FILE - In this Oct. 22, 2016, file photo, Chicago Cubs fans celebrate outside Wrigley Field after the Cubs defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-0 in Game 6 of baseball's National League Championship Series in Chicago. Fans who are hoping to see the Cubs play in the World Series for the first time since 1945 are finding that if they want a seat it will cost them what their grandparents paid for their houses. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP File) ORG XMIT: ILCHS201
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in North America, contested since 1903between the American League (AL) champion team and the National League (NL) champion team. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff, and the winning team is awarded the Commissioner’s Trophy.[1] As the series is played during the fall season in North America, it is sometimes referred to as the Fall Classic.[2]
Prior to 1969, the team with the best regular season win-loss record in each league automatically advanced to the World Series; since then each league has conducted a championship series (ALCS and NLCS) preceding the World Series to determine which teams will advance. As of 2018, the World Series has been contested 114 times, with the AL winning 66 and the NL winning 48.
In the American League, the New York Yankees have played in 40 World Series and won 27….while the Philadelphia/Kansas City/Oakland Athletics have played in 14 and won 9….and the Boston Red Sox have played in 14 and won 9….including the first World Series. In the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals have appeared in 19 and won 11….the New York/San Francisco Giants have played in 20 and won 8….the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers have appeared in 20 and won 6….and the Cincinnati Reds have appeared in 9 and won 5. As of 2018, no team has won consecutive World Series championships since the New York Yankees in 1998, 1999, and 2000….which is the longest such drought in Major League Baseball history.
