"Seven is a Lucky Number" (Fall, 1905)

The origins of the seven game series, and why it feels completely irrelevant right now

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In 1904, the New York Giants, the champions of the National League, refused to play the Boston Americans, the champions of the American League, in the World Series. This was largely due to egotism and spite: The Giants considered themselves and their league far superior to the “juniors” of the American League, who were simply not worthy of the competition. The Giants’ manager, John McGraw, reviled American League president Ban Johnson, and the Giants’ owner, John Tomlinson Brush, felt it did his franchise no good to dignify the American League by affording them a direct challenge to the National League’s perceived superiority.

Unless you are Ken Burns—in which case, I welcome you and ask, “Are you hiring researchers?”—there is no reason you should be aware of any of this, other than the fact that this was the last y…