A Brief History
On September 30, 1947, the “fall classic” of the “great American pastime” kicked off, the 1947 MLB Championship known as The World Series. The teams competing were the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees, a cross town series that might have left the rest of the country without a horse in the race, so to speak. Still, it was a special series indeed.
Digging Deeper
The 1947 Series went all seven games, three decided by one run and two decided by only two runs. The Yankees won, but that was not the historic part.
The series was notable for some major “firsts” for a World Series, including being the first to be televised, the first to feature an African American player, the first to rake in $2 million at the gate plus TV and radio rights, the first to feature six umpires on the field, and the first to feature a pinch-hit home run!
Question for students (and subscribers): Which World Series do you think was the greatest? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Griffin, Geoff. Brooklyn Bat Boy: A Story of the 1947 Season that Changed Baseball Forever. CreateSpace, 2016.
Kepner, Tyler. The Grandest Stage: A History of the World Series. Doubleday, 2022.
The featured image in this article, the Congressional Gold Medal awarded to Jackie Robinson, is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person’s official duties under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code.
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