This article is about winners of the World Series of Major League Baseball that began in 1903. For earlier league and inter-league championships, seeList of pre-World Series baseball champions.
TheWorld Series is the annual championship series ofMajor League Baseball (MLB) and concludes theMLB postseason. First played in 1903,[1] the World Series championship is abest-of-seven playoff and is a contest between the champions of baseball'sNational League (NL) andAmerican League (AL).[2] Often referred to as the "Fall Classic",[3] the modern World Series has been played every year since 1903 with two exceptions: in1904, when the NL championNew York Giants declined to play the AL championBoston Americans; and in1994, when the series was canceled due to theplayers' strike.[1][2][4][5] The best-of-seven style has been the format of all World Series except in1903,1919,1920,1921, when the winner was determined through abest-of-nine playoff.[1][2] Although the large majority of contests have been played entirely during the month of October, a small number of Series have also had games played during September and November. The Series-winning team is awarded theCommissioner's Trophy.[6] Players, coaches and others associated with the team are generally givenWorld Series rings to commemorate their victory; however, they have received other items such aspocket watches and medallions in the past.[7]
A total of 121 World Series have been contested through 2025, with the AL champion winning 68 and the NL champion winning 53. TheNew York Yankees of the AL have played in 41 World Series, winning 27 – the most championship appearances and most victories by any MLB team. TheDodgers and the Yankees are tied for the most losses with 14 each. TheSt. Louis Cardinals have won 11 championships, the most among NL clubs and second-most all-time behind the Yankees.[3] The Dodgers have represented the NL the most in the World Series with 23 appearances. TheSeattle Mariners are the only MLB franchise that has never appeared in a World Series; theMilwaukee Brewers,San Diego Padres,Tampa Bay Rays, andColorado Rockies have all played in the Series but have never won it, with the Padres and the Rays appearing twice. TheLos Angeles Angels andWashington Nationals are the only teams who have won their only World Series appearance, and theMiami Marlins are the only team with multiple World Series appearances and no losses with two. The Toronto Blue Jays are the only franchise from outside the United States to appear in and win a World Series, winning in 1992 and 1993. TheHouston Astros are the only franchise to have represented both the NL (2005) and the AL (2017, 2019, 2021, 2022), winning the Series in 2017 and 2022. The 1919 and 2017 World Series were both marred with cheating scandals: theBlack Sox Scandal and theHouston Astros sign stealing scandal. The most recent World Series champions are theLos Angeles Dodgers.
The last team to repeat as champions were the Dodgers in2025. Two World Series matchups (in1982 and2005) have no current possibility of a rematch due to one of the contending teams switching to the opposing league – theMilwaukee Brewers moved to the NL in 1998, and theHouston Astros moved to the AL in 2013.
Numbers in parentheses in the table are World Series appearances as of the date of that World Series, and are used as follows:
Winning team andLosing team columns indicate the number of times that team has appeared in a World Series as well as each respective team's World Series record to date.
^ Agreement between the two clubs rather than the two leagues
^ There was no formal arrangement in place between the two leagues regarding the staging of the World Series, so the Giants ownerJohn T. Brush refused to play against a team from what he considered an inferior league.
In the sortable table below, teams are ordered first by number of wins, then by number of appearances, and finally by year of first appearance. In the "Season(s)" column,bold years indicate winning appearances.
The following are the 20 matchups of teams that have occurred two or more times in the World Series. All teams that have participated in these were "Classic Eight" members of either the American or National League; no expansion team (created in 1961 or later) has faced the same opponent more than once in a World Series.
