MLB World Series winners: Complete list year by year

The 2023 MLB World Series got underway on Friday with the American League champions the Texas Rangers taking on National League champions the Arizona Diamondbacks in the best-of-seven series. The Rangers, who have home-field advantage in the series due to their better regular season record took Game 1 6-5 at Glove Life Field but the Rangers tied the series with a comprehensive 1-9 victory in the second game.

With both teams heading into Game 3 at Chase Field on Monday, we take a look back at the list of previous winners.

The World Series as a modern concept began in 1903, when the season winner of the newly formed American League challenged the season winner of the National League to a series for overall supremacy. Not played the following year, it was revived in 1905 and the game has been played annually ever since, excepting the 1994 strike-shortened season.

There had been championship series prior to 1903, of course, and they were often referred to as “The Championship of the United States”, “World’s Championship Series”, or “World’s Series” for short, but they were sporadic and disorganized, with the number of games played ranged from as few as three to as many as fifteen. Two of the 19th century series actually ended in ties!

Once the National Association became the National League and the old American Association folded, there was no need for a championship series, the team with the most wins during the regular season was simply crowned champion.

The American League formed in 1901 and the two leagues refused to play each other that year, opting in 1902 to play a football match between the two teams to determine a champion. Finally, with the obvious staring them in the face, they put aside their differences and began playing a baseball series the following year.

After the scandalous accusations that the 1919 Series had been thrown by the Chicago White Sox, the office of the commissioner was created, along with broad powers. Eight of the players, including Buck Weaver who everyone agreed took no part in the scandal, were banned for life, a ban that still resonates in the baseball world.

The original format of having each league represented by the team with the best record continued until 1969, when the post season was expanded to include four divisions. 1994 saw a restructure into three divisions, leading to the creation of a third champion and a Wild Card slot.