2. The leagues adopted the World Series in 1905
The 1903 World Series, won by Boston five games to three, was a voluntary affair. Boston played at Pittsburgh’s invitation, without the formal sanction of either the National or American league. But both league offices saw the advantages of having a representative of their organization claiming the title of World Champion. In 1905 the league’s made participation in the post-season event compulsory. There was no Series in 1904. Since 1905 the event has taken place every year except 1994, when an unfortunate work stoppage canceled the season and the post-season. For 1905 the series was set as a best of seven matchup. The two teams which appeared exist in the 21st century, albeit in different cities than they did at the time, the Philadelphia Athletics (Oakland) and the New York Giants (San Francisco). The Giants won the series in five games.
It was the first officially sanctioned World Series. It was also the first to be suspected of the results being manipulated by gambling interests. The leagues established a disbursal of the player’s portion of the gate receipts with 75% going to the winners, 25% to the losers. Before the series began, Giants and Athletics players agreed to split the receipts 50-50. Then Philadelphia’s star pitcher, arguably the best in baseball that year, Rube Waddell, announced he was injured and could not play. The Cleveland Plain Dealer speculated over the truth about Waddell’s injury. So did the nationally distributed newspaper The Sporting News. Whether Waddell was bribed to sit out the series and give an advantage to the Giants is still debated. Across the United States, betting on baseball was as much of a pastime as watching baseball. The World Series was already a major gambling event.