No formal World Series agreement In the first modern World Series in 1903, as well as several postseason series between the National League and the
American Association in the 1880s (sometimes referred to as "
pre-modern World Series"), the rules for a given season's "World's Championship Series" had been whatever the two participating clubs had agreed upon. The World Series was not a compulsory event and was not governed by an authoritative body. Thus, when the Boston Americans defeated the National League champion
Pittsburgh Pirates in the
1903 World Series, the contest was arranged directly by the two champion clubs, not by the leagues themselves.
New York Giants During this time, there was an intense business rivalry between the two leagues, especially in New York. In July 1904, as reported in
Sporting Life, Brush stated that his NL club would not play the AL club "if each wins the
pennant in its respective league", in contradiction of a preseason agreement for a championship series between the leagues. Giants manager
John McGraw, who had personal animosity with AL president
Ban Johnson, said that his team was already the world champions because they were the champions of the "only real major league".
Boston Americans The AL race went down to the wire. By July, the Highlanders were just games behind the Boston Americans. The Highlanders then temporarily took over first place on October 7 when they defeated Boston. But the Americans won three of their four remaining games to clinch the AL pennant, and finished games ahead of the Highlanders (who lost three of their final four games) in the final standings of October 10. ==Aftermath==