First World Series Won: Boston Beats Pittsburgh

Boston's Americans defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates five games to three on October 13, 1903, clinching the first modern World Series and establishing the championship format that baseball would make its signature tradition. The best-of-nine series between the American League and National League champions had been dismissed by skeptics as a publicity stunt. The quality of play and public enthusiasm proved them spectacularly wrong. The matchup pitted Pittsburgh's dominant National League club, led by the legendary Honus Wagner, against the upstart Boston Americans (later the Red Sox) of the younger American League. Pittsburgh had won the National League pennant three consecutive years, while the American League was only in its third season as a major league. Many National League owners and fans refused to take the challenge seriously, considering the junior circuit inferior. Pittsburgh's owner, Barney Dreyfuss, proposed the postseason series to Boston owner Henry Killilea, and both leagues' presidents approved. Pittsburgh won three of the first four games, and the series seemed headed for a rout. But Boston's pitching staff, anchored by Cy Young and Bill Dinneen, dominated the remainder of the series. Dinneen threw a complete-game shutout in the decisive eighth game, and the crowd at Boston's Huntington Avenue Grounds stormed the field in celebration. The financial and popular success of the series convinced both leagues to make it an annual event. Pittsburgh's Dreyfuss sportingly added his club's share of gate receipts to the players' pool, meaning the losing Pirates actually earned more per player than the winning Boston team — a source of grumbling that led to better revenue-sharing rules. The World Series has been played every year since except 1904 (when the New York Giants refused to participate) and 1994 (when a players' strike cancelled the season). No other championship in American professional sports carries the same historical weight.