MLB World Series Betting Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook

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MLB World Series betting odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook

Major League Baseball World Series   The World Series is the championship series of Major League Baseball and the culmination of the sport's postseason each October. The St. Louis Cardinals are the current (2006) World Series champions.   The World Series is played between the winners of the American League and National League. The modern World Series has been an annual event since 1903, with the exceptions of 1904 and 1994.   Baseball has employed various championship formulas since the 1860s. When the term "World Series" is used by itself, it is usually understood to refer to the "modern" World Series exclusively.   The World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff.   Best-of-seven has been the format of all the modern World Series except in 1903, 1919, 1920 and 1921 when the winner was determined through a best-of-nine playoff.

The Series winner is awarded the World Series Trophy, as well as individual World Series rings.

 

The New York Yankees have played in 39 of the 102 Series played through 2006, or 38% of all the Series, more than twice the number of the next best team. They have also won 26 World Series championships, more than any other franchise and more than the combined number of titles won by the next three most successful clubs. The St. Louis Cardinals have won ten championships, the most for any National League team.

 

The Series takes place in mid-autumn, and as such, sportswriters many years ago dubbed the event the "Fall Classic".

 

 

Overview

 

The first modern World Series was held between Boston of the American League and Pittsburgh of the National League in 1903. Boston won the series 5 games to 3, helping to establish the new league's credibility. However, the next year, the National League champion New York Giants refused to play the American League champions (Boston again) because of the alleged "inferiority" of the American League, along with the legitimate claim that there were no formal or standard rules for this championship (a factor which had helped kill the 1880s version of the Series). In response, the World Series was instituted in 1905 as a permanent institution, through which the leagues would "meet annually in a series of games for the Professional Base Ball Championship of the World."

 

Until 1969, teams reached the Fall Classic merely by having the best records in their respective leagues. If two teams were tied for the best record at the end of the scheduled season, the winner of a head-to-head "pennant playoff" game between the two teams was declared winner of the "pennant" (league championship), and thus represented the league in the Series.

 

The reorganization of each league into two divisions for the 1969 season changed the road to the Series. The winners of the East and West divisions of each league would meet in a best-of-five (later best-of-seven) League Championship Series to determine the winner of the pennant. The split into two divisions was partially based on the premise that there were too many teams in the league to have one division ("you can't sell a twelfth place team"). It also ensured more "pennant races" to generate more regular-season attendance, along with more post-season revenue.

 

A further change occurred in 1994 with the expansion of the Major Leagues and the establishment of the Central Divisions. This created an odd number of teams in each league's playoff tournament, so a fourth playoff team was added. It was called the "wildcard", patterned after the National Football League's playoff system, of including the best non-divisional winner in the playoffs. This created additional regular-season races as well as further augmenting post-season income. It also had the inevitable effect of playing the game's prime event in the latter part of October, with weather often much colder and harsher than in the early part of the month, especially in the Midwest and Northeast.

 

Under the current format, normally the division-winner with the highest winning percentage in the league faces the wildcard in the best-of-five first round, or Division Series, and the two remaining teams face each other in the first round. However, if both the wildcard qualifier and the best divisional win record come from the same division (which has happened frequently), the wildcard instead plays the division winner with the second-best record in the first round while the remaining two teams face each other. The winners of the two Division Series play in the League Championship Series for the right to play in the World Series.

In case two teams tie for the fourth playoff spot in a league, a single-game "pennant playoff" is required to determine the final qualifier.

 

Although the current structure was established in 1994, the players' strike canceled the post-season events that year. Playoffs with the current structure were first played in 1995.

 

Structure

 

Home-field advantage is determined by the results of the All-Star Game. By virtue of the American League winning the 2006 All-Star Game, it had home-field advantage in the 2006 World Series. The series follows what is called a 2-3-2 format with the first two and last two games being played in the stadium of the club with home-field advantage. The other three games are played in the opponent's stadium.

 

This All-Star Game determination of home-field was instituted following the 2002 Midsummer Classic which ended in a tie, which drew significant criticism. In order to prevent a future repeat of that situation, Commissioner Bud Selig decided to give the All-Star Game a more competitive element, by making its result tangibly meaningful. The slogan "This one counts" has been used for the Classic. Prior to 2002, home-field advantage had alternated between the leagues from year to year.

 

Between the American League having the home field advantage the last year of the "alternating" approach, and having won every All-Star Game since then, 2006 marked the fifth consecutive year of American League home field edge. Nonetheless, the National League club has won the Series in two of those five years.

 

Since 1986, the designated hitter rule has been applied according to the rules normally in effect at the home ballpark. In an American League ballpark, both teams may use a designated hitter to bat for the pitcher. In a National League ballpark, both teams' pitchers must bat. From 1976 through 1985, the designated hitter was used for all games in even-numbered years and no games in odd-numbered years. The designated hitter was not used at all prior to the 1976 Series, although the DH rule had been adopted by the AL in 1973.

 

A portion of the gate receipts from the World Series — and, from 1969 onward, the other rounds of postseason play preceding it — is used to fund a Players' Pool, from which descending shares are distributed to the World Series winner, the World Series loser, all the other teams qualifying for the playoffs but not reaching the World Series, and certain other teams not qualifying for the playoffs. Prior to 1969, teams finishing in the first division, or top half of the leagues' standings, received such shares; today, only the teams finishing second in their divisions but not earning a wild card receive them. The shares for the actual participants are limited to the gate receipts of the minimum number of games necessary to decide the series; that rule has been in place from the beginning, to keep the games "honest".

 

List of World Series won:

 

Rank	Team	Series Won	Years Won	Notes
1.	New York Yankees	26	1923, 1927, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1977, 1978, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000.	Leads all MLB teams. Has most finals championships of all North American sports.
2.	St. Louis Cardinals	10	1926, 1931, 1934, 1942, 1944, 1946, 1964, 1967, 1982, 2006.	Leads all NL teams. Current Champions.
3.	Oakland Athletics	9	1910, 1911, 1913, 1929, 1930, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1989.	The first five were won as the Philadelphia Athletics. The A's also won the 1902 AL pennant, but did not have the chance to play the NL Champion Pittsburgh Pirates for the World Championship. The A's lead all AL West teams.
4. (tie)	Boston Red Sox	6 *	1903 (the first World Series), 1912, 1915, 1916, 1918, 2004.	*The Red Sox also won the 1904 pennant but there was no World Series as the NL champion New York Giants refused to play.
4. (tie)	Los Angeles Dodgers	6	1955, 1959, 1963, 1965, 1981, 1988.	Won first championship as the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Dodgers also won NL pennants, and, theoretically, world championships in 1890, 1899 and 1900. The Dodgers lead all NL West teams.
6. (3-way tie)	Cincinnati Reds	5	1919, 1940, 1975, 1976, 1990.
6. (3-way tie)	Pittsburgh Pirates	5	1909, 1925, 1960, 1971, 1979.	Also won NL pennants in 1901 and 1902, but did not play the AL champions for the World Championship. All five World Series went the full seven games. Closest call since: 3 NL Division Championships, 1990, 1991, 1992 (in East, now in Central).
6. (3-way tie)	San Francisco Giants	5	1905, 1921, 1922, 1933, 1954.	(All as New York Giants) Also won NL pennants, and, theoretically, world championships in 1888 and 1889. In 1904, they also won the NL pennant but refused to play the "inferior" American League. Have not won since moving to San Francisco for 1958 season. Closest call: 3 NL pennants, 1962, 1989, 2002.)
9.	Detroit Tigers	4	1935, 1945, 1968, 1984.	The Tigers lead all AL Central teams.
10. (4-way tie)	Chicago White Sox	3	1906, 1917, 2005.	The White Sox also won the first AL pennant in 1901, but did not have the chance to play the NL Champion Pittsburgh Pirates for the World Championship.
10. (4-way tie)	Atlanta Braves	3	1914 (as Boston Braves), 1957 (as Milwaukee Braves), 1995.	Only team to win Series in three different cities.
10. (4-way tie)	Minnesota Twins	3	1924 (as Washington Senators), 1987, 1991.
10. (4-way tie)	Baltimore Orioles	3	1966, 1970, 1983.
14. (5-way tie)	Florida Marlins	2	1997, 2003.	Both titles came with the Marlins in the post-season as the wild-card.
14. (5-way tie)	Toronto Blue Jays	2	1992, 1993.	The Jays are the only team from outside the United States to win a pennant, let alone a World Series.
14. (5-way tie)	New York Mets	2	1969, 1986.
14. (5-way tie)	Cleveland Indians	2	1920, 1948.	Closest call since: 3 AL pennants, 1954, 1995, 1997.
14. (5-way tie)	Chicago Cubs	2	1907, 1908.	Also won NL pennants and, theoretically, world championships in 1876, 1880, 1881, 1882, 1885 and 1886, though in 1885 and 1886 lost to the AA team that became known as the St. Louis Cardinals. Drought since 1908 is longest in major league sports history. Closest call since: 7 NL pennants, 1910, 1918, 1929, 1932, 1935, 1938, 1945; 3 NL Division Titles, 1984, 1989 (in NL East), 2003 (in NL Central).
19. (4-way tie)	Anaheim Angels	1	2002.
19. (4-way tie)	Arizona Diamondbacks	1	2001.	Shortest time for any expansion team to win a World Series. They did it in just their 4th year.
19. (4-way tie)	Kansas City Royals	1	1985.
19. (4-way tie)	Philadelphia Phillies	1	1980.	Won first World Series in 98th season of play, a record. Also was the last of the 16 franchises in existence when the World Series began in 1903 to have won one.
23. (8-way tie)	San Diego Padres	0	None	2 NL pennants, 1984, 1998. The Padres have a 1-8 record in World Series games. Holds the current record of most World Series appearances without a World Series championship.
23. (8-way tie)	Houston Astros	0	None	1 NL pennant, 2005. The Astros have a 0-4 record in World Series games.
23. (8-way tie)	Milwaukee Brewers	0	None	1 AL pennant, 1982 (moved to NL 1998). The Brewers have a 3-4 record in Word Series games.
23. (8-way tie)	Seattle Mariners	0	None	3 AL West Championships, 1995, 1997, 2001. 1 Wild Card in 2000.
23. (8-way tie)	Texas Rangers	0	None	3 AL West Championships, 1996, 1998, 1999. Currently the oldest team without a World Series championship.
23. (8-way tie).	Washington Nationals	0	None	1 Division Title as Montreal Expos, 1981. Also had the best record in the MLB when strike called off remainder of 1994 season.
23. (8-way tie).	Colorado Rockies	0	None	1 Playoff berth, 1995 NL Wild Card.
23. (8-way tie)	Tampa Bay Devil Rays	0	None	Have never made Playoffs since entering AL in 1998.

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