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Baseball World Series

The Fall Classic — 120 years of America's pastime at its highest stakes.

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The World Series — the championship series of Major League Baseball — has been played annually since 1903 (with exceptions in 1904 and 1994). It determines the champion between the American League and National League pennant winners in a best-of-7 series. The New York Yankees have won 27 World Series titles — more than any other franchise. Baseball's statistics culture (batting average, ERA, WAR, OPS) and its long history (162 games per season, 120 years of records) make it uniquely data-rich. The 'Moneyball' revolution (Oakland A's, early 2000s) applied sabermetric analysis to compete with wealthier teams. Derek Jeter's walk-off hit in Game 4 of the 2001 World Series, Bobby Thomson's 'Shot Heard Round the World' (1951), and Willie Mays's 'The Catch' (1954) are baseball's iconic moments.

# Top 10 World Series teams

  1. 1New York Yankees (27 wins)
  2. 2St. Louis Cardinals (11)
  3. 3Oakland A's (9)
  4. 4Boston Red Sox (9)
  5. 5San Francisco Giants (8)
  6. 6Brooklyn/LA Dodgers (7)
  7. 7Pittsburgh Pirates (5)
  8. 8Cincinnati Reds (5)
  9. 9Atlanta Braves (4)
  10. 10Detroit Tigers (4)

Fascinating Facts

  • The New York Yankees have won 27 World Series — more than the next 3 teams combined
  • Baseball's 1994 World Series was cancelled due to a players' strike — the first cancellation since 1904
  • Babe Ruth called his shot in the 1932 World Series — supposedly pointing to the outfield before hitting a home run to that exact spot
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