The 1997 World Series featured the Cleveland Indians, who were playing in their second World Series in three years. Their opponents were the Florida Marlins, who had set a record by reaching the Series in only their fifth season. The Marlins were underdogs, but they capped a stunning season by beating the Indians in seven games, becoming the first ever wild card team to win the Series. The final of Game 7 was decided in extra innings on an Edgar Rentería single.

This was the only World Series that Paul Beeston would preside over as CEO of Major League Baseball. The previous four World Series had been presided over jointly by the league presidents (first Dr. Bobby Brown and then Gene Budig for the American League, Leonard Coleman for the National League).

NL Florida Marlins (4) vs. AL Cleveland Indians (3)

Saturday, October 18, 1997 at Pro Player Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida

The first World Series game in the state of Florida, Game 1 featured a youngster and a veteran facing each other on the mound. Fresh off his NLCS MVP performance, Liván Hernández took the hill for the Marlins and quickly gave up a run in the first thanks to a double by leadoff man Bip Roberts and an RBI single by David Justice. Indian starter Orel Hershiser got by the first two innings unscathed. However, after the Marlins tied the game in the third, they scored four runs in the fourth. The inning climaxed when Moisés Alou and Charles Johnson hit back-to-back homers (Alou's was a three-run shot off the left field foul pole). The Marlins added two in the fifth to knock Orel out of the game. The Indians crept back in the game slowly thanks to solo shots by Manny Ramírez and Jim Thome and entered the ninth inning down only 7–4. Florida closer Robb Nen came in and was able to get out of a jam by striking out Sandy Alomar, Jr. and Thome with two men aboard.

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. 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.

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.

Stuart Errol "Stu" Ungar (September 8, 1953 – November 22, 1998) was a professional poker and gin rummy player, widely regarded to have been the greatest Texas hold 'em and gin rummy player of all time.

He is one of only two people to have won the World Series of Poker Main Event three times (Johnny Moss also has three WSOP titles but his first was obtained by a vote of the players, not by winning a tournament). He is also the only person to win Amarillo Slim's Super Bowl of Poker three times, the world's second most prestigious poker title during its time.

Ungar was born to Jewish parents and raised on Manhattan's Lower East Side. His father, Isadore ("Ido") Ungar, was a loan shark who ran a bar/social club called Foxes Corner that doubled as a gambling establishment, exposing Stu to gambling at a young age. Despite Ido's attempts to keep his son from gambling after seeing its effects on his regular customers, Stu began playing underground gin and quickly made a name for himself. Ungar was gifted at school and skipped seventh grade, but then dropped out of school in tenth grade.