1904 World Series

The 1904 World Series was a championship series that never occurred in Major League Baseball. The Boston Americans repeated as American League champions in by|1904 and the New York Giants won the National League championship.

Background

Owing to business rivalry between the two leagues, especially in New York, and to personal animosity between Giants manager John McGraw and American League President Ban Johnson, the Giants declined to meet the champions of the "junior" or "minor" league. McGraw even went so far to say that his Giants were already the World Champions since they were the champions of the "only real major league".

ummary

Boston Americans

Boston had defeated National League champion Pittsburgh in the 1903 World series, a Series arranged by the two leagues.

New York Giants

The Giants maintained that the rules for the World Series were haphazardly defined. In the 1903 Series, as well as the 1880s Series' between the National League and the American Association, the rules for a given season's "World's Championship Series" had been whatever the two participating clubs had agreed upon. Stung by criticism from fans and writers, Brush in January 1905 drafted rules that both leagues adopted that winter. The rules compelled the two winning clubs to participate and governed the annual determination of sites, dates, ticket prices, and division of receipts. The rules essentially made the World Series the premier annual event of Major League Baseball.

Aftermath

Boston slumped in 1905, while New York repeated its NL championship and won the 1905 World Series against the Philadelphia Athletics. The Series has been played every year since, until 1994 when the 232-day players' strike ended the season in mid-August.