Home MLB A beginner’s guide to the World Series

A beginner’s guide to the World Series

by Matt Smith

At 01.05 in the early hours of Thursday morning, the opening credits will fade away, the camera will pan in and Jonny Gould will welcome all ‘fellow baseball nuts’ to Five’s coverage of this year’s MLB World Series.  The best-of-seven series will decide whether the Philadelphia Phillies or the Tampa Bay Rays are crowned as the 2008 champions and baseball fans of all allegiances will settle in to enjoy what should be an enthralling contest.

While the World Series amounts to an end of season party for established fans, it also serves as an excellent showcase for newcomers to the sport.  If the prospect of the World Series has tempted you into giving baseball a look for the first time, this preview will give you all the info you need (and possibly some you don’t) to prepare you for what lies ahead. 

How did we get here?

There are thirty teams in MLB, split into an American League (AL) of fourteen teams and a National League (NL) of sixteen.  The regular season typically begins at the start of April (save for the odd early opener like the two games between the Boston Red Sox and the Oakland A’s held in Japan at the end of March this year) and finishes at the end of September.  Each team plays an incredible 162 games during this span. 

At the end of the regular season, eight teams head on to the postseason (also known as the play offs): four each from the AL and the NL.  The teams initially stay within their league boundaries producing two division series (best of five games) and then a Championship series (best of seven) in each.  The winner of the Championship series from each league goes on to play in the World Series.

This year’s teams

British sports fans have become all too familiar with the Premier League title only being contested by the ‘big four’ every year.  MLB is completely different.  The last eight World Series have been won by seven different teams, with only the Red Sox winning it twice (including last year) during that period.  This year’s entrants are even further proof that a much greater percentage of the teams have a genuine chance of winning the big prize each year in MLB than is the case in a lot of other sports.

The Tampa Bay Rays won the American League Championship Series to get to the World Series.  To say their success has been a surprise would be a massive understatement.  The franchise played their first season in 1998 and, to be frank, they have been completely hopeless up until this year.  The one benefit of their uselessness has been the reward of high draft picks in the amateur player draft that takes place every June.  Consequently, the have slowly built up a crop of exciting young talent.  Prior to the season, most commentators recognised that the Rays were turning the corner to respectability and that they had a bright future ahead of them, but no one predicted that their young players would break through in such spectacular style this season. 

Although they have been a surprise, that’s certainly not to say they have been lucky.  They deservedly beat the big-spending New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox (total payrolls of $209m and $133m compared to the Rays’ $44m)  to the AL East division title and then edged out the Red Sox in an epic American League Championship Series.  With quality young pitchers in the form of James Shields, Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza and David Price and top young position players such as B.J. Upton and Evan Longoria, they are a formidable team who figure to only get better and better over the next few years.

The National League will be represented by the Philadelphia Phillies.  Although they were not the favourites to make it the World Series, they were certainly one of the likely contenders heading into the season.  The Phillies won the NL East division last year and they did so again in 2008, capitalizing both times on a late season collapse by the New York Mets.  Having said that, the division didn’t just fall into their hands.  They are a very solid ballclub, with some excellent hitters (most notably big slugger Ryan Howard, the reigning National League MVP Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley), one of the best young starting pitchers in the game (Cole Hamels, who will take the mound in game one tonight) and a top closer in Brad Lidge.  With a supporting cast also capable of making big plays at crucial times, they are a strong outfit from top to bottom.

The World Series format

The World Series is a best-of-seven game (first to four) contest spread over nine days.  The first two games will be played in Tampa Bay, the next three in Philadelphia, and then the final two back in Tampa (if necessary).  The Rays’ home field advantage is due to the American League’s victory in the mid-season All Star Game (this is a controversial topic: previously home field advantage alternated every year between the two leagues and the NL haven’t tasted victory in the All Star Game since 1996). 

The games are basically played under the same rules as those used during the regular season.  Most notably, this means that games are played to a finish however long that may take and there are no artificial measures (e.g. an equivalent of a penalty shoot out) to bring about a quicker ending.  An extreme example of this occurred in Game three of the 2005 World Series between the Chicago White Sox and the Houston Astros.  This game lasted 5 hours 41 minutes, beginning at approximately 01.40 in the morning British time and ending at 7.20!

The one unique feature of the World Series in terms of the playing rules relates to the key difference between the two leagues.  In the National League, the pitcher has to bat; in the American League, the pitcher doesn’t bat and is replaced by a ‘designated hitter’ (DH).  In the World Series, the rule that is used depends on which team is playing at home in a specific game.  So as the first two games will be played in Tampa (the American League team), the designated hitter rule will be in effect.  The pitchers will have to bat in the following three games in Philadelphia. 

This year’s World Series will have an additional historic sub-plot as it will be the first played under the ‘instant replay’ rules that were brought in near the end of the regular season.  An instant replay can only be consulted by the umpire to determine whether a ball went for a home run or not.

All of the seven games will be played at night in the States, meaning that they will typically begin at 01.30 in the morning over here.

World Series festivities

No one can deny that the Americans always put on a great show and the World Series is no exception.  Game one will be preceded by a grand opening ceremony including the players being announced one-by-one (which will be a good introduction to them if you are a newcomer).  A ceremonial first pitch is delivered by a celebrity/former player/important figure before most MLB games, which often gives you an opportunity to laugh at the individual’s bounced throw while thinking to yourself: ‘I’m glad I wasn’t the one trying to deliver a good pitch in front of thousands of fans and millions of TV viewers’.

The American national anthem is sung before every game as well.  The presenters on Five like to give the performance marks out of ten so don’t forget to play along!

Five’s coverage

That brings us on to Five’s coverage.  Jonny Gould and Josh Chetwynd are excellent hosts and their excitement and enthusiasm for the game always shines through.  No doubt they will be decked out in their tuxedoes tonight (as is customary for the opening game of the World Series) and their analysis and banter really help British viewers understand and enjoy the game a lot more than if we simply watched advert breaks in between innings.  They love involving viewers by reading out their e-mails as well, so send them a message (via baseball@five.tv) and you may get a name check.

Why is it called the ‘World Series’

Some Brits think this is the height of American arrogance.  Thankfully Josh Chetwynd recently explained the origin of the name in his blog.

Sit back and enjoy

Well, that should give you a decent introduction to the upcoming World Series.   If you have any further questions, just use the comments box below and I’ll do my best to answer them (note that if you haven’t submitted a comment before, it won’t appear until it has been moderated – this is just part of the endless battle against the spammers!).  Also check out my Baseball Basics for Brits series via the link in the main menu.

I’m sure this year’s World Series will be a fantastic contest. I hope you enjoy watching it and continue to read about the sport here at BaseballGB.

You may also like

2 comments

DJ October 24, 2008 - 10:17 pm

So far you’re right: This has been a terrific World Series. I think it could go down to the wire and rank up there with the all-time classics.

Your overview is outstanding. One correction: The Rays play in St. Petersburg, Florida. Not Tampa. But, as we Yanks say, whatever.

Keep up the great work.

Reply
Matt Smith October 24, 2008 - 10:45 pm

Thanks for the correction DJ.

The first two games have been very enjoyable and I think that the series is only just heating up.

Reply

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.