I definitely get more excited about football’s championship game, the Superbowl, then I do about the World Series of baseball. I think it’s because the Superbowl is only one night so you can plan an amazing party! The World Series on the other hand is anywhere from 4 to 7 games. And you have no idea when or where the final game is going to be. Good thing I am great at throwin an impromptu party the day-off (and I’ll still get out super-cute invitations)! But, when you think about it, the World Series is better because it gives you the opportunity to have at least 4 parties. Think of all the cute new outfits and shoes you get to buy for this!

This year I am definitely more into the series than I ever have been, probably because I can’t escape it: Not only is boyfriend is totally obsessed with it and forces me to watch it in my own house, but the whole town is also obsessed. I live in the Tampa Bay area and the hometown team is going to the World Series for the first time ever! It’s actually kind of exciting!

But I figure the only way I’m going to make it through all of these games I am going to be forced to watch is to arm myself with a lot of useless fun trivia facts. At least they make me feel smarter. And totally freaked my boyfriend out when I told him about the “Bay Bridge/Earthquake Series” of 1989!

Just the Facts:

Total Number of World Series Played: 103

Biggest Winner: New York Yankees with 26

Biggest Loser: Technically, it’s the Yankees also since they have lost 13. But we will give it to the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Fransisco Giants for each losing 12 times.

Random Fact: They do not sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” in the 7th inning stretch. When the playoffs begin, they kick it up a notch and do “God Bless America.”

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Top 5 World Series Winners:

Yankees winning their 26th World Series in 2000!

The New York Yankees

Trips: 39

Wins: 26

Most Recent Win: 2000, against New York Mets, 4-1

Stats & Fun Trivia:

-The 2000 World Series was known as the “Subway Series” because the AL and NL champs were both from NY. The city was practically humming with excitement.

-The 2000 win was the third in a row–or, the much coveted “three-peat–” for the Yanks.

-The Yanks have also achieved a four-peat: 1936, 37, 38, 39 AND a the highly elusive five-peat: 1949, 50, 51, 52, 53

All-Stars: Oh, geez. Just pick one. It would be completely impossible to give you a quick list of the top Yankees of all time. There are just too many. You really can’t go wrong by mentioning Babe Rube. Or Derek Jeter!

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The St. Louis Cardinals:

The sea of red at Bush Stadium when the Cardinals went to the World Series in 2006.

Trips: 17

Wins: 10

Most Recent Win: 2006, against Detroit Tigers, 5-2

Stats:

All-Stars:

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Oakland Athletics:

Oakland vs. San Fransisco in '89 was known as the Battle of the Bay due to the close proximity of the teams. -Wikipedia

Trips: 14

Wins: 9

Most Recent Win: 1989, against San Fransisco Giants, 4-0

Stats & Facts:

-Their first 5 wins came when they were the Philadelphia Athletics before they moved to the west coast (FYI: Oakland is 5.5 hrs from 90210 and 6.5 hrs from the O.C. and Laguna Beach)

-The ’89 series is known as the “Bay Bridge Series” because the teams are in such close proximity in Cali.

-It is also referred to as the “Earthquake Series” due to the Loma Prieta earthquake that interrupted Game 3 and caused a 10-day delay.

I am going to give a bit more on this because I was a bit fascinated by this story. Thanks to Wikipedia for the further info!

“The earthquake had been “predicted” in the morning edition of The San Jose Mercury News in a column by Kevin Cowherd (of The Baltimore Sun). He was discussing the fact that the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants were playing each other in the 1989 World Series at Candlestick Park that day. The quote from his column read: “… these are two teams from California and God only knows if they’ll even get all the games in. An earthquake could rip through the Bay Area before they sing the anthem for Game 3,”— which was precisely when the quake occurred.”

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Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox ended their draught in 2004, and won again in 2007! Boston.com

Trips: 11

Wins: 7

Most Recent: 2007, Colorado Rockies, 4-0.

Stats: The Red Sox won the first World Series in 1903.

-Their win in 2004 ended their legendary 86 year slump. They beat the Cardinals 4-0 in the 100th World Series.

Boston had waited 86 years for this moment!

-The 86-yr draught is possibly the most famous in history. It is often referred to as “the Curse of the Bambino” (we’ll talk more about this when we get to know the Red Sox later on!)

-To the great joy of both my parents (and horror to Yankee fans) they won again in 2007. They made it to 2008 Championship game but fell in Game 7 to Tampa Bay.

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Los Angeles Dodgers

One of the greatest sports highlights of all time: Kirk Gibson's Game Winning home run against the A's in 1988. His injuries were so bad he had to limp, not run, across the bases. -SportsIllustrated.com

Trips: 18

Wins: 6. Yeah, they don’t really have the best winning percentage now do they?

Most Recent: 1988, Oakland Athletics, 4-1.

Stats & Facts:

-Debbie Gibson song the national anthem in Game 1.

-Dodger’s outfielder Kirk Gibson (sadly, no, there is no relation) memorable homerun has been classified as one the Greatest Sports Moments of All-Time. He had injured both knees and could barely walk, plus had a stomach virus. The Dodger’s were down 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth with 2 outs and one runner on base. On the final pitch of the game (because there were 2 outs and the count was 3-2), Gibson hit a homerun. Unable to run, he hobbled around the bases. Really, it’s very movie-inspiring, like Rudy! I’m thinking Mark Walhberg in those tight baseball pants….

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Other Notable Facts:

The Chicago Cubs have the longest draught in all of sports history. They won a World Series in 1908. 101 years later, they are still waiting to win again.

About the author: Jennifer Taglione is the owner of this fabulous website Stiletto Sports. Despite writing well over 500 posts, she still maintains that she is not a sports writer! She is however a huge fan of Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, Mark Sanchez, the Celtics, and totally kicks butt on March Madness brackets! Connect with her by following her on Twitter @StilettoSportsJ and subscribing to her weekly newsletter. For more info check out the About the Editor page!

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