70 Fun Facts About World Series

In which year was the first modern World Series played?

It came two years after the American League declared itself a second major league; the two circuits had spent the interim raiding each other's rosters.

Which team won that first modern World Series in 1903?

Boston came back from a 3–1 deficit to take the series; the franchise would later be renamed the Red Sox.

The 1904 World Series was never played because the owner of which club refused to take part?

Owner John T. Brush snubbed the upstart American League; the Giants relented and played (and won) in 1905 under new rules.

What is the prize handed to the World Series winner?

Unlike the Stanley Cup, a new one is made each year for the champion to keep.

A players' strike wiped out the World Series in which year?

It was the first time the Series had gone unplayed in 90 years; the Montreal Expos owned baseball's best record when play stopped.

From 1919 to 1921 (as in 1903), the World Series used which format?

The longer format was abandoned after 1921, and the 2–3–2 home-game pattern was made permanent in 1925.

Which team beat the scandal-tainted Chicago White Sox in the 1919 World Series?

Cincinnati took the series 5–3, and the result has been an asterisk in the record book ever since.

Which gambler allegedly led the fix of the 1919 World Series?

First baseman Chick Gandil handled the payoffs on the players' side; the story became the book and film Eight Men Out.

Who banned the eight 'Black Sox' players from baseball for life?

The former federal judge acted even though a jury had acquitted the players; the White Sox then went 88 years without a title.

The Red Sox drought blamed on the Curse of the Bambino ran from 1918 until which year?

Boston first became the only team to win a seven-game postseason series after losing the first three, then swept St. Louis.

Whose error let Mookie Wilson's grounder roll through his legs in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series?

Boston had been one strike from the title; a Bob Stanley wild pitch had already let the tying run in before the grounder.

Who was named MVP of the 1986 World Series after leading the Mets with nine hits?

Knight scored the winning run in Game 6 and homered in Game 7; the Mets then let him leave as a free agent that winter.

Who pitched the only perfect game in World Series history, in Game 5 of 1956?

He had been knocked out in the second inning of Game 2 three days earlier, then used a no-windup delivery to retire all 27 Dodgers.

Which catcher leaped into the pitcher's arms after the final out of the 1956 perfect game?

The last out was a called third strike on pinch-hitter Dale Mitchell, and the photo became one of baseball's most famous images.

Bill Mazeroski's ninth-inning home run in Game 7 of 1960 won the title for which team?

It remains the only Game 7 in World Series history to end on a home run, and it came against a Yankees team that outscored Pittsburgh 55–27.

Who is the only World Series MVP ever chosen from the losing team?

The Yankees second baseman drove in 12 runs in 1960 while his team lost Game 7 to a walk-off homer.

'The Catch' in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series robbed which Cleveland hitter?

The over-the-shoulder grab came in the deep Polo Grounds center field, and the Giants went on to sweep a Cleveland team that had won 111 games.

In 2017 the World Series MVP award was renamed in honor of which player?

He never won the award himself; it did not exist until 1955, a year after his most famous World Series moment.

The first World Series MVP award, in 1955, went to which Brooklyn pitcher?

Podres shut out the Yankees in Game 7 to give Brooklyn its only championship before the move to Los Angeles.

Which pitcher won the World Series MVP award twice, in 1964 and 1967?

Only three other players have won it twice, and no one has managed a third.

Whose three home runs in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series earned him the nickname 'Mr. October'?

He was the first to hit three in a Series game since Babe Ruth 49 years earlier, and finished with five for the Series.

Babe Ruth's 'called shot' in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series was hit at which ballpark?

It was Ruth's tenth and last World Series; Lou Gehrig quietly hit .529 with three homers in the same sweep.

Which Cubs pitcher threw the pitch that Babe Ruth supposedly called in 1932?

Root insisted to the end of his life that Ruth never pointed at the bleachers, saying he would have knocked him down if he had.

The 1927 World Series is the only one to end with the winning run scoring on what?

The 'Murderers' Row' Yankees, 110–44 that year with Ruth's 60 homers, completed the first AL sweep of an NL club.

The 1969 'Miracle Mets' upset which 109-win team in five games?

The Mets, in their eighth season, became the first expansion team to win a division, a pennant and a World Series.

Who managed the 1969 Miracle Mets?

Hodges had been a star first baseman on the Brooklyn Dodgers; he died of a heart attack less than three years later, at 47.

Which team won five World Series in a row from 1949 to 1953?

No club has won more than three straight since; the same franchise also took four in a row from 1936 to 1939.

How many World Series titles had the Yankees won by the end of the 2025 season?

That was from 41 appearances; the St. Louis Cardinals were next with 11.

Which National League club has won the most World Series?

Their 11th came in 2011, when David Freese twice rescued them from a final strike in Game 6.

Which MLB franchise had never appeared in a World Series through the 2025 season?

Seattle reached the ALCS several times, including after a 116-win season in 2001 and again in 2025, but never the Series.

Through 2025, which of these teams had played in a World Series but never won one?

The Brewers, Rays and Rockies shared the distinction; the Padres lost in 1984 and 1998.

In 1992 the Toronto Blue Jays became the first team outside the US to win the Series, beating whom?

Toronto repeated in 1993, and remains the only expansion team to have won two in a row.

Joe Carter's Series-ending home run in 1993 came off which Phillies reliever?

It was only the second Series ever ended by a home run, 33 years after Mazeroski's.

What was the final score of Game 4 of the 1993 World Series, the highest-scoring Series game ever?

The 29 combined runs and the losing side's 14 are both still records, and at 4 hours 14 minutes it was then the longest game too.

Jack Morris's ten-inning shutout in Game 7 of 1991 won the title for which team?

Both 1991 pennant winners had finished last the year before, something no league champion had ever done.

Whose 11th-inning walk-off home run in Game 6 of 1991 forced a Game 7?

Five of the seven games were decided by one run and three went to extra innings; ESPN later ranked it the greatest World Series ever.

Whose 11th-inning single won Game 7 of the 1997 World Series for the Florida Marlins?

The Marlins were the first wild-card team to win the Series; owner Wayne Huizenga sold off the roster within months.

Which team won the 2001 World Series in only its fourth season of existence?

It is still the only title won by a Phoenix team in the four major North American men's leagues.

Whose bloop single off Mariano Rivera won Game 7 of the 2001 World Series?

Jay Bell scored the winning run; the Series had been pushed into November by the delay after the September 11 attacks.

Which two pitchers shared the 2001 World Series MVP award?

Between them they accounted for all four Arizona wins; it was the first shared award since 1981.

The 2005 Chicago White Sox ended an 88-year drought by sweeping which team?

Chicago went 11–1 that postseason, matching the 1999 Yankees for the best run through the playoffs.

From 2003 to 2016, what decided home-field advantage in the World Series?

The rule was a reaction to the tied 2002 All-Star Game; since 2017 the better regular-season record decides it.

Which team won the World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014?

The 2010 title was the franchise's first since 1954 and its first since leaving New York.

How many years had the Chicago Cubs gone without a title when they won in 2016?

It was the longest championship drought in North American professional sports, and it ended with a ten-inning Game 7 in Cleveland.

Who was named MVP of the 2016 World Series?

His go-ahead double came in the tenth inning of Game 7, right after a 17-minute rain delay.

The 1908 Cubs were the first team in World Series history to do what?

Game 5 drew a record-low 6,210 fans and lasted just 1 hour 25 minutes, still the fastest postseason game ever.

What was unprecedented about the 2019 World Series between the Nationals and Astros?

Washington won Games 1, 2, 6 and 7 in Houston and lost all three at home; it was the city's first title since the 1924 Senators.

Which pitcher was MVP of the 2019 World Series after two wins for Washington?

Howie Kendrick's two-run homer off the foul pole in Game 7 gave Washington the lead it never gave back.

The entire 2020 World Series was played at which neutral-site ballpark?

Attendance was capped at 11,500 a game during the pandemic-shortened 60-game season, and Justin Turner was pulled from Game 6 after a positive test.

Who is the only player to win World Series MVP in both leagues (2020 and 2023)?

He won with the Dodgers and then the Rangers, whose 2023 title was the first in franchise history.

Which starter opened the combined no-hitter in Game 4 of the 2022 World Series?

It was the first combined no-hitter in postseason history and only the second no-hitter of any kind in a World Series.

Who, at 73, became the oldest manager to win a World Series in 2022?

It was his first title in more than 25 seasons of managing, after finalist losses with the Giants in 2002 and the Astros in 2021.

How many road games did the Texas Rangers lose during their 2023 postseason run?

Their 11 road wins were the most in any postseason, and it was the first title since the franchise began as the Washington Senators in 1961.

Who hit the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history, in Game 1 of 2024?

He then homered in the first four games and finished with 12 RBIs, tying the Series record set in 1960.

Which pitcher was MVP of the 2025 World Series with three wins and a 1.02 ERA?

The Dodgers' win over Toronto made them the first repeat champion since the 1998–2000 Yankees.

Who hit the go-ahead home run in the 11th inning of Game 7 of the 2025 World Series?

Miguel Rojas had tied it with a solo homer when Toronto was two outs from the title; Smith's was the first extra-inning homer in any Game 7.

In which year was the first scheduled World Series night game played?

It was Game 4 at Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium; the last daytime Series game came in 1987.

Which injured Dodger hit a two-out, ninth-inning walk-off home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series?

It was his only plate appearance of the Series; Los Angeles went on to beat Oakland in five.

What interrupted the 1989 World Series between the A's and Giants?

It struck at 5:04 pm before Game 3 as broadcasters were on air; Oakland completed a sweep when play resumed ten days later.

Which umpire's blown safe call at first base in Game 6 of the 1985 World Series became infamous?

Kansas City rallied to win that game and then took Game 7 by 11–0 in the all-Missouri 'I-70 Series'.

Who in 1984 became the first manager to win a World Series in both leagues?

His Tigers led wire to wire that season, only the third team ever to do so, after his 1975–76 titles with the Reds.

David Freese's game-tying triple and walk-off homer came in Game 6 of which World Series?

St. Louis was down to its last strike twice that night; two games earlier Albert Pujols had hit three homers in a game.

George Springer's 2017 MVP performance tied the record with how many home runs in one Series?

The two teams combined for 25 homers, smashing the old record of 21; MLB later found Houston had stolen signs all season.

Which pitcher, along with Bill Dinneen, supplied the depth that won Boston the 1903 World Series?

Boston upset Pittsburgh five games to three, cheered on by their band of fans known as the Royal Rooters.

What was the name of the 1894-97 postseason series between the National League champion and runner-up?

It followed the 1884-90 championship series between the National League and the American Association.

Which World Series was the first to be broadcast on radio?

It was also the Yankees' first appearance, two years after they bought Babe Ruth's contract from Boston.

Which two broadcasters made iconic calls of Kirk Gibson's 1988 Game 1 home run on TV and radio?

Scully told NBC viewers 'The impossible has happened!' while Buck exclaimed 'I don't believe what I just saw!'

The Giants' 2010 title ended a drought nicknamed after which New York landmark?

It was their first championship since 1954 and their first since moving from New York to San Francisco in 1958.

Which Blue Jays radio announcer shouted 'Touch 'em all, Joe!' after Joe Carter's 1993 walk-off homer?

Carter's three-run shot was only the second Series-ending homer and the first to come from behind, sealing an 8-6 win.

The Pittsburgh Pirates beat which team in both the 1971 and 1979 World Series?

Baltimore made three straight Series from 1969 to 1971, losing to the 'Miracle' Mets and the Pirates either side of a 1970 win.