15. The 1959 World Series saw the first games played on the West Coast
After the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, they played their first few seasons in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Until 1959, the largest crowds to attend World Series games were all in Yankee Stadium. For the 1959 World Series, all three of the crowds drawn by the Dodgers shattered the Yankees’ records. Each exceeded 92,000 fans. The Dodgers won the series 4-2. Over 400,000 fans in total attended games, making it the largest World Series draw in history to that point, despite being only six games. The Dodgers continued to play in the Coliseum until 1962 when they began to play at the newly-completed Dodger Stadium. By 1959 commercial air travel allowed the teams to take just one day for travel between games in the contending cities. The six-game series was completed in just eight days.
Four of the games were played on weekday afternoons. Yet the interest which guaranteed the record attendance was matched by those not able to go to the games. All of the games were televised and broadcast on the radio nationally. Since the Dodgers finished the season tied with the Braves, a best of three playoff series was used to determine the National League Champion. The success of relocated teams, and the fan support they generated, was not lost on other owners. Today, only three cities host more than one team, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Only Chicago retains both teams from baseball’s Golden Era, the Cubs and White Sox. Beginning with the following season, the World Series’ grip as America’s premier sporting event began to slip. Televised sports began to offer alternatives, particularly in the fall.