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Today we take a stroll through memory lane and learn about how the format for the World Series has changed over the years. For interest’s sake, I have included a brief description of the first year each change was put into effect. I urge you to read my article, “Should the World Series Really be Called the North American Series?”. You may also be interested in my history of every team name in the MLB, found in our “Sports History” section.
Before 1969
With the start of the “modern” era in baseball, the two leagues we know today began competing for one championship beginning in 1903. However, the competition between two leagues extends beyond that, back to the 1880’s as the National League and American Association days. When the American League was adopted soon after the turn of that century, there became a need to establish a way to determine which reigned supreme. This competition, then known as the World Championship Series, was first played for in 1903.
The Boston Americans (later: Boston Red Sox) and Pittsburgh Pirates were far and away the best teams in the 1903 season, and therefore their owners decided to duel it out in a best-of-nine series. It’s interesting to note some of the names associated with that game – Honus Wagner and Cy Young both figured into the result; Young was fantastic, Wagner not so much. In fact, even though Wagner’s Pirates figured to have their name in the Hall of Fame, he didn’t want to be recognized because he was so disappointed with his play. Wagner hit a paltry .222 with 7 errors.
Between 1903 and 1969 when a big change was made, more World Series were “best of 7” contests, with a few years of nine-game competitions. Those years were marked by several controversies which have added to the allure of that by-gone era. Consider the protest of the New York Giants in 1904 (they felt they were above playing an American League team), and the infamous “Fix” in 1919 where the White Sox threw the series to the Reds for an alleged $100,000.
1969
In the early 1960’s, the league expanded to 20 teams, evenly distributed between the two leagues. Still, the World Series was fought between the top team from each league. But when the league expanded to 12 teams in each league, the need to develop an expanded playoff format became an important development. Too many teams had little to play for. I imagine a decrease in gate revenue also factored into the decision.
Baseball decided to break from two leagues into two leagues each with two divisions, splitting all teams into four divisions. In this way, all teams were kept “in the hunt” for longer.
The first step was to add a separate championship series for each League where the division winners, who won a “pennant”, would play-off for the right to represent the league in the World Series. The Championship Series was played in a best-of-five format. The team that finished higher in the standings would host the first two games, with the remaining three (if necessary) to be played in the second place team’s field.
The first Championship series pitted the Baltimore Orioles and Minnesota Twins. The Orioles took three straight, winning the first two at home. They advanced to the World Series to face the NY Mets, who dispatched of the Atlanta Braves in three straight. The “Miracle” Mets beat the Orioles in five games to win the first World Series under the new format.
1994
Through the 1960s, 70s and 80s, baseball continued to expand, adding teams to each of its two leagues. In the early 90s, momentum grew for once again expanding the post-season format to include more teams as it was too difficult for teams to compete long enough into the season – essentially it was the same issue was was experienced before 1969.
When baseball realigned to make for two leagues each with three divisions, it became necessary to have at least three post-season spots for each league. The problem is that it created an uneven balance. To solve this, a wild card spot was awarded to the team who finished with the best record aside from each divisional winner.
The wild card team would face the best divisional winner. In the instance that the best team was in that wild card team’s own division, they would then face the second best division winner. The winner would face the contest between the other two divisional winners for the right to play in the World Series.
Though the format was passed in 1994, the baseball strike cancelled the post-season, so the 1995 was instead the first year of the three-round playoff format. The first two wildcard teams were the New York Yankees and Colorado Rockies. The Yankees lost out to the Mariners in a close 5-game series. The Rockies fared poorly, losing to Atlanta 3 games to 1.
2012
As adopted after the 2011 CBA was signed, MLB announced that a second wildcard team would be added to the post-season. Essentially the difference between the format before 2012 and the one that came into effect in 2012, was that there would be two wildcard teams who would face-off in a one-game play-off for the right to become the fourth playoff team in the main bracket. The game became known as the “Wildcard Game“. The winner would play against the top division winner as was the case before.
In 2012, the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Atlanta Braves (in what will be known as the Infield Fly Game) and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Texas Rangers. While the Orioles bowed out in the next round to the Yankees, the Cardinals came very close to beating the eventual World Series Champions San Francisco Giants.
