World Series appeared in 9 and won 5. As of 2018, no team has won consecutive World Series championships since the New York Yankees in , , and —the longest such drought in Major League Baseball history. Until the formation of the American Association in 1882 as a second major league, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (1871–1875) and then the National League (founded 1876) represented the top level of organized baseball in the United States. All championships were awarded to the team with the best record at the end of the season, without a postseason series being played. From
World Series country, but not all. marked the first time that the World Series was televised coast to coast. Meanwhile, marked the first time that the World Series was televised in color. Despite its name, the World Series remains solely the championship of the major-league baseball teams in the United States and Canada, although MLB, its players, and North American media sometimes informally refer to World Series winners as "world champions of baseball". Some Americans, even those close to ‘world champions’ themselves, question whether the title is justified. It is often considered "arrogant and ignorant" by the rest of the world. The