In honor of Major League Baseball’s Fall Classic, which kicked off last night with Game 1 between the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers (won by the Cardinals), here’s some entertaining trivia about the World Series that may surprise you.
Did you know…
- … that a World Series game has only been suspended once, in 2008? (The 2008 series featured the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays).
- … that Yadier Molina, who plays catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, belongs to the only trio of brothers who each have their own World Series rings? (Yadier’s brothers, Bengie and Jose, also played for championship Major League Baseball teams as catchers).
- … that Cardinals pitcher Arthur Rhodes, who was traded to St. Louis earlier in the season, is still on the payroll of the Texas Rangers and is eligible to receive a World Series championship ring no matter which team wins?
- … that only two players in the history of baseball have played in three World Series with three different teams? Those two players are Don Baylor and Eric Hinske. Baylor got to the Series with the Red Sox, Twins, and Athletics; Hinske got to the Series with the Red Sox, Rays, and Yankees. Amazingly, both Baylor and Hinske accomplished the feat in consecutive years!
- … that the Seattle Mariners and Washington Nationals are the only teams in baseball to never have reached the World Series? (The Nats used to be the Expos before moving from Montreal to the District of Columbia).
Game 2 of the 2011 World Series will be played tonight at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.