First attempt in Boston prior to Game 3 of the
1903 World Series After two years of bitter competition and player raiding, the National and American Leagues made peace and, as part of the accord, several pairs of teams squared off for interleague exhibition games following the 1903 season. These series were arranged by the participating clubs, as the 1880s World's Series matches had been. One of them, a
best-of-nine affair matching that year's pennant winners – the
Pittsburgh Pirates of the NL and
Boston Americans (later known as the
Red Sox) of the AL – has come to be regarded as the
1903 World Series. It had been arranged well in advance by the two club owners, as both teams were league leaders by large margins. Boston upset Pittsburgh by five games to three, winning with pitching depth behind
Cy Young and
Bill Dinneen and with the support of the band of
Royal Rooters.
Boycott of 1904 The
1904 Series, if it had been held, would have been between the AL's
Boston Americans (Boston Red Sox) and the NL's
New York Giants (now the
San Francisco Giants). At that point there was no governing body for the World Series nor any requirement that a Series be played. Thus the Giants' owner
John T. Brush refused to allow his team to participate in such an event, citing the "inferiority" of the upstart American League.
John McGraw, the Giants' manager, even went so far as to say that his Giants were already "world champions" since they were the champions of the "only real major league". At the time of the announcement, their new cross-town rivals, the
New York Highlanders (now the
New York Yankees), were leading the AL, and the prospect of facing the Highlanders did not please Giants management. Boston won on the last day of the season, and the leagues had previously agreed to hold a World's Championship Series in 1904, but it was not binding, and Brush stuck to his original decision. In addition to political reasons, Brush also cited a number of legitimate grievances, including the lack of rules under which revenue would be split, where games would be played, and how they would be operated and staffed. Over a period of 45 years from 1920 to 1964, the Yankees played in 29 World Series championships, winning 20. The team's dynasty reached its apex between 1949 and 1964 when the Yankees reached the World Series 14 times in 16 years, helped by an
agreement with the
Kansas City Athletics, after that team moved from Philadelphia during 1954–1955 offseason, whereby the teams made several deals advantageous to the Yankees, until ended by new Athletics' owner Charles O. Finley. During that span, the Yankees played in all World Series except
1954 and
1959, winning nine of them. From 1949 to 1953, the Yankees won the World Series five years in a row; from 1936 to 1939 the Yankees won four World Series Championships in a row. There are only two other occasions when a team has won at least three consecutive World Series: 1972 to 1974 by the
Oakland Athletics, and 1998 to 2000 by the Yankees.
1947–1964: New York City teams dominate World Series play In an 18-year span from 1947 to 1964, except for 1948 and 1959, the World Series was played in New York City, featuring at least one of the three teams located in New York at the time. The Dodgers and Giants moved to California after the 1957 season, leaving the Yankees as the lone team in the city until the Mets were enfranchised in 1962. In 1947, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, and 1956, both teams in the World Series were from New York, with the Yankees playing against either the Dodgers or Giants.
1958: The Dodgers and Giants move west In 1958, the
Brooklyn Dodgers and
New York Giants took their long-time rivalry to the west coast,
moving to
Los Angeles and
San Francisco, respectively, bringing Major League Baseball west of
St. Louis and
Kansas City. The Dodgers were the first of the two clubs to contest a World Series on the west coast, defeating the
Chicago White Sox in
1959. The
1962 Giants made the first California World Series appearance of that franchise, losing to the Yankees. The Dodgers made three World Series appearances in the 1960s: a 1963 win over the
Yankees, a 1965 win over the
Minnesota Twins and a 1966 loss to the
Baltimore Orioles.
1969: League Championship Series Prior to 1969, the National League and the American League each crowned its champion (the "pennant winner") based on the best win–loss record at the end of the regular season. A structured playoff series began in 1969 when both the National and American Leagues were reorganized into two divisions each, East and West. The two division winners within each league played each other in a best-of-five
League Championship Series to determine who would advance to the World Series. In 1985, the format changed to best-of-seven. The
National League Championship Series (NLCS) and
American League Championship Series (ALCS), since the expansion to best-of-seven, are always played in a 2–3–2 format: Games 1, 2, 6, and 7 are played in the stadium of the team that has home-field advantage, and Games 3, 4, and 5 are played in the stadium of the team that does not.
1970s 1971: World Series at night Night games were played in the major leagues beginning with the
Cincinnati Reds in 1935, but the World Series remained a strictly daytime event for years thereafter. In the fifth and final game of the
1949 World Series, a Series game was finished under the lights for the first time due to encroaching darkness in the ninth inning. The first scheduled night World Series game was Game 4 of the
1971 World Series at
Three Rivers Stadium. Afterward, World Series games were frequently scheduled at night, when television audiences were larger. Game 6 of the
1987 World Series was the last World Series game played in the daytime, indoors at the
Metrodome in Minnesota. The last World Series played outdoors during the day was the final game of the
1984 series in Detroit's
Tiger Stadium. The start time of this game (Game 5) was 4:45 PM, making it the last outdoor World Series game to be started during daylight hours, but the game concluded after sunset and the final innings were technically played at night. The last World Series game to be played outdoors entirely during daylight hours was the previous day's game, Game 4, which started at 1:45 PM.
1972–1978: Threepeat, repeats, and Fisk's home run , best known for his "waving fair" home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series During this seven-year period, only three teams won the World Series: the
Oakland Athletics from 1972 to 1974,
Cincinnati Reds in 1975 and 1976, and
New York Yankees in 1977 and 1978. This is the only time in World Series history in which three teams have won consecutive series in succession. This period was book-ended by World Championships for the
Pittsburgh Pirates, in 1971 and 1979, who defeated the
Baltimore Orioles both times. The less successful side during this era also featured repeats. The Orioles themselves made multiple World Series appearances, including three consecutive: 1969, losing to the "amazing" seven-year-old franchise
New York Mets, 1970, beating the Reds in their first World Series appearance of the decade, and their 1971 and 1979 defeats by Pittsburgh. The
Los Angeles Dodgers lost to Oakland in 1974, and made back-to-back World Series appearances in 1977 and 1978, both losses to the Yankees. Game 6 of the
1975 World Series is regarded by most as one of the greatest World Series games ever played. It found the
Boston Red Sox winning in the 12th inning in
Fenway Park, defeating the Cincinnati Reds to force a seventh and deciding game, which Cincinnati won. Game 6 is best remembered for its exciting lead changes, nail-biting turns of events, and a game-winning
walk-off home run by
Carlton Fisk, resulting in a 7–6 Red Sox victory.
1976: The designated hitter comes to the World Series earned the nickname "Mr. October" by hitting three consecutive home runs on three consecutive pitches from three different pitchers in the clinching game six of the 1977 World Series The National and American Leagues operated under essentially identical rules until 1973, when the American League adopted the
designated hitter (DH) rule, allowing its teams to use another hitter to bat in place of the (usually) weak-hitting pitcher. The National League did not adopt the DH rule. This presented a problem for the World Series, whose two contestants would now be playing their regular-season games under different rules. From 1973 to 1975, the World Series did not include a DH. Starting in 1976, the DH rule was used in the World Series held in even-numbered years. The
Cincinnati Reds swept the 1976 Series in four games, using the same nine-man lineup in each contest.
Dan Driessen was the Reds' DH during the series, thereby becoming the National League's first designated hitter. From 1986 to 2019, and in 2021, the DH was used only in World Series games played at American League parks, and pitchers were required to bat in games played at National League parks. In 2020, and starting in 2022, the DH rule was used in all World Series games, regardless of home team.
1980s 1984: Anderson becomes first to win in both leagues The
1984 Detroit Tigers gained distinction as just the third team in major league history (after the 1927 New York Yankees and 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers) to lead a season wire-to-wire, from opening day through their World Series victory. In the process, Tigers skipper
Sparky Anderson became the first manager to win a World Series title in both leagues, having previously won in 1975 and 1976 with the
Cincinnati Reds.
1985: Umpiring controversy The
1985 Kansas City Royals won the series four games to three over the St. Louis Cardinals. The key turning point of the series was a Kansas City win in Game Six aided by a controversial call by
Don Denkinger at first base. Kansas City later won Game Seven 11–0 to take the series.
1986: Mets Game 6 comeback The series is best remembered for its Game 6, which saw the Mets rally from a two-run deficit in the bottom of the 10th inning, despite having two outs and no one on base. The Red Sox, who held a 3–2 series lead, were twice one strike away from securing the championship, but failed to close out the inning as the Mets tie on a Bob Stanley wild pitch & win off an error by Boston first baseman Bill Buckner. Due to the Mets claiming the series in Game 7, the Game 6 collapse entered baseball lore as part of the Curse of the Bambino superstition used to explain the Red Sox's championship drought after the 1918 World Series.
1987: Twins First World Series champion to win every home game The 1987 Minnesota Twins became the first team in the history of the World Series to win the championship by winning all 4 games they hosted when they defeated the St. Louis Cardinals. They repeated this 4 years later in 1991 when they defeated the Atlanta Braves.
1988: Kirk Gibson's home run with the 1988 World Series champions: Los Angeles Dodgers The
1988 World Series is remembered for the iconic home run by the Los Angeles Dodgers'
Kirk Gibson with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 1. The Dodgers were huge underdogs against the 104-win Oakland Athletics, who had swept the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS. Baseball's top relief pitcher,
Dennis Eckersley, closed out all four games in the ALCS, and he appeared ready to do the same in Game 1 against a Dodgers team trailing 4–3 in the ninth. After getting the first two outs, Eckersley walked
Mike Davis of the Dodgers, who were playing without Gibson, their best position player and the NL MVP. Gibson had injured himself in the NLCS and was expected to miss the entire World Series. Yet, despite not being able to walk without a noticeable limp, Gibson surprised all in attendance at Dodger Stadium (and all watching on TV) by pinch-hitting. After two quick strikes and then working the count full, Gibson hit a home run to right, inspiring iconic pronouncements by two legendary broadcasters calling the game,
Vin Scully (on TV) and
Jack Buck (on radio). On NBC, after Gibson limped around the bases, Scully famously exclaimed, "The impossible has happened!" and on radio, Buck equally famously exclaimed, "I don't believe what I just saw!" Gibson's home run set the tone for the series, as the Dodgers went on to beat the A's 4 games to 1. The severity of Gibson's injury prevented him from playing in any of the remaining games.
1989: Earthquake When the
1989 World Series began, it was notable chiefly for being the first-ever World Series matchup between the two
San Francisco Bay Area teams, the
San Francisco Giants and
Oakland Athletics. Oakland won the first two games at home, and the two teams crossed the bridge to San Francisco to play Game 3 on Tuesday, October 17.
ABC's broadcast of Game 3 began at 5 pm local time, approximately 30 minutes before the first pitch was scheduled. At 5:04, while broadcasters
Al Michaels and
Tim McCarver were narrating highlights and the teams were warming up, the
Loma Prieta earthquake occurred (having a surface-wave magnitude of 7.1 with an epicenter northeast of Santa Cruz, California). The earthquake caused substantial property and economic damage in the Bay Area and killed 63 people. Television viewers saw the video signal deteriorate and heard Michaels say "I'll tell you what, we're having an earth--" before the feed from
Candlestick Park was lost. Fans filing into the stadium saw Candlestick sway visibly during the quake. Television coverage later resumed, using backup generators, with Michaels becoming a news reporter on the unfolding disaster. Approximately 30 minutes after the earthquake, Commissioner
Fay Vincent ordered the game to be postponed. Fans, workers, and the teams evacuated a blacked-out (although still sunlit) Candlestick. Game 3 was finally played on October 27, and Oakland won that day and the next to complete a four-game sweep.
1990s 1991: "The Greatest of All Time" made a memorable leaping catch in left field to rob an extra-base hit. In the bottom of the 11th inning, Puckett hit a game-winning home run to send the Series to Game 7 The
1991 World Series saw the Minnesota Twins defeating the Atlanta Braves four games to three to win the championship. ESPN selected it as the "Greatest of All Time" in their "World Series 100th Anniversary" countdown, with five of its games being decided by a single run, four games decided in the final at-bat and three games going into extra innings. The series was also notable for both participants having finished last in their divisions the year prior; no last place team before had ever finished first, let alone reached the World Series, the following year. The series-deciding seventh game was a scoreless tie (0–0) through the regular nine innings, and went into extra innings; Minnesota won by a score of 1–0 in the 10th inning, after their starting pitcher,
Jack Morris, pitched a complete 10 inning shutout 7th game. (Morris was named Most Valuable Player for the Series.)
1992–1993: The World Series enters Canada after
Joe Carter's 1993 World Series-winning home run World Series games were contested outside of the United States for the first time in
1992, with the
Toronto Blue Jays defeating the
Atlanta Braves in six games. The World Series returned to Canada in
1993, with the
Blue Jays victorious again, this time against the
Philadelphia Phillies in six games. No other Series featured a team from outside of the United States until 2025 when the Blue Jays qualified for their third World Series. Toronto is the only expansion team to win successive World Series titles. The 1993 World Series was also notable for being only the second championship concluded by a
walk-off home run and the first concluded by a come-from-behind homer, after
Joe Carter's three-run shot in the bottom of the ninth inning sealed an 8–6 Toronto win in Game 6. Blue Jays radio announcer
Tom Cheek's exclamation of "Touch 'em all, Joe! You'll never hit a bigger home run in your life!" as Carter rounded the bases remains one of the most famous calls in baseball history. The first Series to end with a homer was the
1960 World Series, when
Bill Mazeroski hit a ninth-inning solo shot in Game 7 to win the championship for the
Pittsburgh Pirates over the
New York Yankees.
1994: League Division Series In 1994, each league was restructured into three divisions, with the three division winners and the newly introduced wild card winner advancing to a best-of-five playoff round (the "
division series"), the
National League Division Series (NLDS) and
American League Division Series (ALDS). The team with the best league record is matched against the wild card team unless they are in the same division, in which case, the team with the second-best record plays against the wild card winner. The remaining two division winners are pitted against each other. The winners of the series in the first round advance to the best-of-seven NLCS and ALCS. Due to a players' strike, however, the NLDS and ALDS were not played until 1995. Beginning in 1998, home-field advantage was given to the team with the better regular-season record, with the exception that the Wild Card team cannot get home-field advantage.
1994–1995 strike After the boycott of
1904, the World Series was played every year until 1994 despite
World War I, the
global influenza pandemic of 1918–1919, the
Great Depression of the 1930s, America's involvement in
World War II, and even an
earthquake in the host cities of the
1989 World Series. A breakdown in collective bargaining led to a strike in August 1994 and the eventual cancellation of the rest of the season, including the playoffs. As the labor talks began, baseball franchise owners demanded a
salary cap in order to limit payrolls (while tying revenue-sharing to it), the elimination of
salary arbitration, and other various demands, which would have included using replacement players to cross picket lines. The
Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) refused to agree to limit payrolls, noting that the responsibility for high payrolls lay with those owners who were voluntarily offering contracts while working with a de facto
commissioner in
Bud Selig (who was the chairman of the Executive Council for the league), who had replaced
Fay Vincent when he was forced out in 1992 (Selig did not become a full-time commissioner until 1998). The previous collective bargaining agreement expired on December 31, 1993, and baseball began the 1994 season without a new agreement. Owners and players negotiated as the season progressed, but owners refused to give up the idea of a salary cap and players refused to accept one. On August 12, 1994, the players went on strike. After a month passed with no progress in the labor talks, Selig canceled the rest of the 1994 season and the postseason on September 14. The
World Series was not played for the first time in 90 years. The
Montreal Expos, now the
Washington Nationals, were the best team in baseball at the time of the stoppage, with a record of 74–40. The labor dispute lasted into the spring of 1995, with owners beginning
spring training with replacement players. However, the MLBPA returned to work on April 2, 1995, after a federal judge,
Sonia Sotomayor, ruled that the owners had engaged in unfair labor practices. The season started on April 25 and the
1995 World Series was played as scheduled, with the
Atlanta Braves beating the
Cleveland Indians four games to two.
1996–2000: Yankees dynasty In
1996, the
Yankees beat the defending World Series champion
Atlanta Braves, four games to two, for the club's 23rd World Series title and its first since 1978, winning four straight games after losing the first two at home, joining the 1985 Royals and 1986 Mets as World Series teams to accomplish this feat. The only year the Yankees did not win a World Series from 1996 through 2000 was in
1997 when the expansion
Florida Marlins, playing in just their fifth season, defeated the
Cleveland Indians in Game 7 on a
Craig Counsell walk-off hit. The Yankees returned to the World Series in
1998 and
1999, sweeping both series against the
Padres and
Braves, respectively.
2000s Early 2000s: 9/11, Red Sox end their 86-year title drought , here pictured with President
George W. Bush before game three of the
2001 World Series, became the first player to hit a
walk-off home run in November. The
2000 New York Yankees faced the Mets in the first World Series played entirely in New York since 1956. The Yankees defeated the Mets four games to one to win their 26th World Series Championship. Shortstop Derek Jeter won the World Series' Most Valuable Player award after winning the Most Valuable Player award in the All-Star Game in the same year. The
2001 World Series was the first World Series to end in November, due to the week-long delay in the regular season after the
September 11 attacks. Game 4 had begun on October 31 but went into extra innings and ended early on the morning of November 1, the first time the Series had been played in November. Yankee shortstop
Derek Jeter won the game with a 10th inning
walk-off home run and was dubbed "Mr. November" by elements of the media echoing the media's designation of
Reggie Jackson as "Mr. October" for his slugging achievements during the
1977 World Series. In Game 7, the Yankees led in the ninth inning before the Diamondbacks staged a comeback against closer
Mariano Rivera, capped off by a
walk-off, bases-loaded
bloop single by
Luis Gonzalez to clinch Arizona's championship victory. This was the third World Series to end in a bases-loaded, walk-off hit, following and , and to this date, the last Series to end on a walk-off of any kind. It has since been considered one of the greatest World Series of all time. The
Boston Red Sox broke their 86-year drought, known as the
Curse of the Bambino, defeating the Yankees in the
2004 ALCS after losing the first three games, and then sweeping the
St. Louis Cardinals in the
2004 World Series. The
Chicago White Sox broke their 88-year drought, known as the
Curse of the Black Sox, with their sweep of the
Houston Astros in the
2005 World Series. The White Sox dominated the
2005 Major League Baseball postseason going 11–1, tied with the 1999 New York Yankees playoff run. In the ALCS, the White Sox starting rotation threw 4 straight complete games against the
Los Angeles Angels, which is the only time this has been accomplished in ALCS history. With the
2006 World Series victory by the Cardinals, Tony La Russa became the second manager to win a World Series in both the American and National Leagues. Other notable World Series victories of the decade include the
Anaheim Angels in
2002, their first ever, and the
Philadelphia Phillies in
2008.
All-Star Game and home-field advantage (2003–2016) Prior to 2003,
home-field advantage in the World Series alternated from year to year between the NL and AL. After the
2002 Major League Baseball All-Star Game ended in a tie, MLB decided to award home-field advantage in the World Series to the winner of the
All-Star Game. Originally implemented as a two-year trial from 2003 to 2004, the practice was extended. The American League had won every All-Star Game since this change until 2010 and thus enjoyed home-field advantage from 2002, when it also had home-field advantage based on the alternating schedule, through 2009. From 2003 to 2010, the AL and NL had each won the World Series four times, but none of them had gone the full seven games. Since then, the
2011,
2014,
2016,
2017,
2019, and
2025 World Series have gone the full seven games. (NL) and
Tampa Bay Rays (AL) at
Tropicana Field This rule was subject to debate, with various writers feeling that home-field advantage should be decided based on the regular season records of the participants, not on an exhibition game played several months earlier. Some writers especially questioned the integrity of this rule after the
2014 All-Star Game, when
St. Louis Cardinals pitcher
Adam Wainwright suggested that he intentionally gave
Derek Jeter some easy pitches to hit in the
New York Yankees' shortstop's final All-Star appearance before he retired at the end of that season. As
Bob Ryan of
The Boston Globe wrote in July 2015 about the rule: However, in ten of the past twelve seasons, home-field advantage has not decided World Series games: Between 2014 and 2021, and again since 2023, the home team did not win the deciding game of a World Series on their own home field, although the
2020 edition, played on a neutral site due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, was won by the designated home team (in this case the team that batted second), the
Los Angeles Dodgers, so technically speaking it was the first Series won by the home team since 2013. The
2022 edition was won in 6 games by the eventual designated home team, the
Houston Astros, making them the first such team since 2013 to actually win the deciding game of a World Series on their own home field, in this case
Minute Maid Park. The following year, the
Texas Rangers won the
2023 Series on the road, at
Chase Field, home of the opponents, the
Arizona Diamondbacks, who would have home-field advantage for the deciding game of the 2023 Series. The following year the
Los Angeles Dodgers won the
2024 Series on the road in
Yankee Stadium, home of opponents the
New York Yankees, who had home-field advantage for the deciding game of their 2024 series. And in 2025, the
Dodgers repeated as
World Series champions with a come-from-behind 11-inning Game 7 victory over the
Toronto Blue Jays on the road at
Rogers Centre.
2010s hit a game-tying two-run triple (with two outs) to send it into extra innings. In the bottom of the 11th, Freese led off with a game-winning home run to send the Series to Game 7
2010–2014: Giants even-year dynasty Between 2010 and 2014, the
San Francisco Giants won the World Series every other year during even-numbered years (
2010,
2012 and
2014) while failing to qualify to play in the postseason in the intervening seasons during odd-numbered. In 2010, the
Giants defeated the
Rangers in five games to capture their first title since and
their first since
relocating to
San Francisco from
New York City in
1958, ending the
Curse of Coogan's Bluff. In
2011, the
Rangers were twice only one strike away from winning their first World Series title, but the
St. Louis Cardinals'
David Freese, the eventual Series MVP, drove in both the tying and winning runs late in game six to force a game seven. The Cardinals last the final game, 6-2, clinching their 11th World Series championship. In 2012, the Wild Card game was added. This game, one from each league, was played between the best two teams in the league, aside from the division winner. The
San Francisco Giants swept the
Detroit Tigers in
that year's World Series. In 2013, the
Boston Red Sox won their first World Series of the 2010s by defeating the
St. Louis Cardinals in six games. They won the final game at
Fenway Park, clinching the championship at home for the first time since 1918. In
2014, the
Kansas City Royals reached the World Series in their first appearance in the postseason since winning the series in 1985, breaking the longest postseason drought in baseball. There, they met the
San Francisco Giants, who defeated them in seven games to capture their third title in five years. Giants pitcher
Madison Bumgarner threw a complete game shutout in Game 5 and recorded a five-inning scoreless innings off two days' rest to earn the save in Game 7 to win Series MVP, setting a new World Series record for lowest career ERA with 0.25 (minimum 25 innings pitched) and postseason record of innings pitched. The following season, the
Royals finished with the American League's best record and won a second consecutive American League pennant. They defeated the
New York Mets in the
World Series in five games, capturing their first title in 30 years. The 2015 contest was the first time that two
expansion clubs met in the series.
Late 2010s: Cubs end their 108-year title drought, Dodgers and Astros dominance, Astros sign-stealing scandal celebrate their 2016 World Series victory, their first in 108 years|right In
2016, the
Chicago Cubs ended their
108-year long drought without a World Series title by defeating the
Cleveland Indians in seven games, rallying from a 3–1 Series deficit in the process. That extended Cleveland's
World Series title drought to 68 years and counting – the Indians last won the Series in
1948 – now the longest title drought in the major leagues. At the series' conclusion, numerous outlets listed Game 7 as an instant classic, and the entire Series as one of the greatest of all time. Beginning in 2017, home-field advantage in the World Series was awarded to the league champion team with the better regular-season win–loss record. If both league champions have the same record, the tie-breaker is a head-to-head record, and if that does not resolve it, the second tie-breaker is the best divisional record. This change became the last championship series in the three major
North American professional sports leagues to be awarded home advantage from the teams with the better regular season record since the
NBA Finals in
basketball and the
Stanley Cup Final in
ice hockey. The
Houston Astros won the
2017 World Series in seven games in L.A. against the
Los Angeles Dodgers on November 1, 2017, winning their first World Series since their creation in 1962 and since transferring to the American League in 2013. This World Series also marked the beginning of an era in Major League Baseball, since every subsequent series, except 2023, would feature either the Astros or the Dodgers. The Astros' title came under controversy two years later in the aftermath of their
sign stealing scandal, which implicated the team engaged in an elaborate scheme involving the use of technology to illegally
steal the
pitching signs of opposing teams during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. The
Boston Red Sox won the
2018 World Series, defeating the
Los Angeles Dodgers in five games for their fourth title since 2004. Game three of the series, the only game Boston lost, was an 18-inning game, which was the longest in World Series history. In
2019, the
Washington Nationals defeated the
Houston Astros in seven games, becoming the first team to win the World Series without winning a home game and the first Washington, DC team to win the series since the
1924 Washington Senators. It was the first seven-game World Series in which the road team won every game. With the Nationals' appearance in the World Series in 2019, the
Seattle Mariners are left as the only active MLB franchise to never appear in the World Series.
2020s Dodgers and Astros dominance continued , as manager of the
Houston Astros in 2022, became the oldest person to win a World Series game. In
2020, the
Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the
Tampa Bay Rays in six games to win their first World Series since 1988, and their seventh championship in franchise history, during a season that was shortened to 60 games by the
COVID-19 pandemic. Starting with the Division Series, all postseason games were played at neutral venues, with the World Series being held at
Globe Life Field, the home stadium of the
Texas Rangers. The
Houston Astros received home-field advantage in both the
2021 World Series and the
2022 World Series. In 2021, they lost to the
Atlanta Braves in six games, with
Jorge Soler winning
MVP Honors. In 2022, they won over the
Philadelphia Phillies in six games, where rookie
Jeremy Peña was awarded MVP, Houston manager
Dusty Baker won his first World Series in his 25 years of being a manager and also became the oldest manager to win a World Series game. Four pitchers pitched a combined no-hitter in Game 4, the first no-hitter thrown in the World Series since
Don Larsen's perfect game in 1956 and only the second ever in the history of the World Series. In
2023, two teams returned: the
Texas Rangers after twelve years and the
Arizona Diamondbacks after twenty-two years. The Rangers, who had home-field advantage for the opening two games, went on to defeat the Diamondbacks in five games to achieve their first World Series championship in franchise history. Corey Seager won the
MVP Honor for the second time (his first was with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020), sharing with
Reggie Jackson to win MVP Honors with two different teams. was the first player to hit walk-off home runs in two different World Series. The 2023 World Series was notable as it was the only World Series to not feature the Astros or Dodgers from 2017 to 2025. In
2024, the
New York Yankees returned for the first time since their
2009 championship, meeting the
Los Angeles Dodgers in a matchup that had not happened since
1981. The Dodgers, with home field advantage, took the first 2 games at
Dodger Stadium, and the first game at
Yankee Stadium to take a 3–0 lead. The Yankees won Game 4, and then held a 5–0 lead in Game 5, but lost 7–6, giving the Dodgers their second title in five years and first since
2020.
Freddie Freeman was awarded the
World Series MVP trophy after hitting home runs in each of the first four games, including a walk-off grand slam in Game 1. In
2025, the Fall Classic was a close contest for both Los Angeles and Toronto as each club matched the other's dominant performances. Toronto won Game 1 with a high-scoring 11–4 victory while the Dodgers won Game 2 with several late runs. The Dodgers won Game 3 in 18 innings, capped off by Freddie Freeman's
walk-off home run. Toronto took advantage of the Dodgers’ struggling
bullpen in Games 4 and 5, with the Blue Jays assuming a 3–2 series lead. However, the Dodgers prevailed in a low-scoring Game 6 to send the series into a winner-take-all
Game 7. Toronto held control for a majority of the final game, but Dodgers
Miguel Rojas hit a crucial game-tying home-run, and kept the Jays from scoring in the ninth. In the 11th,
Will Smith hit a go-ahead
home run for the Dodgers, then
Yoshinobu Yamamoto (pitching on zero day's rest after starting Game 6) withstood a late Blue Jays rally to end the game and the series, 4–3 in favor of Los Angeles. The 2025 World Series has been cited as among the greatest World Series of all time. == Modern World Series appearances by franchise ==