It's Called the World Series

Every year baseball fans set aside thoughts of work, home and family to get down to the serious business of rooting for their favorite baseball teams in the World Series!

No matter which teams survive the regular baseball season and the pennant playoffs to make the trip to the Series, fans will have a thrill watching the top teams battle. If the Yankees are playing... which is not unusual, there will be extra excitement as the fans root for whoever is playing against them... unless you happen to be a Yankee fan. Then you can just humor the sore losers and root for a team dripping with baseball history and honors.

Why is it called the World Series? The teams don't come from all over the world, so where did the name come from? You may have heard rumors that the New York World Newspaper sponsored the first games in the early 1900s and the baseball series took on the name of the sponsor. While that may be an easy explanation... it isn't true. Snopes.com has an in depth article on the topic with a quote from the Baseball Hall of Fame,

". . . others have asked that question of the staff at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. in recent weeks. "There's no evidence suggesting it was ever sponsored by the New York World newspaper," said Hall of Fame researcher Eric Enders. When the World Series between the National and American leagues began in 1903, the owners borrowed the name from the world championship series held in the 1880s between the National League and the American Association. Enders concludes the name didn't originate from the name of the long-defunct newspaper. It sounds like an urban myth."

When the games were first played in the late 1800s and early 1900s, international communication and travel were reserved only for the wealthiest. Phones were not available, planes were not crossing the oceans and events in one part of the world could take months to be reported in another. The telegraph was still the main way to get messages across long distances... and was not extremely reliable.

Although the Cuban Leagues began in 1878, and could have been included in the American games, the climate of the time made it extremely easy to think of the United States as the World of baseball - and the winner of the American championship was the World Champion of Baseball.

In these global and more politically correct times, some may see this as arrogance. If so, it is the arrogance of a child who thinks that his family is the hub of the world... more an innocence than a character fault.

As travel became easier and baseball's popularity began to rise in other nations, the sport opened to teams in Canada and players from around the world swelled the ranks of "American Baseball." Some began to question calling a sports championship that only includes two countries a "world" series.

No matter what the roots of the name are, the end result is a game that does get the attention of the world and at times like the 2004 Boston Red Sox victory, new fans who may not understand the rules or the history are won over by the spirit of the game. The dedication of the winning team often makes the difference in their success. As is true in all sports, the champions exhibit much more than skills in the game. The winners are the ones who can find the power in themselves to overcome all obstacles to bring home the trophy.

also see -> World Series Baseball | Little League World Series

American League Baseball | National League Baseball

also see in Sports Idols -> Jason Giambi | Ken Griffey, Jr.

Derek Jeter | Mike Piazza | Alex Rodriguez