World Series Baseball Championship

World Series Baseball Championship
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Event information
Format	Best-of-seven series
Organizer	Major League Baseball
Event name	World Series
Participants	American League champion and National League champion

The World Series is the championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and is contested annually between the champions of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The series determines the season’s MLB champion through a postseason format known as the best-of-seven World Series.

The World Series is a major event in professional baseball, with its teams, venues, and records widely documented by baseball statistics organizations and sports media.

History

The World Series originated as a postseason contest intended to identify a national baseball champion. Over time, it became a defining feature of the MLB postseason and developed a modern structure in which the league champions are determined through league championship series and preceding rounds.

The current AL and NL championship structures are closely tied to MLB postseason formats and scheduling practices. By the time each league champion is established, the World Series functions as the culminating matchup for the season’s top teams, a role reflected in the prominence of related baseball history resources such as Baseball Hall of Fame documentation and official MLB records.

Format and qualification

Teams qualify for the World Series by winning their respective league’s playoff series. In the modern postseason, the AL and NL champions are determined after multiple rounds of elimination play, culminating in the American League and National League pennant races and championship series that set the stage for the final best-of-seven World Series.

The series is played under MLB rules for postseason competition, with each game contributing to the total wins needed for the title. Home-field arrangements are determined by MLB postseason seeding and league criteria established for each season, with series venues shifting accordingly.

Venues and game locations

World Series games are hosted at the home ballpark of each participating team, with the distribution of home games based on the series scheduling model used by MLB. This creates a recurring link between the championship and specific ballparks, including historic venues such as Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium.

Because the World Series is played at the conclusion of the MLB regular season and playoffs, the host venues often highlight modern stadium features as well as longstanding fan traditions associated with the AL and NL. Ballpark conditions, travel, and local attendance influence the logistical execution of the series and are frequently noted in contemporary coverage.

Records and notable performances

Many of baseball’s most frequently referenced achievements are tied to the World Series, including records for single-game and series performance. Individual and team accomplishments are preserved through statistical databases and historical summaries that support research into championship outcomes.

Notable postseason performers have included players such as Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and Derek Jeter, whose careers and World Series impacts are often discussed in baseball history contexts. Championship legacies also influence the selection and recognition of players, managers, and organizations in later years, reinforcing the World Series as both a competitive and historical milestone for MLB.

Cultural impact

The World Series has substantial cultural visibility beyond the sport’s core fanbase, in part because it is positioned as the final statement of the MLB season. Coverage spans local and national media, and its late-season timing contributes to an end-of-year sports narrative that is recognized internationally.

The championship’s prominence also intersects with broader discussions of sports leagues and competitive structures, including the development of MLB postseason formats and their relationship to other championships across major sports. As a result, the World Series remains a reference point when comparing league organization, postseason design, and championship traditions in professional athletics.