The Commissioner's Trophy

The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB), played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy.^[1] As the series is played in October, Major League Baseball also refers to it as the "Fall Classic". The most recent World Series was won by the St. Louis Cardinals, who defeated the Texas Rangers in 7 games in 2011.

The New York Yankees of the American League have played in 40 World Series and won 27, and the Oakland/Philadelphia Athletics have played in 14 and won 9. In the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals have played in 18 and won 11, while the San Francisco/New York Giants and Los Angeles/Brooklyn Dodgers have both appeared in 18 and won 6.

Precursors to the modern World Series (1857–1902)[link]

The original World Series[link]

Until the formation of the American Association in 1882 as a second major league, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (1871–75) and then the National League (founded 1876) represented the top level of organized baseball in the United States. All championships went to whoever had the best record at the end of the season, without a postseason series being played. Starting in 1884 and going through 1890, the National League and the American Association faced each other in a series of games at the end of the season to determine an overall champion. These matchups were disorganized in comparison to the modern Series: games played ranged from as few as three in 1884 (Providence defeated New York 3 games to zero), to a high of 15 in 1887 (Detroit beat St. Louis 10 games to 5), and both the 1885 and 1890 Series ended in ties, each team having won three games with one tie game.^[2]

The series were promoted and referred to as "The Championship of the United States",^[3][4] "World's Championship Series", or "World's Series" for short.

The 19th-century competitions are, however, not officially recognized as part of World Series history by Major League Baseball, as the organization considers 19th-century baseball to be a prologue to the modern baseball era.^[5] Until about 1960, some sources treated the 19th-century Series on an equal basis with the post-19th-century series.^[6] After about 1930, however, many authorities list the start of the World Series in 1903 and discuss the earlier contests separately.^[7] (For example, the 1929 World Almanac and Book of Facts lists "Baseball's World Championships 1884–1928" in a single table,^[8] but the 1943 edition lists "Baseball World Championships–1903-1942".^[9])

1892–1900: "The Monopoly Years"[link]

Following the collapse of the American Association after the 1891 season, four of its clubs were admitted to the National League, which was again the only major league. The league championship was awarded in 1892 by a playoff between half-season champions. This scheme was abandoned after one season.^[10] Beginning in 1893 — and continuing until divisional play was introduced in 1969 — the pennant was awarded to the first-place club in the standings at the end of the season. For four seasons, 1894–97, the league champions played the runners-up in the post season championship series called the Temple Cup.^[11][12] A second attempt at this format was the Chronicle-Telegraph Cup series, which was played only once, in 1900.^[13]

In 1901, the American League was formed as a second major league. No championship series were played in 1901 or 1902 as the National and American Leagues fought each other for business supremacy.

Modern World Series (1903–present)[link]

First attempt[link]

After two years of bitter competition and player raiding (in 1902, the AL and NL champions even went so far as to challenge each other to a tournament in football after the end of the baseball season), the National and American Leagues made peace and, as part of the accord, several pairs of teams squared off for interleague exhibition games after the 1903 season. These series were arranged by the participating clubs, as the 1880s World's Series matches had been. One of them matched the two pennant winners, Pittsburgh Pirates of the NL and Boston (later known as the Red Sox) of the AL; that one is known as the 1903 World Series. It had been arranged well in advance by the two owners, as both teams were league leaders by large margins.^[14] Boston upset Pittsburgh by 5 games to 3, winning with pitching depth behind Cy Young and Bill Dinneen and with the support of the band of Royal Rooters. The Series brought much civic pride to Boston and proved the new American League could beat the Nationals.

Simon Winchester argues the World Series was named for the New York World newspaper,^[15][16] but this view is disputed.^[17]

Boycott of 1904[link]

The 1904 Series, if it had been held, would have been between the AL's Boston Americans (Boston Red Sox) and the NL's New York Giants (now the San Francisco Giants). At that point there was no governing body for the World Series nor any requirement that a Series be played. Thus the Giants' owner, John T. Brush, refused to allow his team to participate in such an event, citing the "inferiority" of the upstart American League. John McGraw, the Giants' manager, even went so far as to say that his Giants were already "world champions" since they were the champions of the "only real major league". At the time of the announcement, their new cross-town rivals, the New York Highlanders (now the NY Yankees), were leading the AL, and the prospect of facing the Highlanders did not please Giants management. Boston won on the last day of the season, and the leagues had previously agreed to hold a World's Championship Series in 1904, but it was not binding, and Brush stuck to his original decision. In addition to political reasons, Brush also factually cited the lack of rules under which money would be split, where games would be played, and how they would be operated and staffed.

During the winter of 1904–05, however, feeling the sting of press criticism, Brush had a change of heart and proposed what came to be known as the "Brush Rules," under which the series were played subsequently. One rule was that player shares would come from a portion of the gate receipts for the first four games only. This was to discourage teams from "fixing" early games in order to prolong the series and make more money. Receipts for later games would be split among the two clubs and the National Commission, the governing body for the sport, which was able to cover much of its annual operating expense from World Series revenue. Most importantly, the now-official and compulsory World's Series matches were operated strictly by the National Commission itself, not by the participating clubs.

With the new rules in place and the National Commission in control, McGraw's Giants decided to show up for the 1905 Series, and beat the Philadelphia A's four games to one. The Series was held in every subsequent season for 89 years.

The list of post-season rules evolved over time. In 1925, Brooklyn owner Charles Ebbets convinced others to adopt as a permanent rule the 2–3–2 pattern used in 1924. Prior to 1924, the pattern had been to alternate by game or to make another arrangement convenient to both clubs.

1919: The fix[link]

Gambling and game-fixing had been a problem in professional baseball from the beginning; star pitcher Jim Devlin was banned for life in 1877, when the National League was just two years old. Baseball's gambling problems came to a head in 1919, when 8 players of the Chicago White Sox conspired to throw the 1919 World Series.

The Sox had won the Series in 1917 and were heavy favorites to beat the Cincinnati Reds in 1919, but first baseman Chick Gandil had other plans. Gandil, in collaboration with gambler Joseph "Sport" Sullivan, approached his teammates and got six of them to agree to throw the Series: starting pitchers Eddie Cicotte and Lefty Williams, shortstop Swede Risberg, left fielder Shoeless Joe Jackson, center fielder Happy Felsch, and utility infielder Fred McMullin. Third baseman Buck Weaver knew of the fix but declined to participate. The Sox, who were promised $100,000 for cooperating, proceeded to lose the Series in eight games, pitching poorly, hitting poorly and making many errors. Though he took the money, Jackson insisted to his death that he played to the best of his ability in the series (he was the best hitter in the series, but had markedly worse numbers in the games the White Sox lost).

During the Series, writer and humorist Ring Lardner had facetiously called the event the "World's Serious". The Series turned out to indeed have serious consequences for the sport. After rumors circulated for nearly a year, the players were suspended in September 1920.

The "Black Sox" were acquitted in a criminal conspiracy trial. However, baseball in the meantime had established the office of Commissioner in an effort to protect the game's integrity, and the first commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, banned all of the players involved, including Weaver, for life. The White Sox would not win a World Series again until 2005.

The events of the 1919 Series, segueing into the "live ball" era, marked a point in time of change of the fortunes of a number of teams. The two most prolific World Series winners to date, the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals, did not win their first championship until the 1920s; and three of the teams that were highly successful prior to 1920 (the Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Cubs) went the rest of the 20th century without another World Series win. The Red Sox and White Sox finally won again in 2004 and 2005, respectively. The Cubs are still waiting for their next trophy, and have not appeared in the Fall Classic since 1945, the longest drought of any MLB club.

New York Yankees dynasty (1920–1964)[link]

The New York Yankees purchased Babe Ruth from the Boston Red Sox after the 1919 season, appeared in their first World Series two years later in 1921, and became frequent participants thereafter. Over a period of 45 years from 1920 to 1964, the Yankees played in 29 World Series championships, winning 20. The team's dynasty reached its apex between 1947 and 1964, when the Yankees reached the World Series 15 times in eighteen years (missing only 1948, 1954, and 1959), winning ten. From 1949 to 1953, the Yankees won the World Series five years in a row; from 1936–1939 the Yankees won four World Series Championships in a row. There are only two other occasions when a team has won at least three consecutive World Series: 1972 to 1974 by the Oakland Athletics, and 1998 to 2000 by the New York Yankees.

1947-1964: New York City teams dominate World Series play[link]

In an 18-year span from 1947 to 1964 - missing only 1948 and 1959 - the World Series was played in New York City, featuring at least one of the three teams located in New York at the time. The Dodgers and Giants would move to California after the 1957 season, leaving the Yankees as the lone team in the city until the Mets were enfranchised in 1962.

In the years 1947, 1949, 1951–1953, and 1955–1956, the two teams playing in the World Series were all from New York, with the Yankees playing against either the Dodgers or Giants. 1954 was the only year during this timespan in which one of the two National League teams from New York faced an American League team other than the Yankees, when the Giants swept the Cleveland Indians.

The World Series in California[link]

In 1957, the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants took their long-time rivalry to the west coast, moving to Los Angeles and San Francisco, respectively, bringing Major League Baseball west of St. Louis.

The Dodgers were the first of the two clubs to contest a World Series on the west coast, defeating the Chicago White Sox in 1959. The 1962 Giants made their first world series appearance in San Francisco, losing to the Yankees. The Dodgers made three world series appearances in the 1960s: a 1963 win over the Yankees, a 1965 win over the Minnesota Twins and 1966 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.

In 1968, the Kansas City Athletics relocated to Oakland and the following year 1969, the National League granted a franchise to San Diego as the San Diego Padres. The A's became a powerful dynasty in 1970's major league baseball while the Padres have only two World Series appearances: a 1984 loss to the Detroit Tigers and a 1998 loss to the Yankees.

1969: League Championship Series[link]

Prior to 1969, the National League and the American League each crowned its champion (the "pennant winner") based on the best win-loss record at the end of the regular season.

A structured playoff series began in 1969, when both the National and American Leagues were reorganized into two divisions each, East and West. The two division winners within each league played each other in a best-of-five League Championship Series to determine who would advance to the World Series. In 1985, the format changed to best-of-seven.

The National League Championship Series (NLCS) and American League Championship Series (ALCS), since the expansion to best-of-seven, are always played in a 2–3–2 format: Games 1, 2, 6 and 7 are played in the stadium of the team that has home-field advantage, and Games 3, 4 and 5 are played in the stadium of the team that does not.

1971: World Series at night[link]

MLB night games started being held in 1935 by the Cincinnati Reds, but the World Series remained a strictly daytime event for years thereafter. In the final game of the 1949 World Series, a Series game was finished under lights for the first time. The first scheduled night World Series game was Game 4 of the 1971 World Series at Three Rivers Stadium.^[18] Afterwards more and more Series games were scheduled at night, when television audiences were larger. Game 6 of the 1987 World Series was the last World Series game played in the daytime^[19], indoors at the Metrodome in Minnesota. (The last World Series played outdoors during the day was the final game of the 1984 series in Detroit's Tiger Stadium.)

1972–1978: Three of a kind[link]

During this seven year period, only three teams won the World Series: the Oakland Athletics from 1972–1974, Cincinnati Reds in 1975 and 1976, and New York Yankees in 1977 and 1978. This is the only time in World Series history in which three different teams have won consecutive series in succession. And for good measure, this period was book-ended by World Championships for the Pittsburgh Pirates, in 1971 and 1979.

However, the Baltimore Orioles made three consecutive world series appearances: 1969 (lost to the "amazing" 7-year old franchise New York Mets), 1970 (beat the Reds' who made their first '70s Reds appearance) and 1971, as well their 1979 appearance, and the Los Angeles Dodgers' back to back World series appearance in 1977 and 1978, as well in 1974 against the cross-state rival Oakland A's. Also noting the Reds lost the 1972 series to the A's and then the Mets lost the 1973 series to them as well. 1975 was an exciting year for the Boston Red Sox but lost to the Reds in one game in the intense game 7 of the 1975 world series.

1976: The Designated Hitter comes to the World Series[link]

The National and American Leagues operated under essentially identical rules until 1973, when the American League adopted the designated hitter rule, allowing its teams to use another hitter to bat in place of the (usually) weak-hitting pitcher. The National League did not adopt the DH rule. This presented a problem for the World Series, whose two contestants would now be playing their regular-season games under different rules. From 1973 to 1975, the World Series did not include a DH. Starting in 1976, the World Series allowed for the use of a DH in even-numbered years only. (The Cincinnati Reds swept the 1976 Series in four games, using the same nine-man lineup in each contest.) Finally, in 1986, baseball adopted the current rule in which the DH is used for World Series games played in the AL champion's park but not the NL champion's. Thus, the DH rule's use or non-use can help the team that has home-field advantage.

1989: Earthquake[link]

When the 1989 World Series began, it was notable chiefly for being the first ever World Series matchup between the two San Francisco Bay Area teams, the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics. Oakland won the first two games at home, and the two teams crossed the bridge to San Francisco to play Game 3 on Tuesday, October 17. ABC's broadcast of Game 3 began at 5 p.m. local time, approximately 30 minutes before the first pitch was scheduled. At 5:04, while broadcasters Al Michaels and Tim McCarver were narrating highlights and the teams were warming up, the Loma Prieta earthquake occurred (magnitude 6.9 with an epicenter ten miles (16 km) northeast of Santa Cruz, CA). The earthquake caused substantial property and economic damage in the Bay Area and killed 62 people. Television viewers saw the video signal deteriorate and heard Michaels say "I'll tell you what, we're having an earth--" before the feed from Candlestick Park was lost. Fans filing into the stadium saw Candlestick sway visibly during the quake. Television coverage later resumed, using backup generators, with Michaels becoming a news reporter on the unfolding disaster. Approximately 30 minutes after the earthquake, Commissioner Fay Vincent ordered the game to be postponed. Fans, workers, and the teams evacuated a blacked out (although still sunlit) Candlestick. Game 3 was finally played on October 27, and Oakland won that day and the next to complete a four-game sweep.

1992–1993 The World Series goes North[link]

World Series games were contested outside of the United States for the first time in 1992, with the Toronto Blue Jays defeating the Atlanta Braves in six games. The World Series returned to Canada in 1993, with the Blue Jays victorious again, this time against the Philadelphia Phillies in six games. No other Series has featured a team from outside of the United States. Toronto is the only expansion team to win successive World Series titles. The 1993 World Series was also notable for being only the second championship concluded by a home run and the first concluded by a come-from-behind homer, after Joe Carter's three-run shot in the bottom of the ninth inning sealed an 8–6 Toronto win in Game 6. The first Series to end with a homer was the 1960 World Series, when Bill Mazeroski hit a ninth-inning solo shot in Game 7 to win the championship for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

1994: League Division Series[link]

In 1994, each league was restructured into three divisions, with the three division winners and the newly introduced wild card winner advancing to a best-of-five playoff round (the "division series"), the National League Division Series (NLDS) and American League Division Series (ALDS). The team with the best league record is matched against the wild card team, unless they are in the same division, in which case, the team with the second-best record plays against the wild card winner. The remaining two division winners are pitted against each other. The winners of the series in the first round advance to the best-of-seven NLCS and ALCS. Due to a players' strike, however, the NLDS and ALDS were not played until 1995. Beginning in 1998, home field advantage was given to the team with the better regular season record, with the exception that the Wild Card team cannot get home-field advantage.

1994–95 strike[link]

After the boycott of 1904, the World Series was played every year until 1994 despite World War I, the global influenza pandemic of 1918–19, the Great Depression of the 1930s, America's involvement in World War II, and even an earthquake in the host cities of the 1989 World Series. A breakdown in collective bargaining led to a strike in August 1994 and the eventual cancellation of the rest of the season, including the playoffs.

As the labor talks began, baseball franchise owners demanded a salary cap in order to limit payrolls, the elimination of salary arbitration, and the right to retain free agent players by matching a competitor's best offer. The Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) refused to agree to limit payrolls, noting that the responsibility for high payrolls lay with those owners who were voluntarily offering contracts. One difficulty in reaching a settlement was the absence of a commissioner. When Fay Vincent was forced to resign in 1992, owners did not replace him, electing instead to make Milwaukee Brewers owner Bud Selig acting commissioner. Thus the commissioner, responsible for ensuring the integrity and protecting the welfare of the game, was an interested party rather than a neutral arbiter, and baseball headed into the 1994 work stoppage without an independent commissioner for the first time since the office was founded in 1920.

The previous collective bargaining agreement expired on December 31, 1993, and baseball began the 1994 season without a new agreement. Owners and players negotiated as the season progressed, but owners refused to give up the idea of a salary cap and players refused to accept one. On August 12, 1994, the players went on strike. After a month passed with no progress in the labor talks, Selig canceled the rest of the 1994 season and the postseason on September 14. The World Series was not played for the first time in 90 years. The Montreal Expos were the best team in baseball at the time of the stoppage, with a record of 74–40. (Since their founding in 1969, the Expos, now the Washington Nationals, have never played in a World Series.)

The labor dispute lasted into the spring of 1995, with owners beginning spring training with replacement players. However, the MLBPA returned to work on April 2, 1995 after a federal judge, future U.S. Supreme Court justice Sonia Sotomayor, ruled that the owners had engaged in unfair labor practices. The season started on April 25 and the 1995 World Series was played as scheduled, with Atlanta beating Cleveland four games to two.

All-Star Game and home-field advantage[link]

Prior to 2003, home-field advantage in the World Series alternated from year to year between the NL and AL. After the 2002 Major League Baseball All-Star Game ended in a tie, MLB decided to award home-field advantage in the World Series to the winner of the All-Star Game. Originally implemented as a two-year trial from 2003 to 2004, the practice has been extended indefinitely. The American League won every All-Star Game since this change until 2010 and thus has enjoyed home-field advantage from 2002, when it also had home-field advantage based on the alternating schedule, through 2009.

As of the conclusion of the 2010 World Series, the AL and NL had each won the World Series four times since the All-Star Game was used to determine home-field advantage, though no Series from 2003-2010 had gone the full seven games. 2011 was the first World Series of the All-Star Game home-field advantage era to go the full seven games.

Modern World Series appearances by franchise[link]

World Series record by team or franchise, 1903–2011[link]

File:World Series Graph.pdf

Notes[link]

American League (AL) teams have won 62 of 107 World Series completed so far (62–45 or 58.5%–41.5%). The New York Yankees have won 27, accounting for about 25% of all the series played and about 44% of the 62 wins by American League teams. The St. Louis Cardinals have won 11 World Series, or about 10% of all victories and just under 25% of the 45 National League victories.

When the first modern World Series was played in 1903, eight teams constituted the American League (founded 1901) and another eight constituted the National League (founded 1876). All sixteen of the 1903 teams have won at least two Series.

No new team joined either league until 1961; fourteen "expansion teams" have joined since then. Twelve of the fourteen have played in a World Series and 19 of the 48 Series contested during 1961–2010 have featured an expansion team, always paired with one of the sixteen 1903 teams. The expansion teams have won 9 of the 19 Series (47%) in which they have played.

The Braves are the only team to have both won and lost a World Series in 3 different home cities (Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta). The Athletics have had 3 different home cities (Philadelphia, Kansas City, and Oakland), but have appeared in the World Series (both winning and losing) while based in only 2 of them (Philadelphia and Oakland). Three other teams have both won and lost the Fall Classic in 2 different home cities: The Dodgers (Brooklyn and Los Angeles), the Giants (New York and San Francisco), and the Twins (the Twin Cities and Washington, DC, as the first Senators). The Orioles are the only other team to have played in the World Series in 2 different home cities (Baltimore and St. Louis, as the Browns), but all 3 of their titles (and 3 of their 4 losses) have come while based in Baltimore.

Team patterns in the World Series[link]

This information is up to date through the 2011 World Series:

Streaks and droughts[link]

1. Since their first championship in 1923, the New York Yankees have won two or more World Series titles in every decade except the 1980s, when they won none. Additionally, they have won at least one American League pennant in every decade since the 1920s. The Yankees are the only team in either League to win more than three series in a row, winning in four consecutive seasons from 1936 to 1939, and five consecutive seasons from 1949 to 1953.
2. The New York Giants' four World Series appearances from 1921 to 1924 are the most consecutive appearances for any National League franchise.
3. The 1907–1908 Cubs, 1921–1922 Giants and 1975–1976 Reds are the only National League teams to win back-to-back World Series.
4. The 1907–1909 Detroit Tigers and the 1911–1913 New York Giants are the only teams to lose three consecutive World Series.
5. The Chicago Cubs hold the record for the longest World Series drought (still active through 2011), with their last title coming in 1908 (103 years). In fact, they also hold the longest drought without a World Series appearance, not having won the NL pennant since 1945. Even had they won the 1945 World Series, they would still hold the longest active World Series championship drought, the second longest being since 1948 by the Cleveland Indians.
6. Twenty-two of the 28 teams to play in the World Series have won it at least once. The only exceptions are: Houston Astros (formerly Colt .45s, enfranchised in 1962), Milwaukee Brewers (formerly Seattle Pilots, 1969), San Diego Padres (1969), Colorado Rockies (1993), Tampa Bay Rays (formerly Devil Rays, 1998), and Texas Rangers (formerly Washington Senators, 1961). Each of these teams has lost only one World Series, except for the Padres and Rangers, who have both lost 2 series.
7. As of 2011, only two teams have not won a pennant: the Washington Nationals (formerly Montreal Expos, established in 1969), and Seattle Mariners (established in 1977). Both franchises have participated in post-season play and competed in the League Championship Series.
8. As of 2011, the Red Sox hold the record for most World Series titles before their first World Series loss, winning the championship in their first five appearances—1903, 1912, 1915, 1916, and 1918—before losing in the next series they played, in 1946. The only other teams who have more than one Series victory before their first Series loss are the Cleveland Indians (in 1920 and 1948), the Toronto Blue Jays (in 1992 and 1993) and the Miami Marlins (in 1997 and 2003 as the Florida Marlins). The Blue Jays and the Marlins have never lost a World Series.
9. As of 2011, the Reds and Pirates are tied at 3 for the longest active streak of World Series titles (not necessarily in consecutive years) since the last time they lost a series. After losing the 1927 series to the Yankees, the Pirates have emerged victorious in the next 3 series in which they played (1960, 1971, and 1979). The Reds last series loss prior to their current active streak of 3 titles (1975, 1976, and 1990) was in 1972. The Blue Jays, Red Sox, and Twins are the American League leaders in this category with 2 consecutive titles since their last series loss.
10. As of 2011, the Yankees have won the most consecutive World Series titles (not necessarily in consecutive years) between World Series losses, at 8. After losing the 1926 World Series to the Cardinals, the Yankees proceeded to win their next 8 appearances in the series (1927, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, and 1941) before losing in 1942 to the Cardinals again. After this loss, the Yankees went on to win their next 7 Series appearances (1943, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, and 1953) before their next Series loss in 1955 to the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Cardinals are the National League leader in this category, with 4 consecutive titles (1944, 1946, 1964, and 1967) between series losses in 1943 and 1968.
11. As of 2011, the Cubs and Dodgers are tied at 7 apiece for most consecutive losses in the series (not necessarily in consecutive years) between World Series victories. The Dodgers lost their first 7 appearances in the Fall Classics (1916, 1920, 1941, 1947, 1949, 1952, and 1953) before winning their first title in 1955. The Cubs' situation is the opposite, as their losing streak has occurred since winning their last title (in 1908), with losses occurring in 1910, 1918, 1929, 1932, 1935, 1938, and 1945. With this "streak" active, should the Cubs lose in their next World Series appearance, they will overtake the Dodgers in this category. The Cleveland Indians are the American League "leader" in this category, with 3 consecutive World Series losses (1954, 1995, and 1997) since their last crown in 1948.

Game-by-game[link]

1. Game 7 has been won by the home team in the last 9 World Series that have gone to seven games (the 1982 St. Louis Cardinals, 1985 Kansas City Royals, 1986 New York Mets, 1987 and 1991 Minnesota Twins, 1997 Florida Marlins, 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks, 2002 Anaheim Angels, and 2011 St. Louis Cardinals). The 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates are the last team to win a World Series Game 7 on the road. This trend reverses the previous historical trend in which Game 7 had been most often won by the road team, in 1979, 1975, 1972, 1971, 1968, 1967, 1965, and 1962. During the 1960s and 1970s, the home team had won Game 7 only in 1960, 1964, and 1973. Since 2003, when home field advantage started to be awarded to the team representing the league that won the All-Star game, the first Series that reached Game 7 was in 2011. The greatest comeback in World Series history was in 1968, when the Detroit Tigers came back from a 3–1 game disadvantage to win Game 5 after being behind by 3 runs, before winning games 6 and 7 on the road at St. Louis.
2. The 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers are the last team to win a World Series after losing the first two games on the road (against New York). The recent tendency of a team winning the first two games at home and then winning the Series suggests the theoretical advantage to gaining home-field advantage (and the first two games at home) by winning the All-Star Game.
3. The Pittsburgh Pirates have won all five of their World Series championships in seven games.
4. The Minnesota Twins/Washington Senators have won their three World Series championships in seven games.
5. There have been 18 World Series four-game (4–0) sweeps. Nine different teams have swept a World Series at least once, the Yankees having done so most often (8 times). Both the Red Sox and Reds have done it twice. The Braves, Orioles, White Sox, Dodgers, Athletics and Giants have each swept one Series. Six of these teams (all but the Orioles, Red Sox and White Sox) have also been swept 0–4 in at least one World Series. The Red Sox' two World Series sweeps are the most of any team that has never been swept in one. The Reds and Yankees are the only teams to have swept each other (The Yankees swept the Reds in 1939, while the Reds swept the Yankees in 1976).
6. The Athletics, Cardinals, Cubs, and Yankees are the only teams to be swept in two World Series. The Athletics and Yankees are the only two of these with at least one World Series sweep to their credit, the other two being among eight teams overall that have never swept a World Series, but have been swept in one (the Astros, Indians, Padres, Phillies, Pirates, and Rockies being the others).
7. The Cubs in 1907 and the Giants in 1922 won 4 games to 0, but each of those Series' included a tied game and are not considered to be true sweeps. In 1907, the first game was the tie and the Cubs won four straight after that. In 1922, Game 2 was the tie.
8. The Cincinnati Reds are the only National League team which has swept a World Series since 1963, sweeping the series in 1976 and 1990. When added to their Game 7 victory in 1975, this means that the Reds have won their last 9 consecutive games, making this the current longest winning streak in terms of consecutive World Series games won.
9. Nine World Series have ended with "walk-off" hits, i.e., that game and the Series ended when the home team won with a base hit in the bottom of the ninth or in extra innings:^[20] 1924*, 1929, 1935, 1953, 1960*, 1991*, 1993, 1997*, and 2001*. Five of these (marked with a *) were in a deciding Game 7. In addition, the deciding Game 8 (one game had ended in a tie) of the 1912 World Series ended in a walk-off sacrifice fly.^[21] Two men have ended a World Series with a walk-off home run: Bill Mazeroski in 1960 and Joe Carter in 1993. Mazeroski's was a solo shot in the bottom of the ninth of Game 7 to win a championship for the Pittsburgh Pirates, while Carter's was a three-run shot in Game 6 that won a championship for the Toronto Blue Jays.
10. The Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays are the first teams to have an elimination game (or any game) be suspended because of weather, and not have it cancelled. Game 5 (in Philadelphia) was suspended Monday, October 27, 2008 with a 2–2 score, and resumed in the bottom of the sixth on October 29.
11. Both of the Minnesota Twins' World Series titles since relocating to the Twin Cities from Washington, DC (where they were the first Washington Senators) were in 7 game series where all games were won by the home team. The Twins accomplished this in 1987, when the Twins defeated the St. Louis Cardinals, then 4 years later in 1991, when the Twins defeated the Atlanta Braves. The Twins victories in both series were in games 1, 2, 6, and 7, while their National League opponents won games 3, 4, and 5. This same scenario also occurred in 2001, when the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the New York Yankees.
12. Also of note when it comes to the three series where every game was won by the home team, a pitcher was MVP. In the 1987 World Series, Frank Viola was the MVP having pitched games 1, 4, and 7, and finishing with a 2-1 record. In 1991, Jack Morris achieved the same feat pitching games 1, 4, and 7 with a 2-0 record and a no decision in game 4, and winning MVP honors. However, Morris's MVP came on the heels of pitching 10 shutout innings in game 7. Finally, in 2001, Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson took MVP honors by being the reason the Arizona Diamondbacks were in position to win the series.

Local rivalries[link]

When two teams share the same state or metropolitan area, fans often develop strong loyalties to one and antipathies towards the other, sometimes building on already-existing rivalries between cities or neighborhoods. Before the introduction of interleague play in 1997, the only opportunity for two teams in different leagues to face each other in official competition would have been in a World Series.

Cross-town Series[link]

The first city to host an entire World Series is Chicago in 1906, when the Chicago White Sox beat the Chicago Cubs in six games.

Fourteen "Subway Series" have been played entirely within New York City, all including the American League's New York Yankees. Thirteen of them matched the Yankees with either the New York Giants or the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League. The initial instances occurred in 1921 and 1922, when the Giants beat the Yankees in consecutive World Series that were not technically "subway series" since the teams shared the Polo Grounds as their home ballpark. The last Subway Series involving the original New York ballclubs came in 1956, when the Yankees beat the Dodgers. The trio was separated in 1958 when the Dodgers and Giants moved to California, and an all-NY Series did not recur until 2000, when the Yankees defeated the New York Mets in five games.

The last World Series played entirely in one ballpark was the 1944 "Streetcar Series" between the St. Louis Cardinals and the St. Louis Browns. The Cardinals won in six games, all held in their shared home, Sportsman's Park.

The 1989 World Series, sometimes called the "Bay Bridge Series" or the "BART Series" (after the connecting transit line), featured the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants, teams that play just across San Francisco Bay from each other. The series is most remembered for the major earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay Area just before game 3 was scheduled to begin. The quake caused significant damage to both communities and severed the Bay Bridge that connects them, forcing the postponement of the series. Play resumed ten days later, and the A's swept the Giants in four games.

Other neighborhood rivalries[link]

For the other two cities where a cross-town competition, connected by local transit, was once possible — Boston (until 1953 when the Braves moved to Milwaukee) and Philadelphia (until 1955 when the Athletics moved to Kansas City) — an October meeting came closest to occurring in 1948, when the Boston Braves won the National League pennant, and their nearby rivals, the Boston Red Sox, tied for the American League pennant on the last day of the season. However, the Cleveland Indians defeated the Red Sox in a one-game playoff, and then defeated the Braves in the Series.

Before the modern World Series era, an opportunity for an all-Boston contest between league champions was missed. In 1891, the Braves, then the Boston Beaneaters, of the National League declined to play the Boston Reds of the soon-to-dissolve American Association. The only meeting of neighbouring teams in the pre-modern World Series era occurred in 1889, when the National League's champion, the New York Giants, defeated the American Association's champion, the Brooklyn Bridegrooms.

Other cross-state rivalries[link]

The historic rivalry between Northern and Southern California added to the interest in the Oakland Athletics-Los Angeles Dodgers series in 1974 and 1988 and in the San Francisco Giants' series against the then-Anaheim Angels in 2002. (The two Los Angeles area teams have never competed against each other in a Series, nor has the only team in San Diego, the Padres, ever played a Series against another California team.)

Other than the St. Louis World Series of 1944, the only postseason tournament entirely within Missouri was the I-70 Series in 1985 (named for the interstate highway connecting the two cities) between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals, who won at home in the seventh game.

While the Philadelphia Athletics never played in World Series against either the Philadelphia Phillies or the Pittsburgh Pirates, they did engage in a popular semi-annual tradition of preseason City Series exhibition games against the Phillies. During their 13 years in Kansas City (1955–1967), the A's never faced their then-cross state rival, the St. Louis Cardinals in a World Series.

In the only other states that also have or once had teams in both major leagues since 1903, there has never been a World Series between teams in Florida (Miami Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays), Texas (Houston Astros and Texas Rangers) or Ohio (Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians). The last pair came closest to facing each other when the Indians won the 1995 American League pennant in the same year that the Reds lost the NL Championship Series.

While not in the same state, the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals could be considered neighborhood rivals, with their home cities being only 40 miles apart. However, a World Series between these two neighbors has yet to occur, with neither team making it to the post-season since the Nationals move at the start of the 2005 season to Washington, DC from Montreal, where they were the Expos.

The original sixteen teams[link]

At the time the first modern World Series began in 1903, each league had eight clubs, all of which survive today (although sometimes in a different city or with a new nickname), comprising the "original sixteen".

1. Every original team has won at least two World Series titles. The Philadelphia Phillies (National League) were the last of the original teams to win their first Series, in 1980. They were also the last to win at least two, with their second Series victory in 2008. The Cubs were the first team to win the series twice, in 1907 and 1908. Ironically, they have never won another series since then.
2. The last original American League team to win its first World Series was the Baltimore Orioles (former St. Louis Browns), winning in 1966.
3. The Orioles were also the last original team in the majors to make their first World Series appearance, as the St. Louis Browns in 1944. Although they never won another American League pennant while in St. Louis, they have won three World Series in six appearances since moving to Baltimore. The last original National League team to make their modern World Series début were the St. Louis Cardinals in 1926, which they also won. Ironically, as noted above, they have gone on to win more World Series than any other National League club, holding the lead at 11 victories through 2011.
4. The New York Yankees have defeated all eight original NL teams in a World Series. Conversely, they have lost at least one World Series to every original NL team except the Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia Phillies. The Boston Red Sox have played at least one Series against every original National League team except the (Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta) Braves, with whom they shared a home city through 1953.
5. The St. Louis Cardinals are currently the only club of the National League's original eight that holds an overall Series lead over the Yankees, 3 to 2, taking that lead in 1964.^[22] The Giants won their first two Series over the Yankees (1921 and 1922), but the Yankees have faced the Giants five times since then and have won all five, taking the overall lead over the Giants in 1937. The Pittsburgh Pirates and Yankees have faced each other twice (1927 and 1960), with the Yankees winning in 1927 and the Pirates winning in 1960, making the two teams .500 against each other.
6. Since the two leagues expanded beyond eight teams apiece in 1961, only two of the original sixteen teams have not won a World Series against the larger field of competitors: the American League Cleveland Indians, who have not won a Series since 1948 (defeating the Boston Braves), and the National League Chicago Cubs, who last won a Series in 1908 (defeating the Detroit Tigers).

Expansion teams (after 1960)[link]

1. The 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks was the fastest expansion franchise ever to win a pennant (4th season) and a World Series (4th season), after being founded in 1998. Second fastest were the 1997 Florida Marlins, after being founded in 1993 (5th season). The fastest AL expansion franchise to win a pennant was the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008 (11th season) and the fastest AL expansion franchise to win a World Series was the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992 (16th season).
2. While the New York Mets (NL) were the first expansion team to win or appear in the World Series (1969), the American League would have to wait until 1980 for its first expansion-team World Series appearance, and until 1985 for its first expansion-team win. Both were by the Kansas City Royals. The AL also had two expansion teams appear in the World Series (the Milwaukee Brewers being the second, in 1982) before the National League's second expansion team to appear—the San Diego Padres in 1984.
3. No two out of the fourteen post-1960 expansion teams have yet met each other in a World Series, although twelve expansion teams have now contested at least one Series (each time against one of the sixteen teams established by 1903). Expansion teams are 9–10 in the World Series, with three teams (the New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays and Miami Marlins) each winning two. Six expansion teams have appeared in the World Series without ever winning a championship: Texas Rangers (formerly Washington Senators), Houston Astros (formerly Colt .45s), Milwaukee Brewers (formerly Seattle Pilots), San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies, and Tampa Bay Rays (formerly Devil Rays). Two expansion teams have not yet won a league pennant (and therefore also have not appeared in a World Series): the Seattle Mariners and Washington Nationals (formerly Montreal Expos).
4. The Toronto Blue Jays (1992 and 1993), Miami Marlins (1997 and 2003 as the Florida Marlins), Arizona Diamondbacks (2001) and Los Angeles Angels (2002) have never lost a World Series appearance.
5. The Mets are the only expansion team with more than 2 World Series appearances (4).

Other notes[link]

1. The team with the better regular season winning percentage has won the World Series 53 times, or 49.53% (53 of 107) of the time.
2. The Toronto Blue Jays are the only non-U.S. team ever to win a pennant or a World Series, doing both twice, in 1992 and 1993.
3. The Chicago Cubs are the only team with a title to have never clinched one at home.

International participation[link]

Despite its name, the World Series remains solely the championship of the major-league baseball teams in the United States and Canada, although MLB, its players, and the media sometimes informally refer to World Series winners as "world champions of baseball."^[23]

The United States, Canada and Mexico (Liga Méxicana de Béisbol, established 1925) were the only professional baseball countries until a few decades into the 20th century. The first Japanese professional baseball efforts began in 1920. The current Japanese leagues date from the late 1940s (after World War II). Various Latin American leagues also formed around that time.

By the 1990s, baseball was played at a highly-skilled level in many countries. Reaching North America's high-salary major leagues is the goal of many of the best players around the world, which gives a strong international flavor to the Series. Many talented players from Latin America, the Caribbean, the Pacific Rim, and elsewhere now play in the majors. One notable exception is Cuban citizens, because of the political tensions between the USA and Cuba since 1959 (yet a number of Cuba's finest ballplayers have still managed to defect to the United States over the past half-century to play in the American professional leagues). Japanese professional players also have a difficult time coming to the North American leagues. They become free agents only after nine years playing service in NPB, although their Japanese teams may at any time "post" them for bids from MLB teams, which commonly happens at the player's request.

Image gallery[link]

See also[link]

Baseball portal

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Ernest Lanigan, Baseball Cyclopedia, 1922, originally published by Baseball Magazine, available as a reprint from McFarland.
• Turkin, Hy; S.C. Thompson (1951). The Official Encyclopedia of Baseball. A.S. Barnes and Company. 
• Buchanan, Lamont (1951). The World Series and Highlights of Baseball. E. P. Dutton & Company. 
• Jordan A. Deutsch, Richard M. Cohen, David Neft, Roland T. Johnson, The Scrapbook History of Baseball, 1975, Bobbs-Merrill Company.
• Cohen, Richard M.; David Neft, Roland T. Johnson, Jordan A. Deutsch (1976). The World Series. Dial Press. 
• The New York Times (1980). The Complete Book of Baseball: A Scrapbook History. 
• Sporting News, Baseball Record Book and Baseball Guide, published annually since ca. 1941.
• Lansch, Jerry (1991). Glory Fades Away: The Nineteenth Century World Series Rediscovered. Taylor Publishing. ISBN 0-87833-726-1. 
• 100 Years of the World Series (DVD). Major League Baseball. 2002. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: World Series

• Baseball Reference "postseason" page, listing every World Series, with links to play-by-play summaries of every game
• WorldSeries.com – Official Website
• Sporting News: History of the World Series
• Baseball Almanac: World Series
• Coolest World Series teams ever
• ESPN Classic – Who's #1?: Best World Series

Further reading[link]

• Auf Der Mar, Nick.   "World Series Fever Offers No Relief from Agony of Stadium Envy." The [Montreal] Gazette.   30 October 1991   (p. A2).
• Dickey, Glenn.   The History of the World Series Since 1903. New York: Stein and Day, 1984.
• Seymour, Harold.   Baseball: The Early Years. New York: Oxford University Press, 1960.   ISBN 0-19-505912-3.
• Sutherland, Norman.   "Unhappy Start for Yankees." The [Glasgow] Herald.   20 March 1999   (p. 9).
• Thorn, John et al.   Total Baseball. Kingston, NY: Total Sports Publishing, 2000.   ISBN 1-930844-01-8   (pp. 265–280).
• Minneapolis Star Tribune.   "Q & A on the News." 29 October 1999   (p. A2).

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Joe DiMaggio
Center fielder
Born: (1914-11-25)November 25, 1914 Martinez, California
Died: March 8, 1999(1999-03-08) (aged 84) Hollywood, Florida
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 3, 1936 for the New York Yankees
Last MLB appearance
September 30, 1951 for the New York Yankees
Career statistics
Batting average	.325
Hits	2,214
Home runs	361
Runs batted in	1,537
Teams
New York Yankees (1936–1942, 1946–1951)
Career highlights and awards
13× All-Star (1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951) 9× World Series champion (1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951) 3× AL MVP (1939, 1941, 1947) MLB record 56-game hitting streak New York Yankees #5 retired Major League Baseball All-Century Team
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction	1955
Vote	88.84% (third ballot: first eligible in 1953)

Seven of the American League's 1937 All-Star players, from left to right Lou Gehrig, Joe Cronin, Bill Dickey, Joe DiMaggio, Charlie Gehringer, Jimmie Foxx, and Hank Greenberg. All seven would eventually be elected to the Hall of Fame.

Giuseppe Paulo "Joe" DiMaggio (/dɨˈmɑːʒioʊ/ or /dɨˈmædʒioʊ/; November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe" and "The Yankee Clipper", was an American Major League Baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career for the New York Yankees. He is perhaps best known for his 56-game hitting streak (May 15 – July 16, 1941), a record that still stands.^[1] DiMaggio was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955.

A three-time MVP winner and 13-time All-Star, DiMaggio is the only player to be selected for the All-Star Game in every season he played. During his thirteen years with the Yankees, the club won ten American League pennants and nine World Series championships.

At the time of his retirement, he ranked fifth in career home runs (361) and sixth in career slugging percentage (.579). He was voted the sport's greatest living player in a poll taken in the baseball centennial year of 1969.^[2]

His brothers Vince and Dom also became major league center fielders.

Early life[link]

DiMaggio was born in Martinez, California, the eighth of nine children born to immigrants from Italy, Giuseppe (1872–1949) and Rosalia (Mercurio) DiMaggio (1878–1951). He was delivered by a midwife identified on his birth certificate as Mrs. J. Pico. He was named after his father; "Paolo" was in honor of Giuseppe's favorite saint, Saint Paul. The family moved to San Francisco, California, when Joe was a year old.

Giuseppe was a fisherman, as were generations of DiMaggios before him. According to statements from Joe's brother Tom to biographer Maury Allen, Rosalia's father wrote to her with the advice that Giuseppe could earn a better living in California than in their native Isola delle Femmine, an Italian town in North-Western Sicily, administratively part of the province of Palermo.

After being processed on Ellis Island, Giuseppe worked his way across America, eventually settling near Rosalia's father in Pittsburg, California. After four years, he earned enough money to send for Rosalia and their daughter, who was born after he had left for the United States.

Giuseppe hoped that his five sons would become fishermen.^[3] DiMaggio recalled that he would do anything to get out of cleaning his father's boat, as the smell of dead fish nauseated him. Giuseppe called him "lazy" and "good for nothing".

DiMaggio was playing semi-pro ball when older brother Vince DiMaggio, playing for the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League, talked his manager into letting DiMaggio fill in at shortstop. He made his professional debut on October 1, 1932.

From May 27 to July 25, 1933, he got at least one hit in a PCL-record 61 consecutive games:^[4] "Baseball didn't really get into my blood until I knocked off that hitting streak. Getting a daily hit became more important to me than eating, drinking or sleeping."

In 1934, his career almost ended. Going to his sister's house for dinner, he tore ligaments in his left knee while stepping out of a jitney.

The Seals had hoped to sell DiMaggio's contract for $100,000. Scout Bill Essick of the New York Yankees was convinced that Joe could overcome his knee injury and pestered the club to give DiMaggio another look. After DiMaggio passed a test on his knee, he was bought on November 21 in exchange for $25,000 and five players, with the Seals keeping him for the 1935 season. He batted .398 with 154 RBIs and 34 HRs, led the Seals to the 1935 PCL title, and was named the League's Most Valuable Player.

"The Yankee Clipper"[link]

DiMaggio made his major league debut on May 3, 1936, batting ahead of Lou Gehrig. The Yankees had not been to the World Series since 1932, but they won the next four Fall Classics. In total, DiMaggio led the Yankees to nine titles in 13 years.^[5]

In 1939, DiMaggio was nicknamed the "Yankee Clipper" by Yankee's stadium announcer Arch McDonald, when he likened DiMaggio's speed and range in the outfield to the then-new Pan American airliner.^[6]

He was pictured with his son on the cover of the inaugural issue of SPORT magazine in September, 1946.^[7] In 1947, Boston Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey and Yankees GM Larry MacPhail verbally agreed to trade DiMaggio for Ted Williams, but MacPhail refused to include Yogi Berra.^[8]

In the September 1949 issue of SPORT magazine, Hank Greenberg said that DiMaggio covered so much ground in center field that the only way to get a hit against the Yankees was "to hit 'em where Joe wasn't." DiMaggio also stole home five times in his career.

On February 7, 1949, DiMaggio signed a record contract worth $100,000 ($977,000 in current dollar terms) ($70,000 plus bonuses), and became the first baseball player to break $100,000 in earnings. After a poor 1951 season, a scouting report by the Brooklyn Dodgers that was turned over to the New York Giants and leaked to the press, and various injuries, DiMaggio announced his retirement on December 11, 1951.^[9] When remarking on his retirement to the Sporting News on December 19, 1951, he said

"I feel like I have reached the stage where I can no longer produce for my club, my manager, and my teammates. I had a poor year, but even if I had hit .350, this would have been my last year. I was full of aches and pains and it had become a chore for me to play. When baseball is no longer fun, it's no longer a game, and so, I've played my last game."

Joe DiMaggio's number 5 was retired by the New York Yankees in 1952.

Through May 2009, DiMaggio was tied with Mark McGwire for third place all-time in home runs over the first two calendar years in the major leagues (77), behind Phillies Hall of Famer Chuck Klein (83), and Milwaukee Brewers' Ryan Braun (79).^[10]

Through 2011, he was one of seven major leaguers to have had at least four 30-homer, 100-RBI seasons in their first five years, along with Chuck Klein, Ted Williams, Ralph Kiner, Mark Teixeira, Albert Pujols, and Ryan Braun.^[11]

I

DiMaggio in 1951.

He might have had better power-hitting statistics had his home park not been Yankee Stadium. As "The House That Ruth Built", its nearby right field favored the Babe's left-handed power. For right-handed hitters, its deep left and center fields made home runs almost impossible. Mickey Mantle recalled that he and Whitey Ford witnessed many DiMaggio blasts that would have been home runs anywhere other than Yankee Stadium. (Ruth himself fell victim to that problem, as he also hit many long fly outs to center). Bill James calculated that DiMaggio lost more home runs due to his home park than any other player in history. Left-center field went as far back as 457 ft [139 m], where left-center rarely reaches 380 ft [116 m] in today's ballparks. Al Gionfriddo's famous catch in the 1947 World Series, which was close to the 415-foot mark [126 m] in left-center, would have been a home run in the Yankees current ballpark. DiMaggio hit 148 home runs in 3,360 at-bats at home versus 213 home runs in 3,461 at-bats on the road. His slugging percentage at home was .546, and on the road, it was .610. Expert statistician, Bill Jenkinson, made a statement on these statistics:

DiMaggio's plaque at the Baseball Hall of Fame.

For example, Joe DiMaggio was acutely handicapped by playing at Yankee Stadium. Every time he batted in his home field during his entire career, he did so knowing that it was physically impossible for him to hit a home run to the half of the field directly in front of him. If you look at a baseball field from foul line to foul line, it has a 90-degree radius. From the power alley in left center field (430 in Joe's time) to the fence in deep right center field (407 ft), it is 45-degrees. And Joe DiMaggio never hit a single home run over the fences at Yankee Stadium in that 45-degree graveyard. It was just too far. Joe was plenty strong; he routinely hit balls in the 425-foot range. But that just wasn't good enough in cavernous Yankee Stadium. Like Ruth, he benefited from a few easy homers each season due to the short foul line distances. But he lost many more than he gained by constantly hitting long fly outs toward center field. Whereas most sluggers perform better on their home fields, DiMaggio hit only 41 percent of his career home runs in the Bronx. He hit 148 homers at Yankee Stadium. If he had hit the same exact pattern of batted balls with a typical modern stadium as his home, he would have belted about 225 homers during his home field career.

Joe became eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953 but he was not elected until 1955. The Hall of Fame rules on the post-retirement induction waiting period had been revised in the interim, extending the waiting period from one to five years, but DiMaggio and Ted Lyons were exempted from the rule. DiMaggio told Baseball Digest in 1963 that the Brooklyn Dodgers had offered him their managerial job in 1953, but he turned it down. After being out of baseball since his retirement as a player, Joe became the first hitting instructor of the newly relocated Oakland Athletics from 1968 to 1970.

Hitting streak[link]

DiMaggio kisses his bat in 1941.

DiMaggio's most famous achievement is his MLB record-breaking 56-game hitting streak in 1941. The streak began on May 15, 1941, when DiMaggio went one-for-four against Chicago White Sox pitcher Eddie Smith.^[12] Major newspapers began to write about DiMaggio's streak early on, but as he approached George Sisler's modern era record of 41 games, it became a national phenomenon. Initially, DiMaggio showed little interest in breaking Sisler's record, saying "I'm not thinking a whole lot about it... I'll either break it or I won't."^[13] As he approached Sisler's record, DiMaggio showed more interest, saying, "At the start I didn't think much about it... but naturally I'd like to get the record since I am this close."^[14] On June 29, 1941, DiMaggio doubled in the first game of a doubleheader against the Washington Senators at Griffith Stadium to tie Sisler's record, and then singled in the nightcap to extend his streak to 42.^[15][16]

A Yankee Stadium crowd of 52,832 fans watched DiMaggio tie the all-time hitting streak record (44 games, Wee Willie Keeler in 1897) on July 1.^[17] The next day against the Boston Red Sox, he homered into Yankee Stadium's left field stands to extend his streak to 45, setting a new record. DiMaggio recorded 67 hits in 179 at-bats during the first 45 games of his streak, while Keeler recorded 88 hits in 201 chances.^[18] DiMaggio continued hitting after breaking Keeler's record, reaching 50 straight games on July 11 against the St. Louis Browns.^[19] On July 17 at Cleveland Stadium, DiMaggio's streak was finally snapped at 56 games, thanks in part to two backhand stops by third baseman Ken Keltner.^[20] DiMaggio batted .408 during the streak, with 15 home runs and 55 RBI.^[21] The day after the streak ended, DiMaggio started another streak that lasted 17 games. The distinction of hitting safely in 73 of 74 games is also a record.^[22][23]

Today, DiMaggio's streak is considered a uniquely outstanding and unbreakable record;^[24] the closest anyone has ever come to equaling DiMaggio since 1941 was Pete Rose, who hit in 44 straight games in 1978.^[25][26]

Wartime[link]

DiMaggio enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces on February 17, 1943, rising to the rank of sergeant. He was stationed at Santa Ana, California, Hawaii, and Atlantic City, New Jersey, as a physical education instructor. He was released on medical discharge in September 1945, due to chronic stomach ulcers.^[27] Giuseppe and Rosalia DiMaggio were among the thousands of German, Japanese and Italian immigrants classified as "enemy aliens" by the government after Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japan. They carried photo ID booklets at all times, and were not allowed to travel outside a five-mile radius from their home without a permit. Giuseppe was barred from the San Francisco Bay, where he had fished for decades, and his boat was seized. Rosalia became an American citizen in 1944, followed by Giuseppe in 1945.^[27]

Married life[link]

Dorothy Arnold[link]

In January 1937, DiMaggio met actress Dorothy Arnold on the set of Manhattan Merry-Go-Round, in which he had a minor role and she was an extra. They married at San Francisco's St. Peter and Paul Church on November 19, 1939, as 20,000 well-wishers jammed the streets. Their son, Joseph Paul DiMaggio III, was born at Doctors Hospital on October 23, 1941.^[28]

Marilyn Monroe[link]

Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe staying at Imperial Hotel in Tokyo on their honeymoon.

According to her autobiography, Marilyn Monroe originally did not want to meet DiMaggio, fearing that he was a stereotypical arrogant athlete. They eloped at San Francisco City Hall on January 14, 1954.

DiMaggio biographer Richard Ben Cramer asserts that their marriage was filled with "violence".^{[citation needed]} One typical forceful incident occurred immediately after the skirt-blowing scene in The Seven Year Itch which was filmed on September 14, 1954, in front of New York's Trans-Lux Theater. Then-20th Century Fox's East Coast correspondent Bill Kobrin told the Palm Springs Desert Sun that it was Billy Wilder's idea to turn the shoot into a media circus. The couple then had a "yelling battle" in the theater lobby.^[29] A month later, she filed for divorce on grounds of mental cruelty 274 days after the wedding.

On August 1, 1956, an International News wire photo of DiMaggio with Lee Meriwether speculated that the couple was engaged, but Cramer wrote that it was a rumor started by Walter Winchell. Monroe biographer Donald Spoto wrote that DiMaggio was "very close to marrying" 1957 Miss America Marian McKnight, who won the crown with a Marilyn Monroe act, but McKnight denied it.^[30] He was also linked to Liz Renay, Cleo Moore, Rita Gam, Marlene Dietrich, and Gloria DeHaven during this period, and to Elizabeth Ray and Morgan Fairchild years later, but he never publicly confirmed any involvement with any woman.

DiMaggio re-entered Monroe's life as her marriage to Arthur Miller was ending. On February 10, 1961, he secured her release from Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic. She joined him in Florida where he was a batting coach for the Yankees. Their "just friends" claim did not stop remarriage rumors from flying. Reporters staked out her apartment building. Bob Hope "dedicated" Best Song nominee "The Second Time Around" to them at the 33rd Academy Awards.

According to Maury Allen, DiMaggio was alarmed at how Monroe had fallen in with people he felt detrimental to her well-being. He quit his job with a military post-exchange supplier on August 1, 1962, then asked her to remarry him. She was found dead on August 5. DiMaggio's son, Joe Jr., had spoken to Monroe on the phone the night of her death and claimed that she seemed fine.^[31] Her death was deemed a probable suicide but has been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories. Devastated, he claimed her body and arranged her funeral, barring Hollywood's elite. He had a half-dozen red roses delivered three times a week to her crypt for 20 years.^[32] He refused to talk about her publicly or otherwise exploit their relationship. He never married again.

Advertising[link]

In the 1970s, DiMaggio became a spokesman for Mr. Coffee and would be the face of the electric coffee makers for over 20 years. In 1972, DiMaggio became a spokesman for The Bowery Savings Bank. With the exception of a five-year hiatus in the 1980s, DiMaggio regularly made commercials for the financial institution until 1992.^[33]

Death[link]

DiMaggio's grave

DiMaggio, a heavy smoker for much of his adult life, was admitted to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Florida, on October 12, 1998, for lung cancer surgery, and remained there for 99 days.^[34] He returned to his Florida home on January 19, 1999, where he died on March 8.

DiMaggio's funeral was held on March 11, 1999, at Sts. Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church in San Francisco.^[35] DiMaggio's son died that August at age 57.^[36] DiMaggio is interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma, California.

Sports legacy[link]

At his death, the New York Times called DiMaggio's 1941 56-game hitting streak "perhaps the most enduring record in sports".^[32]

DiMaggio's monument in Monument Park.

In an article in 1976 in Esquire magazine, sportswriter Harry Stein published an "All Time All-Star Argument Starter," consisting of five ethnic baseball teams. Joe DiMaggio was the center fielder on Stein's Italian team.

On September 17, 1992, the doors were opened at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Florida, for which he raised over $4,000,000.^[32]

On April 13, 1998, DiMaggio was given the Sports Legend Award at the 13th annual American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame Awards Dinner in New York City. Dr. Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of State and a longtime fan of DiMaggio’s, made the presentation to the Yankee great. The event was one of DiMaggio’s last public appearances before taking ill.

Yankee Stadium's fifth monument was dedicated to DiMaggio on April 25, 1999, and the West Side Highway was officially renamed in his honor. The Yankees wore DiMaggio's number 5 on the left sleeves of their uniforms for the 1999 season. He is ranked No. 11 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and he was elected by fans to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In addition to his number 5 being retired by the New York Yankees, DiMaggio's number is also retired by the Florida Marlins, who retired it in honor of their first team president, Carl Barger, who died five months before the team took the field for the first time in 1993. DiMaggio had been his favorite player.

An auction of DiMaggio's personal items was held by the adopted daughters of DiMaggio's son in May 2006. Highlights included the ball hit to break Wee Willie Keeler's hitting-streak record ($63,250); his 2,000th career hit ball ($29,900); his 1947 Most Valuable Player Award ($281,750); the uniform worn in the 1951 World Series ($195,500); his Hall of Fame ring ($69,000); a photograph Marilyn autographed "I love you Joe" ($80,500); her passport ($115,000); and their marriage certificate ($23,000). The event netted a total of $4.1 million.

On August 8, 2011, the United States Postal Service announced that DiMaggio will appear on a stamp for the first time. It will be issued as part of the "Major League Baseball All-Star stamp series", coming out in July, 2012.^[37]

In popular culture[link]

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DiMaggio and Ronald Reagan at the White House, 1981

DiMaggio's popularity during his career was such that he was referenced in film, television, literature, art, and music both during his career and decades after he retired.

Art[link]

• Pierre Bellocq's "Canvas of Stars" mural for Gallagher's Steak House (2006)^[38]
• Robert Casilla's "Joe DiMaggio: The Continuity of Greatness" giclee^[39]
• Devon Dikeou's "Marilyn Monroe Wanted to be Buried in Pucci" installation (2008)^[40]
• Harvey Dinnerstein's "The Wide Swing" (1979) sold at auction for $95,000^[41]
• Curt Flood's painting of DiMaggio sold at auction for $9,500^[42]
• Bart Forbes's illustration of DiMaggio for the July 1999 Boy's Life
• Zenos Frudakis's bronze sculpture of DiMaggio for the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital^[43]
• Bill Gallo drew DiMaggio for the New York Daily News; a caricature of DiMaggio and Ted Williams sold at auction for $750^[44]
• Red Grooms's "Joltin' Joe Takes a Swing" installation (1985–1988)^[45]
• Stephen Holland's giclee "Joe DiMaggio" (2005)
• Armand LaMontagne's 1991 giclee of DiMaggio sold at auction for $325^[46]
• Tommy McDonald's paintings of DiMaggio sold at auction for $4,000,^[47] and $2,300^[41]
• Willard Mullin's 1936 drawing of DiMaggio sold at auction for $2,600^[44]
• LeRoy Neiman's painting "Joe DiMaggio, New York Yankees" (1969), mixed media "Joe DiMaggio, San Francisco Seals" (1989), and painting "The DiMaggio Cut" (1998)
• Bruce Stark's caricature of DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle sold at auction for $700^[48]
• Mark Ulriksen's illustration of DiMaggio for the cover of the April 12, 1999 The New Yorker
• Susan Dorothea White's "The Crowning with Sexism" (1994), DiMaggio appears behind Marilyn Monroe

Comics/graphic novels[link]

DiMaggio in 1950.

• DC Comics' 100 Bullets by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso:
  • "The Counterfifth Detective", DiMaggio is recruited by Graves for the Minutemen^[49]
  • "Idol Chatter", the former baseball player befriended by Graves is based on DiMaggio^[50]
• Harvey Comics' Babe Ruth Sports Comics (August 1949)^[51]
• Parents' Magazine's True Comics #71 (May 1948)^[52]
• Revolutionary Comics' "Baseball Legends: Joe DiMaggio" (July 1992)^[53]

Literature[link]

• "Buck Wischnewski" is based on him in Alvah Bessie's novel The Symbol
• "The Athlete" is based on him in Joyce Carol Oates's novel Blonde
• "The Old Man And The Sea" by Ernest Hemingway makes repeated references to "the great DiMaggio."
• Hanoch Piven's What Athletes are Made Of, 2006, features Joe DiMaggio (ISBN 1-4169-1002-6).

Music[link]

• Billy Bragg and Woody Guthrie's "DiMaggio Done It Again".
• Les Brown & His Band of Renown's "Joltin' Joe DiMaggio".^[54]
• Bon Jovi's "Captain Crash & the Beauty Queen From Mars" references DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe.
• Mike Plume's "DiMaggio".
• Dan Bern's "Wasteland".
• Abie Rotenberg's "The Great Joe DiMaggio's Card".
• Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson" asks "Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio"; DiMaggio later complained about this, saying he had not gone anywhere. However this complaint was retracted when DiMaggio met with Paul Simon and was told the meaning behind the lyric.^[55]
• Kinky Friedman's "Marilyn & Joe" references DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe.
• Billy Joel's song "We Didn't Start The Fire".
• John Fogerty's song "Centerfield" Joe DiMaggio's name is used.
• Tori Amos's song "Father Lucifer" in which Joe and Marilyn are referenced. "Did Joe bring flowers to Marilyn's grave"
• Rodgers and Hammerstein's song "Bloody Mary" from the stage musical "South Pacific" 1949 had the lyrics "her skin is tender as DeMaggio's glove".

Movies[link]

• In Paddy Chayefsky's cinema release The Goddess, the character of "Dutch Seymour" is based on him in, played by Lloyd Bridges.
• In the cinema release Insignificance, the character of "The Ballplayer" is based on him, played by Gary Busey.
• In the TV movie "61*" (2001), he is portrayed by Michael Nouri
• In the TV movie "The Rat Pack" (1998), he is portrayed by John Diehl
• In the TV movie "Norma Jean & Marilyn", he is portrayed by Peter Dobson
• In the TV movie "Marilyn & Me" (1991), he is portrayed by Sal Landi
• In the TV movie "Marilyn: The Untold Story" (1980), he is portrayed by Frank Converse
• In the cinema release, Wonder Boys: the character of James steals the jacket that Marilyn Monroe wore the day she married DiMaggio. The jacket belonged to the character of Walter Gaskell, who is obsessed with the DiMaggio-Monroe marriage.

Television[link]

• In the ESPN mini-series drama, "The Bronx Is Burning", about the 1977 World Series, he is played by Christopher McDonald.
• In the TV Series "Blonde" (2001), he is played by Titus Welliver (as The Baseball Player).
• The TV series, Smash, is centred around a fictional Broadway musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe, which features DiMaggio as a central character.
• He is referenced in Frasier: "Room Full of Heroes", when Martin dresses as DiMaggio, his boyhood hero.
• He is referenced in I Love Lucy: "Lucy is Enceinte", when Fred gives Lucy a baseball signed by DiMaggio.
• He is referenced in Mad Men: "Six Month Leave", when Hollis tells Peggy and Don that he is thinking of DiMaggio in the wake of Monroe's death.
• In a sketch from Saturday Night Live, (Season 26, Episode 4), Jimmy Fallon plays DiMaggio and Charlize Theron plays Monroe.
• In a sketch from Second City Television, (Series 4, Cycle 3–9), Bill Murray plays DiMaggio in a faux commercial "DiMaggio's on the Wharf" with Eugene Levy as Dom DiMaggio, and Martin Short as Vince DiMaggio.
• He is referenced in Seinfeld: "The Note", when Kramer insists to Jerry, George, and Elaine that DiMaggio patronizes Dinky Donuts.
• He is referenced in The Simpsons: "'Tis the Fifteenth Season", when Mr. Burns gives Homer a DiMaggio rookie card.
• He is referenced in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: "If Wishes Were Horses", when Sisko's favorite player breaks DiMaggio's hitting streak. record^[56]

Further reading[link]

	Biography portal
	Baseball portal

• Jerome Charyn. Joe DiMaggio: The Long Vigil (Yale University Press; 2011) 192 pages; scholarly biography
• Kostya Kennedy. "56 Joe DiMaggio and the Last Magic Number in Sports" (Sports Illustrated Books; 2011) 367 pages
• SPORT magazine, September 1946

References[link]