History

U.S. Census Bureau History: The World Series

President Coolidge throws the first pitch at the 1924
World Series. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.

This year, baseball’s World Series begins on October 23. The first World Series between the American and National Leagues was held in 1903. That year, the Boston Americans beat the Pittsburgh Pirates in a best-of-nine series. In 1904, the National League champion New York Giants declined to play in a post-season series against the American League's Boston Red Sox. However, the World Series has been played every year after the end of the regular season since 1905.

Here are some facts about baseball and the World Series from the U.S. Census Bureau:

• The 1947 World Series was the first to be televised. The 1950 Census was the first to ask if households owned a television. That year, 12 percent of U.S. households had a TV.
• According to the Statistical Abstract, 196,000 people attended the four-game 1950 World Series between the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies. In 1989, 223,000 people attended the four World Series games between the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants.
• In 2012, the San Francisco Giants swept the Detroit Tigers to win the World Series in four games. These cities ranked 14th and 18th, respectively, in terms of population size that year.