2013 World Series Tickets

The Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals have clinched their spots in the 2013 World Series. The Cardinals earned their spot by defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-0 and the Red Sox advanced to the World Series with their 5-2 win over the Detroit Tigers. The Red Sox had a game deciding Grand Slam in the 7th inning after trailing the Tigers 2-1 earlier in the game.

For more about the background of the World Series over the years.... Major League Baseball is composed of professional baseball teams that belong to the National League and the American League. Starting in 1903, the champions of each League would play against each other to determine the overall lone champion in what has been known as the World Series. It is usually played in October and the declared winner is the one that wins the most games in a best-of-seven playoff. The World Series is, at its best, the greatest celebration of the country’s greatest pastime. It can be counted alongside our traditional and national festivities such as Fourth of July, Thanksgiving or even Christmas. It can be considered bigger than the game of baseball itself and has become an inseparable chunk of American culture.

But before it became known as the top level baseball championship series that we know today, there were championship tournaments before 1903 between existing Leagues that showcased the greatest baseball players during those times. There was the National Association of Professional Baseball Players which existed from 1871 to 1875. It was succeeded by the American Association in 1882 to 1891. The National League was founded in 1876. Champions of each of these Leagues played against each other but there were not clear cut playoff format to determine the overall champion. The championship series between these two leagues were alternatively called “The Championships of the United States” or “World’s Championship Series.” Major League Baseball however, does not recognize these 19th century era tournaments as part of the modern World Series which started in 1903 continuing up to the present. The first World Series champions of the modern era were the American League’s Boston Americans. They won in a best-of-nine playoff against the National League’s Pittsburgh Pirates 5-4.

Major League Baseball follows a season structure that governs how the games are played. They have spring training, regular season, all star game, postseason and since 1986, international play, where an All-Stars team makes an end of the season Japanese tour playing against an All-Stars team from the Nippon Professional Baseball. A similar format was started in 2008 against MLB China. In 2011, an MLB All-Stars team won 5-0 against the Chinese Taipei National Team in Taiwan.