List of World Series champions
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) and concludes the MLB postseason. First played in 1903, the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and is a contest between the champions of baseball's National League (NL) and American League (AL). Often referred to as the "Fall Classic", the modern World Series has been played every year since 1903 with two exceptions: in 1904, when the NL champion New York Giants declined to play the AL champion Boston Americans; and in 1994, when the series was canceled due to the players' strike.
2015 World Series
This was the first (and currently only) World Series in which both teams were expansion teams, which are teams that were formed after the 1960 season; the Mets began play in 1962, while the Royals began play in 1969. Additionally, they have been the most successful expansion teams in the major leagues: the Mets and Royals were the first expansion teams in their respective leagues to not only win a league championship pennant (1969 for the Mets and 1980 for the Royals) but the World Series as well (the Mets in 1969 and the Royals in 1985); with five and four pennants respectively, they are the only expansion franchises with more than two league titles. Each team was also seeking to end a championship drought; the Royals' previous championship was in 1985, with the Mets' last title coming one year later in 1986. The Mets and Royals met on Opening Day of the 2016 season, on April 3, 2016, for a Sunday night game in Kansas City. Additionally, the Royals became the first team in World Series history to start three pitchers - Yordano Ventura, Edison Volquez, and Johnny Cueto - born outside the United States.