First Tour De France

It's October 1st, 1903, and everyone is abuzz as baseball has risen in popularity decade after decade, becoming the most popular sport in America. But we never knew who the best team was until two leagues rose to prominence, the National League and the American League. And they decided to put their best against each other in a series of games to determine who had the best team. It was the World Cup. champion in baseball, giving us the very first World Series, showcasing each team's unique features and giving us our very first world champion in baseball. Join us today as we dive into this incredible series and what it's meant to the game today. Today on Daily Sports History. Welcome to Daily Sports History, your guide, because I used to spend my summers as a catcher in a little league in 100 degree heat. And today's trivia question to listen out for is who hit the very first home run in World Series history? The beginning. So to understand how we got to this series, we first have to go back in history. See, professional baseball didn't start until the 1860s with the Cincinnati Red Stockings being the very first professional team. And more teams started to pop up, including more leagues. And multiple leagues would pop up and fade away, but two leagues started to rise up. The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, long name officially shortened down to the National League, was founded in February of 1876. Just saying anything with an 18... The beginning means it was a long time ago. It was founded in New York and was championed by William Hubler and Albert Spalding of the Spalding Brothers, one of the major players in sports memorabilia. And it was made to replace the National Association, who lacked authority and had corruption going on, and so it took its place as a better league. The new league saw more professionalism and exclusive franchises for larger cities. And it centralized its authority over the clubs, requiring each team to honor its scheduling commitments. So it really was a new way of, on a free fall, really allowing these teams to have a manager or supervisor, a guiding light that they had to follow. It started with eight teams with Boston, Chicago, St. Louis, Philadelphia, New York, Brooklyn, Cincinnati, and Louisville. Really focused on the East Coast. It'd be another 70 years before we start to move to the West Coast. And they had their very first pennant, which we still use that term today, in 1876, won by Chicago. And it created a blueprint for future leagues popping up. Now, there are multiple other leagues. And one of them that came just a few years later, the American League, was a Western League in 1893. And it was aimed to challenge the dominance of the NL. It aggressively would sign top players from the NL. gaining support from cities, from fans, and legitimizing their league. And they really focused on cities that were ignored or vacated by the National League. And by 1901, there was a, quote, baseball war between these two leagues as they were fighting for players, which was great for players, which meant their salaries increased exponentially for the time. It really gave us the dream of being a professional athlete because you couldn't make good money And it was because of these challenging leagues. And they went back and forth between contracts and lawsuits. And then in 1903, both leagues got together to end the challenges they were having, helping stabilize each other financially. As the more you spend, eventually that money does run out. And Barney Dreyfus, who owned the Pitford Pirates, and Henry Kalia, who owned the Boston Americans, the American League, spearheaded negotiations between the two leagues. And they... got together and they had an agreement in place to end the hostility and create a truce laying down groundworks for a postseason competition between the two leagues, essentially making them a larger league for this one goal. It was a championship challenge. Now, originally, they wanted to have 11 games, but that seems like a lot of games between the two. So they decided, let's cut it down to just still a lot of games for us today. But the announcement of this series was huge in the baseball world across America. Fans were excited at this interleague format and a chance to see who was truly the best league. Let's talk about the Pittsburgh Pirates at this time. They were led by Hall of Famer Horace Wagner, which we know mainly through his baseball court, which is one of the most valuable baseball courts ever. And one of the greatest shortstops to ever live. He was the team's star, but Due to injuries, he did not have much effect on the series. This series really came down to pitching, which they were led by Deacon Phillippe and Sam Lever. And the Boston Americans, who would eventually become the Boston Red Sox, were led by legendary pitcher Cy Young, as well as pitcher Bill Dyeen. And you have to remember why pitching was so important in this era was because it was the dead ball era as The Moment. So everyone's excited for this game. It's the first game facing off against these two major leagues. And the Pirates jump out quick. They get four quick runs and capitalize on errors that were made across the Americans. As Tommy Leach rips a ground rule triple into a sea of fans. Because there was no wall. Instead they had fans line up behind a rope. And the rule was... If the ball went over, it was a home run. But if it rolled into the crowd, it was a ground rule triple, which they would later change to a ground rule double. But we're on the ground rule triple and we have walls now. Things change. And before you know it, Pittsburgh has a lead 7-3. Then Jimmy Sebring hammers the very first World Series home run. And Pittsburgh's ace, Deacon Phillippe, was unbeatable and gets the win against legendary pitcher Cy Young. As Pirates lead. Now game two. Boston has a comeback. Again the game is in Boston. And Boston puts out Bill Diney. Who pitches a three hit shutout. And brings the series to a 1-1 tie. Now the next game comes back. Deacon Phillippe of the Pirates. Pitches on just one day rest. Something that's unheard of in today's baseball. And he holds Boston to just four hits. As the Pirates retake the lead 2-1 in the series. Now game 4-6 are played in Pittsburgh. In game 4, the Pirates come out swinging. As Tommy Leach drives in three runs. Hornace Wagner and Ginger Bauman each collect three hits. To give them a 3-1 lead in the series. Now remember this is tonight. So even if they won the next game and won four. They have to get five to win the series. Game five comes up. And Cy Young is back on the mound. And he shows his dominance that he had throughout his career. And allows only 6 hits. And it was enough to shut down Pittsburgh and get another win. In the series 2-3. In game 6, Bill Danai of Boston has a complete game victory. Shutting down the Pirates again. Giving them a 3-3 tie. So now, after 6 games, it's all tied up. It's now a three game series. The next to win two games wins it all. So game seven comes and the team's Boston jumps out to an early lead as Cy Young takes the mound showing his poise and is able to maintain this lead and give Boston another victory. Now they lead the series four to three. Just one game needed to win it all. Game eight comes back to Boston with everything on the line. The Pirates lose. That's it. They lose the series. Bill Danai of the Boston Americans takes the mound and steals the spotlight for one of the most legendary pitchers in the game, Cy Young, as he pitches his second shutout of the series, giving the Americans a 3-0 win to clinch the very first World Series 5-3 after Deacon Phillippe had pitched his fifth complete game for the Pirates, giving it his all, but it wasn't enough. The Fallout. So, the Boston Americans were part of the American League, and this really legitimized the American League, gave it credibility and prestige, and provided the AL with more backing to help compete with the more established National League, and created enthusiasm and demand from fans for future championship matchups. As the series drew massive crowds, and each location attracting over 16,000 fans, which is a huge amount back then. But even with all this, there was still no World Series in 1904. Due to the New York Giants, at the time, was a baseball team, not the football team, refused to play the AL champion, and this backlash led to fans in each league establishing in 1905 every year they would have a championship between the American League and the National League. The Pirates remained competitive even though they lost the very first World Series. And in 1909, they would return to the World Series and win their very first championship, defeating the Detroit Tigers in led by a stellar play from their Hall of Famer, Hornace Wagner. They had an additional World Series in 1925, 1960, 1971, and 1979. However, after the 79 season, they had a long drought throughout the 80s of having struggles, but they have bounced back to province in the 1990s and in the 2000s to be a competitive and a staple in the major leagues. Now, as for the Boston Americans, they would actually go on to change their name in 1908 to the Boston Red Sox. Establishing themselves as a powerhouse, they went on to win the World Series in 1912, 1915, 1916, and 1918. And then, we all know what happened. There was a major drought of World Series wins for over 80 years until 2004. But ever since the name changed to the Boston Red Sox, they've stayed at Fenway and had a lot more success in the World Series after their long, long time. It's amazing that over a hundred years previously, these two teams competed against each other in a World Series for a first of its kind. And both of these are staples and American fixtures in sports. When you say the Pirates, people know you're talking about the Pittsburgh Pirates in baseball. When you say the Red Sox, they know you're talking about the Boston Red Sox. Yes, not the Americans, but the Red Sox name is as American as they come. I want to thank you for listening to today's Daily Sports History. If you like this, please, I would love for you to take a little bit of time out of your day to go wherever you're listening, leave a review, leave a five-star rating, whatever you can do, and we'll see you on the next one. And today's trivia question, who hit the very first home run in World Series history? And the answer is Jimmy Sebring, who hit it in the World Series. Thank you.