most world series wins american or national league
World Series Prior to 1969, the team with the best regular season win-loss record in each league automatically advanced to the World Series; since then each league has conducted a championship series (ALCS and NLCS) preceding the World Series to determine which teams will advance. As of 2017, the World Series has been contested 113 times, with the AL winning 65 and the NL winning 48.
American League Championship Series The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven series played in October in the Major League Baseball postseason that determines the winner of the American League (AL) pennant. The winner of the series advances to play the winner of the National League (NL) Championship Series (NLCS) in the World Series, Major League Baseball's championship series.
World Series A structured playoff series began in 1969, when both the National and American Leagues were reorganized into two divisions each, East and West. The two division winners within each league played each other in a best-of-five League Championship Series to determine who would advance to the World Series. In 1985, the format changed to best-of-seven.
New York Yankees The Yankees have won a record 27 World Series in 40 appearances (which, since the first World Series in 1903, currently amounts to an average appearance every 2.7 seasons and a championship every 4.0 seasons); the St. Louis Cardinals are second with 11 World Series victories. The Yankees' number of World Series losses, 13, leads Major League Baseball. The St. Louis Cardinals, Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers and New York/San Francisco Giants are second in total World Series appearances with eighteen apiece. Of their 18 World Series appearances, the Dodgers have faced the Yankees eleven times, going 3–8, while the Giants have faced the Yankees seven times, going 2–5.[99] Among North American major sports, the Yankees' success is approached only by the 24 Stanley Cup championships of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League. The Yankees have played in the World Series against every National League pennant winner except the Houston Astros and the Colorado Rockies.[100]