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When Was the First World Series?The Popular Story is That the Fall Classic Began in 1903. Not True.Most fans believe the first World Series took place in 1903, two years after the American League was born. But the first Fall Classic pre-dates that Series by 20 years.
The First World Series? In 1903, after two years of bitter feuding and player-raiding between the leagues, the presidents of the American League and National League agreed to prevent their teams from recruiting players who were already under contract. They also agreed that at the end of the '03 season, the champions of each league would meet in a nine game series for the "Championship of the World." That October, the AL champion Boston Americans (also known as the Pilgrims, and who later became the Red Sox) defeated the NL winner Pittsburgh Pirates, five games to three. This has popularly been known as the first World Series in baseball history. But it wasn't. A trip further back into baseball history is necessary to uncover the true first World Series. The National League-American Association From 1876 through 1881, the National League enjoyed unchallenged supremacy as the lone major league. But in 1882, a number of entrepenuers, who saw there was money to be made in baseball, started a rival league called the American Association (AA). The AA offered cheaper tickets prices and abundant libations to their fans, in sharp contrast to the alcohol free/high-price tickets environment at National League games. Accordingly, the AA was often referred to as the Beer and Whiskey League by its fans and detractors alike. National League owners, players, and fans generally felt that their league was not only more stable and respectable than the AA, but that their teams were far superior to those in the rival circuit. In response, prior to the start of the 1884 season, AA president H.D. McKnight challenged NL head honcho A.G. Mills to a best-of-five series at the end of the year between their respective league winners. McKnight accepted. The presidents agreed that the winner of the series would be crowned the champion of both leagues. They decided to call the series the "World's Championship Series" or just the "World's Series" for short. The first such series pitted the NL champion Providence Grays against the American Association winner New York Metropolitans. The Grays proved the superiority of the National League by sweeping the Metropolitans in three games. In fact, of the seven World's Series, the National League won four, lost two and tied one. After the 1891 season, however, the American Association ceased operations for financial reasons. Baseball was back to having only one major league. The Temple Cup By 1894, NL owners began to miss the cash they had earned from the post-season series. Accordingly, from 1894 through 1897, the NL winner and runner-up played a best-of-seven exhibition series. The winner was awarded the Temple Cup, a trophy that had been donated by the owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates, William Chase Temple. Although the winner was not considered the world champion, there was still a great deal of pride for the competitors and the eventual series winner. The best team in baseball during that time were the Baltimore Orioles, who won the National League in 1894, 1895, 1896 and finished second in 1897. The Orioles lost the first two Temple Cup Series, however, to the New York Giants and Cleveland Spiders. But the O's avenged their loss to the Spiders by defeating the Cleveland team for the Cup in 1896. In the final Temple Cup series, the Orioles hammered the Boston Braves 4 games to 1. Interest in the series quickly faded, however, and the series was cancelled in 1898 for good. Five years later, the modern World Series was born.
The copyright of the article When Was the First World Series? in Baseball is owned by James Lincoln Ray. Permission to republish When Was the First World Series? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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