List of pre-World Series baseball champions

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The 1886 series between the St. Louis Browns of the American Association and the National League "Chicagos" was billed as a "World's Championship" with a winner-take-all prize of the total gate receipts. 861018-interocean-ad.jpg
The 1886 series between the St. Louis Browns of the American Association and the National League "Chicagos" was billed as a "World's Championship" with a winner-take-all prize of the total gate receipts.

The modern World Series, the current championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) between teams of the National League and the American League, began in 1903, and was established as an annual event in 1905. This article discusses major-league champions before 1905, including championship series contested in that era, primarily between teams of the National League and the American Association.

Contents

History

Before the formation of the American Association (AA), which debuted in 1882, there were no playoff rounds—all championships went to the team with the best record at the end of the season.

In the initial season of the National League (NL) in 1876, there was controversy as to which team was the champion: the Chicago White Stockings, who had the best overall record (52–14), or the St. Louis Brown Stockings (45–19), who were the only team to have a winning record against every other franchise in the league. The teams agreed to play a five-game "Championship of the West" series, won by St. Louis, four games to one.

National League and American Association, 1882–1891

The 1885 St. Louis Browns of the American Association 1885 St. Louis Brown Stockings with Sportsman's Park in background. Chris Von der Ahe and Charles Comiskey featured.jpg
The 1885 St. Louis Browns of the American Association

Beginning with an exhibition series after the American Association's birth in 1882, a championship series between the NL and AA regular-season champions was promoted and referred to as the "World's Championship Series" (WCS), or "World's Series" for short; however, these series are not officially recognized by Major League Baseball as part of World Series history. [1] Though early publications, such as Ernest Lanigan's Baseball Cyclopedia and Hy Turkin and S. C. Thompson's Encyclopedia of Baseball, listed the 19th-century games on an equal basis with those of the 20th century, The Sporting News publications about the World Series, which began in the 1920s, ignored the 19th-century games, as did most publications about the Series after 1960. MLB, in general, regards 19th-century events as a prologue to the modern era of baseball, with the birth of the present American League in 1901.

In the second year of the WCS, a dispute in the 1885 series concerned Game 2, which was forfeited by the St. Louis Browns (AA) to the Chicago White Stockings (NL) when the Browns pulled their team off the field protesting an umpiring decision. The managers, Cap Anson (St. Louis) and Charles Comiskey (Chicago), initially agreed to disregard the game. When St. Louis won the final game and an apparent series championship, three games to two, Chicago owner Albert Spalding overruled his manager and declared that he wanted the forfeit counted. The result of a tied WCS was that neither team got the prize money that had been posted by the owners before the series (and was returned to them after they both agreed it was a tie).

Series within the National League, 1892–1900

Following the collapse of the AA in 1891, four of its clubs (Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Brooklyn) were admitted to the NL. The league championship was awarded in 1892 by a playoff between half-season champions. This scheme was abandoned after one season. Beginning in 1893—and continuing until divisional play was introduced in 1969—the pennant was awarded to the first-place club in the standings at the end of the season. For four seasons, the pennant winner played the runners-up in the postseason championship series called the Temple Cup. A second attempt at this format was the Chronicle-Telegraph Cup series in 1900.

Champions before 1876

Notes:

National Association of
Base Ball Players
  National Association of
Professional Base Ball Players
YearChampions YearChampionsYearChampions
1857 Atlantic of Brooklyn 1864 Atlantic of Brooklyn 1871 Philadelphia Athletics
1858 [2] Mutual of New York 1865 Atlantic of Brooklyn 1872 Boston Red Stockings
1859 Atlantic of Brooklyn 1866 Atlantic of Brooklyn 1873 Boston Red Stockings
1860 Atlantic of Brooklyn 1867 Union of Morrisania 1874 Boston Red Stockings
1861 Atlantic of Brooklyn 1868 Mutual of New York 1875 Boston Red Stockings
1862 Eckford of Brooklyn 1869 Atlantic of Brooklyn The "White Stockings" became (1907) the Cubs, while
the "Red Stockings" were later (1912) named the Braves.
1863 Eckford of Brooklyn 1870 Chicago White Stockings

Champions from 1876 to 1904

Notes:

YearWinning (or tying) teamManagerSeasonGamesLosing (or tying) teamManagerSeasonNotes
National League champions
1876 St. Louis Brown Stockings George McManus 45–194–1 † Chicago White Stockings Albert Spalding 52–14† unofficial Championship of the West
1877 Boston Red Caps Harry Wright 31–17no Series   
1878 Boston Red Caps Harry Wright 41–19
1879 Providence Grays George Wright 55–23
1880 Chicago White Stockings Cap Anson 67–17
1881 Chicago White Stockings Cap Anson 56–28
National League versus American Association champions exhibition
1882 Chicago White Stockings (NL) Cap Anson 55–2911 Cincinnati Red Stockings (AA) Pop Snyder 55–25† exhibition series
1883 Boston Beaneaters (NL) John Morrill 63–35canceled Philadelphia Athletics (AA) Lon Knight 66–32† canceled exhibition series
National League versus American Association champions
1884 Providence Grays (NL) Frank Bancroft 84–2830 New York Metropolitans (AA) Jim Mutrie 75–32 1884 World Series
1885 Chicago White Stockings (NL) Cap Anson 87–2533(1)* St. Louis Browns (AA) Charles Comiskey 79–33 1885 World Series
1886 St. Louis Browns (AA) Charles Comiskey 93–4642 Chicago White Stockings (NL) Cap Anson 90–34 1886 World Series
1887 Detroit Wolverines (NL) Bill Watkins 79–45105 St. Louis Browns (AA) Charles Comiskey 95–40 1887 World Series
1888 New York Giants (NL) Jim Mutrie 84–4764 St. Louis Browns (AA) Charles Comiskey 92–43 1888 World Series
1889 New York Giants (NL) Jim Mutrie 83–4363 Brooklyn Bridegrooms (AA) Bill McGunnigle 93–44 1889 World Series
1890 Brooklyn Bridegrooms (NL) Bill McGunnigle 86–4333(1)* Louisville Colonels (AA) Jack Chapman 88–44 1890 World Series
1891 Boston Beaneaters (NL) Frank Selee 87–51no Series Boston Reds (AA) Arthur Irwin 93–42 
National League champions — (The 1894–1897 series were for the Temple Cup; the 1900 series for the Chronicle-Telegraph Cup)
1892 Boston Beaneaters Frank Selee 102–4850(1)* Cleveland Spiders Patsy Tebeau 93–56 1892 World Series
1893 Boston Beaneaters Frank Selee 86–44no Series   
1894 New York Giants John Montgomery Ward 88–4440 Baltimore Orioles Ned Hanlon 89–39 1894 Temple Cup
1895 Cleveland Spiders Patsy Tebeau 84–4641 Baltimore Orioles Ned Hanlon 87–43 1895 Temple Cup
1896 Baltimore Orioles Ned Hanlon 90–3940 Cleveland Spiders Patsy Tebeau 80–48 1896 Temple Cup
1897 Baltimore Orioles Ned Hanlon 90–4041 Boston Beaneaters Frank Selee 93–39 1897 Temple Cup
1898 Boston Beaneaters Frank Selee 102–47no Series   
1899 Brooklyn Superbas Ned Hanlon 101–47
1900 Brooklyn Superbas Ned Hanlon 82–5431 Pittsburgh Pirates Fred Clarke 79–60 1900 Chronicle-Telegraph Cup
National League versus American League champions
1901 Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) Fred Clarke 90–49no Series Chicago White Stockings (AL) Clark Griffith 83–53 
1902 Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) Fred Clarke 103–36 Philadelphia Athletics (AL) Connie Mack 83–53
1903 Boston Americans (AL) Jimmy Collins 91–4753 Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) Fred Clarke 91–491st modern World Series
1904 New York Giants (NL) John McGraw 106–47no Series Boston Americans (AL) Jimmy Collins 95–59 
* tied game; † exhibition series
Sources: World Almanac and Book of Facts , 1929, [3] Baseball Almanac.com

Totals

Championship of the National Association of Base Ball Players

TeamNo. of
championships
YearsCurrent status
Atlantic of Brooklyn 81857, 1859, 1860, 1861, 1864, 1865, 1866, 1869Defunct (1875)
Mutual of New York 21858, 1868Defunct (1876)
Eckford of Brooklyn 21862, 1863Defunct (1872)
Union of Morrisania 11867Defunct (1873)
Chicago White Stockings 11870 Chicago Cubs (NL)

Championship of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players

TeamNo. of
championships
YearsCurrent status
Boston Red Stockings 41872, 1873, 1874, 1875 Atlanta Braves (NL)
Philadelphia Athletics 11871Defunct (1876)

Championship of the National League (through 1904)

TeamNo. of
championships
YearsCurrent status
Boston Red Caps/Beaneaters 71877, 1878, 1883, 1891, 1892, 1893, 1898 Atlanta Braves (NL)
Chicago White Stockings 61876, 1880, 1881, 1882, 1885, 1886 Chicago Cubs (NL)
New York Giants 41888, 1889, 1894, 1904 San Francisco Giants (NL)
Brooklyn Bridegrooms/Superbas 31890, 1899, 1900 Los Angeles Dodgers (NL)
Pittsburgh Pirates 31901, 1902, 1903 Pittsburgh Pirates (NL)
Providence Grays 21879, 1884Defunct (1885)
Baltimore Orioles 21896, 1897Defunct (1899)
Detroit Wolverines 11887Defunct (1888)
Cleveland Spiders 11895Defunct (1899)

Championship of the American Association

TeamNo. of
championships
YearsCurrent status
St. Louis Browns 41885, 1886, 1887, 1888 St. Louis Cardinals (NL)
Cincinnati Red Stockings 11882 Cincinnati Reds (NL)
Philadelphia Athletics 11883Defunct (1890)
New York Metropolitans 11884Defunct (1887)
Brooklyn Bridegrooms 11889 Los Angeles Dodgers (NL)
Louisville Colonels 11890Defunct (1899)
Boston Reds 11891Defunct (1891)

Championship of the American League (through 1904)

TeamNo. of
championships
YearsCurrent status
Boston Americans 21903, 1904 Boston Red Sox (AL)
Chicago White Stockings 11901 Chicago White Sox (AL)
Philadelphia Athletics 11902 Athletics (AL)

Winner of the World's Championship Series

Notes:

TeamNo. of
championships
YearsCurrent status
New York Giants (NL)21888, 1889 San Francisco Giants (NL)
Providence Grays (NL)11884Defunct (1885)
St. Louis Browns (AA)11886 St. Louis Cardinals (NL)
Detroit Wolverines (NL)11887Defunct (1888)
Boston Beaneaters (NL)11892 Atlanta Braves (NL)

See also

References

  1. World Series Summary, Major League Baseball website, accessed 2006-10-24
  2. Charlton, James. "The Chronology – 1858". Baseball Library. Baseball Library. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  3. 1929 World Almanac and Book of Facts , 1971 reprint by Workman Publishing, ISBN   978-0-07-071882-1, pages 776-777