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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. |
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