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With the 2025 postseason schedule recently announced, I decided to look back at World Series schedules from years past—specifically when Game 1 began and when a champion was crowned. Unlike the Super Bowl, which follows a mostly-predictable pattern through the calendar, the variable number of games makes these dates interesting.
1. The first World Series in 1903 was a best-of-NINE series, with the Boston Americans (now Red Sox) beating the Pirates in eight games. The format returned from 1919 to 1921, but MLB has used a best-of-seven ever since.
2. In 1911, a week of nonstop rain in the Northeast delayed the New York Giants-Philadelphia Athletics matchup by a week. As a result, the six-game A's victory, which started on October 14, did not end until the 26th; it took another 70 years before baseball was played later in the year.
3. The 1918 season ended on September 1 due to a "Work or Fight" order from the US government in the final months of World War I. Red Sox and Cubs players were exempted and played a six-game set from September 5 to 11, easily the earliest World Series on record.
4. Game 2 between the Yankees and Giants in 1922 ended in a 3-3 tie due to darkness. It was the third and final tied postseason game; the previous occurrences came in 1907 and 1912 (necessitating an unplanned Game 8 in the latter year).
5. During World War II the home-field advantage format changed from 2-3-2 to 3-4 to reduce travel. The system was used in 1943 and '45, but not '44; that WS was St. Louis Browns vs. St. Louis Cardinals, making travel concerns pointless. However, this did not affect the dates each game was played.
6. Baseball seasons continued to end quicker through the mid-1950s; a total of 11 more WS games in seven seasons (1932, '36, '42, '47, '53, '54, and '55) were held in September. The 1954 Series featured the second-earliest ending ever (October 2, tied with 1932), while 1955 saw its second-earliest beginning (September 28).
7. When the AL and NL expanded and added a league championship round in 1969, it unsurprisingly pushed back the end of the season. Every WS in the '70s took place in mid-October, as opposed to the early-month matchups of previous decades.
8. The 1981 strike led to a one-year divisional round addition, meaning the Yankees and Dodgers had to play ball until October 28. This broke the longstanding Giants-A's record, and was coincidentally tied in 1989 by those same teams (now on the West Coast) when a Bay Area earthquake postponed the first pitch of Game 3. The '89 World Series took 15 days from start to finish, still the longest time ever, despite being a sweep.
9. In 1994 both leagues permanently added a wild-card team and Division Series. The players' strike canceled the playoffs that year for the first time since 1904; the eight-team format kicked off without a hitch the next year. This delayed the championship again, but not as much as in 1969. Now the Fall Classic was permanently a late-October event.
10. The terrorist attacks of September 2001 forced all sports to postpone their schedules by seven days. In Game 4 on Halloween, Derek Jeter hit a home run at midnight, famously marking the first occurrence of November baseball. The epic seven-game series continued through November 4, by far the deepest into fall the World Series had gone. 9/11 also caused the first Super Bowl in February.
11. A later-than-usual playoff schedule in 2009 tied the November 4 mark. Further playoff expansion means that Game 7 is now routinely scheduled for early November, although the series might end before then. The 2020 format featured no off days in the early rounds, so the WS actually finished earlier than usual. In 2022, a 12-team format and Wild Card Series were permanently added, and the Astros and Phillies wrapped up with Game 6 on November 5, just three days before midterm elections. God forbid we ever have a game on Election Day!
12. In the first 120 World Series (1903 to 2024), there have been exactly 700 games—17 in September, another 17 in November, and 666 (spooky!) in October. This year's edition will begin on October 24, with Game 7 planned for November 1. Should the series go six games, it would be the first to end on Halloween night.
1. The first World Series in 1903 was a best-of-NINE series, with the Boston Americans (now Red Sox) beating the Pirates in eight games. The format returned from 1919 to 1921, but MLB has used a best-of-seven ever since.
2. In 1911, a week of nonstop rain in the Northeast delayed the New York Giants-Philadelphia Athletics matchup by a week. As a result, the six-game A's victory, which started on October 14, did not end until the 26th; it took another 70 years before baseball was played later in the year.
3. The 1918 season ended on September 1 due to a "Work or Fight" order from the US government in the final months of World War I. Red Sox and Cubs players were exempted and played a six-game set from September 5 to 11, easily the earliest World Series on record.
4. Game 2 between the Yankees and Giants in 1922 ended in a 3-3 tie due to darkness. It was the third and final tied postseason game; the previous occurrences came in 1907 and 1912 (necessitating an unplanned Game 8 in the latter year).
5. During World War II the home-field advantage format changed from 2-3-2 to 3-4 to reduce travel. The system was used in 1943 and '45, but not '44; that WS was St. Louis Browns vs. St. Louis Cardinals, making travel concerns pointless. However, this did not affect the dates each game was played.
6. Baseball seasons continued to end quicker through the mid-1950s; a total of 11 more WS games in seven seasons (1932, '36, '42, '47, '53, '54, and '55) were held in September. The 1954 Series featured the second-earliest ending ever (October 2, tied with 1932), while 1955 saw its second-earliest beginning (September 28).
7. When the AL and NL expanded and added a league championship round in 1969, it unsurprisingly pushed back the end of the season. Every WS in the '70s took place in mid-October, as opposed to the early-month matchups of previous decades.
8. The 1981 strike led to a one-year divisional round addition, meaning the Yankees and Dodgers had to play ball until October 28. This broke the longstanding Giants-A's record, and was coincidentally tied in 1989 by those same teams (now on the West Coast) when a Bay Area earthquake postponed the first pitch of Game 3. The '89 World Series took 15 days from start to finish, still the longest time ever, despite being a sweep.
9. In 1994 both leagues permanently added a wild-card team and Division Series. The players' strike canceled the playoffs that year for the first time since 1904; the eight-team format kicked off without a hitch the next year. This delayed the championship again, but not as much as in 1969. Now the Fall Classic was permanently a late-October event.
10. The terrorist attacks of September 2001 forced all sports to postpone their schedules by seven days. In Game 4 on Halloween, Derek Jeter hit a home run at midnight, famously marking the first occurrence of November baseball. The epic seven-game series continued through November 4, by far the deepest into fall the World Series had gone. 9/11 also caused the first Super Bowl in February.
11. A later-than-usual playoff schedule in 2009 tied the November 4 mark. Further playoff expansion means that Game 7 is now routinely scheduled for early November, although the series might end before then. The 2020 format featured no off days in the early rounds, so the WS actually finished earlier than usual. In 2022, a 12-team format and Wild Card Series were permanently added, and the Astros and Phillies wrapped up with Game 6 on November 5, just three days before midterm elections. God forbid we ever have a game on Election Day!
12. In the first 120 World Series (1903 to 2024), there have been exactly 700 games—17 in September, another 17 in November, and 666 (spooky!) in October. This year's edition will begin on October 24, with Game 7 planned for November 1. Should the series go six games, it would be the first to end on Halloween night.
