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.
Sports-related curses
Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals are one of only 2 teams in Major League history to have never appeared in a World Series (the other being the Seattle Mariners). They were formerly the Montreal Expos from 1969 to 2004. In that span, they had only made the playoffs one time, the strike-shortened 1981 season. They played in the National League Division Series (NLDS) as a result of the strike. The Expos won the series over the Phillies 3-2, but lost the National League Championship Series (NLCS) to the Dodgers in 5 games. The Expos win in the 1981 NLDS remains the only postseason series win in the franchise's history. The Nationals first started playing in Washington in 2005. Since that time, the Nationals have made the playoffs only 4 times, losing in the NLDS each time.