WORLD SERIES

 
 

The World Series is a Championship title in Major League Baseball, in North America. It is 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. An event as important as any holiday on the calendar, it is as traditional as Thanksgiving, as patriotic as the Fourth of July and as anticipated as Christmas morning. Over the last century, the World Series has been woven into the fabric of America's culture evolving far beyond a mere baseball tournament. 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. The World Series has been an annual event since 1903, with the exception of 1904 and 1994. The New York Yankees have won 26 World Series titles since their first appearance in 1921. In 1921 and 1922 the New York Yankees were defeated by the New York Giants. They came back strongly in 1923 winning the giants 4 games to 2 claiming their fast World Series title. Finally, the Yankees had beaten the Giants for their first world championship in their brand new stadium, which featured crowds in excess of 62,000 and over $1million dollars in ticket sales. In addition, Babe Ruth had finally beaten his post-season demons, hitting three home runs, a triple, a double and two singles while batting .368. The Yankees next made an appearance in 1926 losing 4 games to 3 to the Saint Louis Cardinals. In the following years; 1927, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939 and 1941, the Yankees won the World Series and on five occasions won the opposing team 4 games to nil. The New York Yankees lost in 1942 to the Saint Louis Cardinals and in the seven years that followed they continued their winning streak; 1943, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952 and 1953. The New York Yankees won their fifth straight World Series, a feat which has never been accomplished before or since. In the 1951 World Series win was when Joe DiMaggio bowed out as a Yankee, while rookies Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle made their series debuts. The Yankees appeared in the World Series in 1955 and lost to the Brooklyn Dodgers 4 games to three, the following year saw the Yankees pay back for that lose the previous year winning by the same margin, and in that game Larsen pitched the only no-hitter in World Series play, a perfect game, no less for the Yankees. In 1957 the New York Yankees lost to the Milwaukee Braves, Lew Burdette was Most Valuable Player for the series and the Milwaukee Braves became the first team to win a Championship after relocating. Until 1953, that had been the Boston Braves, winners of the 1914 Series. In 1995 they would win again, as the Atlanta Braves. The 1958 World Series was again an affair between the Yankees and the Braves, this time the Yankees won it 4 games to 3. In 1960 the Yankees lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates but it is best remembered for a pulsating Game 7 which ended with the first walkoff homer to end a World Series, hit by the Pirates' Bill Mazeroski. The Yankees won in the next two years and lost the following two; 1961, 1962, 1963 and 1964. In the 1963 World Series lose, before Randy and Curt, there was Sandy and Don. Koufax, Drysdale and Johnny Podres combine to give up only 4 runs in 4 complete games. This was the first time that the New York Yankees were swept in a World Series in four games, the 1922 series had one tie. The next 11 years were barren years for the New York Yankees in terms of their presence felt in the World Series. The Yankees made a return to the World Series in 1976 and lost to the Cincinnati Reds 4 games to nil. In 1977, Reggie Jackson hits three home runs off of three consecutive pitches from three different Dodger pitchers in the deciding game six, only the third time a player has hit three homers in a World Series game. Babe Ruth did it twice, in 1926 and 1928. His nickname of "Mr. October" was born there. Reggie Jackson won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award and the Yankees won the World Series. The 1978 is famous for a controversial play in which Reggie Jackson breaks up a double play by using his hip to bat the ball heading to first base away allowing Thurman Munson to go to second base on the error. There would not be any repeat World Champions for the next fourteen years. This was also the first of 10 consecutive years that saw 10 different teams win the World Series, a string unprecedented in Major League Baseball (MLB) history. Bucky Dent won MVP and the Yankees won the series. The New York Yankees lost the series in 1981 and next made an appearance at the World Series in 1996, which they won the Atlanta braves 4 games to 2. The Yankees won the World Series in consecutive years again from; 1998 to 2000. This would be the last World Series to date with a repeat World Champion. The 2001 World Series is regularly cited alongside the 1991 World Series as the most exciting in history. It featured two extra-inning games. In both games, the Yankees hit ninth-inning homers off Diamondbacks closer Byung-Hyun Kim to tie the game and went on to win. In Game 7, the Diamondbacks pulled off a ninth-inning comeback of their own to win the game and the Series, victimizing Yankees closer Mariano Rivera with Luis Gonzalez knocking in the game-winning RBI with a bloop single into the outfield. The Diamondbacks, in their fourth year of existence, break the Marlins' short-lived record as the fastest expansion team to win the World Series. The New York Yankees last presence at the World Series was in 2003 where they lost to the Florida Marlins, 4 games to 2.