World Series

The World Series is the championship of Major League Baseball and the final of three rounds in the MLB Playoffs. The Series is an annual event which is held in October. Participating teams are determined by the outcomes of the individual League Championship Series. Historically, the starting location of the Series alternated between Leagues. Today, the home-field advantage, or location of games one and two of the Series, is awarded to the League that wins the annual MLB All-Star Game. The World Series consists of a minimum of four and a maximum of seven games in a two-three-two format to determine home-field advantage.http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/schedule/ps.jsp?y=10

In the 2010 MLB Playoffs, the 2010 World Series began on Wednesday, October 27, 2010, and concluded on November 2, 2010. The best-of-seven-games series aired live on FOX as the Texas Rangers played in their first World Series in franchise history after defeating the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series. The Rangers fell to the winner of the National League Championship Series, the San Francisco Giants in five games as the Giants won their first championship since 1954.http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/schedule/ps.jsp?y=10

After a nine-year drought, the New York Yankees beat the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies in the 2009 World Series to boost their league-leading number of world titles to 27.http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=291104110&prov=ap In 2010, the National League broke a losing streak and earned home-field advantage in the World Series by taking the All-Star Game with a score of 3-1.http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ALS/ALS201007130.shtml This was the first victory for the National League in the game since 2001.http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091007&content_id=7378912&vkey=ps2009news&c_id=mlb

The first World Series was played in 1903. Before the World Series was introduced, the champion of Major League Baseball was decided by a three-game series called 'The Championship of the United States'. The series featured the champions of the National League and the American League. The first series featured the Boston Americans versus the Pittsburgh Pirates.http://www.baseball-almanac.com/ws/wsmenu.shtml

• 2001: Arizona Diamondbackshttp://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/ARI/2001.shtml
• 2002: Anaheim Angelshttp://www.baseball-almanac.com/teams/anah.shtml
• 2003: Florida Marlinshttp://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/FLA/2003.shtml
• 2004: Boston Red Soxhttp://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BOS/2004.shtml
• 2005: Chicago White Soxhttp://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHW/2005.shtml
• 2006: St. Louis Cardinalshttp://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/STL/2006.shtml
• 2007: Boston Red Soxhttp://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BOS/2007.shtml
• 2008: Philadelphia Phillieshttp://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/PHI/2008.shtml
• 2009: New York Yankeeshttp://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYY/2009.shtml

• 2001: Randy Johnson and Curt Schillinghttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/2001/sportsman/
• 2002: Troy Glaushttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/cover/featured/11129/index.htm
• 2003: Josh Becketthttp://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/pitchinglogs.php?p=beckejo02&y=2003
• 2004: Manny Ramirezhttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/magazine/specials/sportsman/2004/11/17/manny.ramirez/
• 2005: Jermaine Dyehttp://www.welovedc.com/2010/04/13/jermaine-dye-2005-world-series-mvp-turned-down-offer-from-nats/
• 2006: David Ecksteinhttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/1010/mlb.unlikely.postseason.heroes/content.2.html
• 2007: Mike Lowellhttp://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/playoffs/2007-10-29-lowell-mvp_N.htm
• 2008: Cole Hamelshttp://www.ridelust.com/08-world-series-mvp-cole-hamels-gets-a-2010-camaro/
• 2009: Hideki Matsuihttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/05/hideki-matsui-world-serie_n_346447.html