| 1994 World Series | ||||||||||
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| Dates | Canceled due toplayers' strike | |||||||||
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The1994 World Series was the scheduledchampionship series ofMajor League Baseball's (MLB)1994 season. It was canceled due to astrike by theMLB Players Association.[1] The cancelation marked the second time (and to date last) a World Series was not played in a given season and the first since1904.
This was supposed to have been the first year of an expanded eight-team playoff system, with theAmerican League (AL) andNational League (NL) realigning into three divisions each (East, Central, and West) at the start of the 1994 season, and the addition of awild card spot in each league.[2] The NL champion was then intended to be assignedhome-field advantage in the 1994 World Series, based on an annual rotation dating back to the mid-1930s in which the World Series opened in the NL city in even-numbered years and opened in the AL city in odd-numbered years. With the postseason canceled, the new playoff system did not go into effect until the1995 postseason, and the annual World Series rotation (which continued until 2003) was then reversed so that home-field advantage for the1995 World Series was assigned to the NL champion.[3][4]
At the time that the strike began, theMontreal Expos had a six game lead in theNL East over theAtlanta Braves, while the Braves had a 21⁄2 game lead over theHouston Astros for theNL wild card.[5] As there were no division champions in 1994, the Braves are officially credited with winning 14 consecutive division titles from 1991 to 2005, winning theNL West in the final three years of the two–division system and then winning 11 consecutive NL East titles from 1995 to 2005.
1994 was the first season that national telecasts were produced byThe Baseball Network, ajoint venture between MLB,ABC, andNBC.[6] Under the original arrangement, ABC would have broadcast the World Series in even-numbered years (included 1994) and NBC would have televised the series in odd-numbered years.[7] Because the 1994 World Series was cancelled, ABC and NBC shared broadcast rights to the1995 World Series,[7] after which the joint venture was ended.[8]
The World Series was supposed to start tonight.
Because of the expanded playoffs, including the new wild-card round, the World Series schedule had been flipped this season to open again at the home of the AL champion.
ABC lost the 1994 World Series; this was supposed to be NBC's year. Instead, they split the spoils. Who got the better of the deal? Let's see. The networks each get 6 percent of the advertising revenues; baseball gets 88 percent. Call it a draw.
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