike put a halt to the postseason.

    Effects

    • Home field advantage in the World Series was decided by simply alternating the honor each year between the leagues until 2003 when the league that won the All-Star Game any given year was awarded home field in the Series.

    Significance

    • Babe Ruth became the first player to hit three home runs in a single World Series contest in Game 4 of the 1926 Series versus the St. Louis Cardinals.

    Fun Fact

    • New York Yankee pitcher Don Larsen pitched the first perfect game in World Series history against the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game Five of the 1956 version, winning 2 to 0.

    Expert Insight

    • The first walk-off hit in the seventh game of a World Series came on October 10,1924. Washington Senator infielder Earl McNeely hit a bad-hop single to score Muddy Ruel with the winning run against the New York Giants in the bottom of the twelfth inning.