The Fall Becomes Classic

Today, in 1903, the beginning of one of the greatest fall traditions came to fruition. On October 1st, 1903, the first World Series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Boston Pilgrims was played. In the nearly 11 decades since then, the World Series has became a must see event every fall. The World Series has a rich history. The New York Yankees have own the most World Series of any other baseball team, with 27 titles. The Seattle Mariners and Washington Nationals have never won a title. In the course of history, 20 teams have won the World Series in a sweep, when a team wins every World Series game played that year. The team with the most sweeps? You guessed it, the Yankees. They've swept the World Series eight times. The 1978 World Series between the Dodgers and Yankees was the highest rated championship round since the series began being televised in the 1960's. The Yankees, of course, emerged victorious. The "Fall Classic" has seen great individual performances as well. In the history of the series, Mickey Mantle has hit 18 home runs, followed closely by his Yankee teammate Babe Ruth, who has 15 homers in his World Series career. On the mound, pitching great Christy Mathewson has shutout his World Series opponent four times, while Lefty Gomez is the only pitcher to never lose a game in his World Series career. We also have moments that have lived on through the test of time. Bill Buckner's gaffe for the Red Sox in '86 comes immediately to mind, as well as Bob Gibson's home run to beat Oakland in the series. Heck, I'll throw in another Yankee moment, when Luis Gonzalez of the Diamondbacks singled to center to give Arizona the series in dramatic fashion. The World Series has had, and seen it all. And it all began on this day, 109 years ago, with the Boston Pilgrams and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Boston won the series that year in eight conests. Sources for this article: Photo-http://www.iknowarailroad.net/nation/index.htm http://www.todayinsport.com/day/october/1 http://www.baseball-almanac.com/ws/wssweeps.shtml http://www.baseball-almanac.com/ws/yr1978ws.shtml http://www.baseball-almanac.com/ws/wsmenu.shtml http://www.baseball-almanac.com/rb_ws1.shtml http://www.baseball-almanac.com/rb_ws4.shtml