History

• The inaugural World Series was played in 1903 between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Pilgrims, with the Pilgrims winning five games to three. In 1904, the World Series was briefly put on hold as the National League champion New York Giants refused to play the American League's Pilgrims because the American League was deemed "inferior" by Giants president John T. Brush. Play resumed in 1905 and has taken place every year since except 1994, when it was canceled because of the players' strike.
  
  

Controversy

• Among the most famous World Series moments is the "Black Sox" incident of 1919 that resulted in eight Chicago White Sox players being banned from professional baseball for conspiring to fix the series and attempting to profit by allowing the Cincinnati Reds to win. Leading the list of banned players was "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, who was named as one of the co-conspirators despite hitting .375 in the series. Jackson's participation in the affair still is in doubt, however.
  
  

Format

• Over time, the World Series evolved from a best-of-nine series to the current best-of-seven format. In 2003, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig instituted a new rule stating that home-field advantage, previously determined by the best regular-season record, would be awarded to the league that won the All-Star Game.
  
  

Unique Achievements

• In 1956, Don Larsen threw the league's first and only World Series perfect game by shutting down the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 5. In 1960, Bill Mazeroski became the first player ever to hit a series-winning, walk-off home run to give the Pittsburgh Pirates their third World Series title. The feat was matched in 1993, when Toronto slugger Joe Carter homered off Mitch Williams to give the World Series to the Blue Jays for the second straight year.
  
  

Yankee Dominance

• The New York Yankees' 2009 World Series win extended their record to 27 championships--in comparison, the St. Louis Cardinals are second at just 10 titles. Yogi Berra, who starred as catcher for the Yankees from the late 1940s to the early 1960s, holds the individual record for most World Series titles with 10. Berra also is the all-time World Series leader with 75 games played and 259 plate appearances.
  
  

Winless Streaks

• The Chicago Cubs' streak of futility reached 102 years after the 2009 season, when they failed to win their first World Series since 1908. In 2004, the Boston Red Sox broke a streak of 86 years without a championship when they swept the St. Louis Cardinals for their first title since 1918.