October 1, 2025 • 12 mins
Step back in time to 1903 for the dramatic tale of the first modern World Series—the Boston Americans vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates. Discover the fierce league rivalry that led to this legendary showdown, game-by-game highlights, heroic performances from Cy Young, Honus Wagner, and Deacon Phillippe, plus the aftermath that launched a timeless sporting tradition. This episode captures the tension, triumph, and legacy of baseball’s inaugural championship series, revealing how one event transformed America’s pastime into a true national obsession.
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Listen now! 👉 DailySportsHistory.com 📲 Follow for more daily sports history insights!
Email: dailysportshistory@gmail.com
YouTube: YouTube.com/@dailysportshistory
Twitter: twitter.com/dailysportshis
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's October one, nighteen three. Everyone is a buzz as
baseball has risen in popularity decade after decade, becoming the
most popular sport in America. But we never knew who
the best team was until two leagues rose to prominence,
the National League and the American League. He decided to
(00:22):
put their best against each other in a series of
games to determine who had the best team. It was
the World Champion in Baseball, giving us the very first
World Series, showcasing each team's unique features and giving us
our very first World Champion in baseball. Towards today, as
(00:45):
we dive into this incredible series and what it's meant
to the game today today on Daily Sports.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
History, Welcome to eight fours History, your guide because I
used to spend my summers as.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
A catcher in a little league in one hundred degree heat.
And today's trivia question to listen out for is who
hit the very first home run in World Series history?
The beginning. So to understand how we got to this series,
(01:25):
we first have to go back in history. See, professional
baseball didn't start to the eighteen sixties, with the Cincinnati
Red Stockings being the very first professional team and more
teams started to pop up, including more leagues, and multiple
leagues would pop up and fade away, but two leagues
started to rise up. The National League of Professional Baseball
(01:46):
Club's long name ficially shortened down to the National League,
was founded in February of eighteen seventy six. To saying
anything with an eighteen the beginning means it was a
long time ago. It founded in New York and was
championed by William Hubler and Albert Spoulding of the Spaulding
Brothers were the major players were in sports mirror Rebelia,
(02:09):
and it was made to replace the National Association, who
lacked authority and had corruption going on, and so it
took its place as a better lead. The new league
saw more professionalism and exclusive franchises for larger cities, and
it centralized its authority over the clubs, requiring each team
to honor its scheduling commitments. So it really was a
(02:31):
new way of a free fall, really allowing these teams
to have a manager supervisor at guiding light that they
had to follow. It started with eight teams, with Boston, Chicago,
Saint Louis, Philadelphia, New York, Brooklyn, Cincinnati, and Louisville really
focused on the East coast. It'd be another seventy years
before we start to move to the West coast. And
(02:53):
they had their very first tennant, which we still use
that term to day in eighteen seventy six, won by Chicago,
created a blueprint for future leagues popping up. Now there
were multiple other leagues, and one of them that came
just a few years later, the American League, was a
Western league in eighteen ninety three, and it was aimed
(03:13):
to challenge the dominance of the NL. It aggressively would
sign top players from the NL, gaining support from cities,
from fans, and legitimizing their league. And they really focused
on cities that were ignored or vacated by the National League.
And by nineteen oh one there was a quote baseball
(03:34):
war between these two leagues as they were fighting for players,
which was great for players, which meant their salaries increased
exponentially for the time. It really gave us the dream
of being a professional athlete because you couldn't make good money.
And it was because of these challenging leagues. And they
went back and forth between contracts and lawsuits, and then
(03:54):
in nineteen oh three, both leagues got together to end
the challenges they were having. Helped being stabilized them each
other financially, as the more you spend eventually that money
does run out. And Barney Dreyfuss, who owned the pitburd Pirates,
and Henry Khalia, who owned the Boston Americans the American League,
(04:14):
spearheaded negotiations between the two leagues and they got together
and they had an agreement in place in the hostility
and create a truce laying down groundworks for a postseason
competition between the two leagues, essentially making them a larger
league for this one goal, it was a championship challenge. Now,
(04:36):
originally they wanted to have eleven games, but that seems
like a lot of games between the two so they
decided let's cut it down to just still a lot
of games for us today. But the announcement of this
series was huge in the baseball world across America. Fans
were excited at this inner league format in a chance
(04:56):
to see who was truly the best league. US talk
about the Pittsburgh Pirates at this time. They were led
by Hall of Famer Horace Wagner, which we know mainly
through his baseball court, which is one of the most
valuable baseball courts ever and one of the greatest shortstops
to ever live. He was the team's star, but due
to injuries, he did not have much effect on the series.
(05:19):
This series really came down to pitching, which they were
led by Deacon Phillippy and Sam Lever, and the Boston Americans,
who would eventually become the Boston Red Sox, were led
by legendary pitcher Cy Young as well as pitcher Bill Diene.
And you have to remember why pitching was so important
in this era was because it was the dead ball
(05:41):
era the moment, so everyone's excited for this game. It's
the first game basing officanci's two major leagues, and the
Pirates jump out quick. They get four quick runs and
capitalize on errors that were made across the Americans as
(06:03):
Tommy Leitch rips a ground rule triple into a sea
of fans because there was no wall. Instead, they had
fans line up behind a rope and the rule was
if the ball went over, there's a home run, but
if it rolled into the crowd, there was a ground
rule triple, which they would later change to a ground
(06:23):
rule double. But we're on a ground triple and we
have walls. Now things change, and before you know it,
Pittsford has a lead seven to three. Then Jimmy Seabring
hammers the very first World Series home run, and Pittsburgh's ace,
Deacon Phillippy, was unbeatable and gets the win against legendary
pitcher Cy Young as Pirates lead. Now Game two Boston
(06:47):
has a comeback again. The game is in Boston and
Boston puts out Bill Diny, who pitches a three hit
shutout and brings the series to a one one one high.
Now the next game comes back. Deacon Phillippy of the
Pirates pitches on just one day rest, something that's heard
(07:09):
of in today's baseball, and he holds Boston to just
four hits as the Pirates retake the lead two to
one in the series. Now Game four through six are
played in Pittsburgh and Game four the Pirates. The Pirates
come out swinging as Tommy Leach drives in three runs,
Horneus Wagner and Ginger Boumint each collect three hits to
(07:31):
give them a three to one lead in the series. Now,
remember this is to nine, so even if they won
the next game and one four, they have to get
five to win the series. Game five comes up and
Cy Young is back on the mound and he shows
his dominance that he had throughout his career and allows
only six hits and it was enough to shut down
(07:53):
Pittsburgh and get another win in the series two to three.
In Game six, Bill and I of Boston has a
complete game victory, shutting down the Pirates again, giving them
a three to three tie. So now after six games,
it's all tied up. It's now a three game series.
The next to win two games wins it all. So
(08:15):
Game seven comes and the teams Boston jumps out to
an early lead as Cy Young takes the mound, showing
his poise and is able to maintain this lead and
give Boston another victory. Now they lead the series four
to three, just one game needed to win it all.
Game eight comes back to Boston with everything on the line.
(08:37):
The Pirates lose. That's it, they lose the series. Bill
and I of the Boston Americans takes the mound and
steals the spotlight for one of the most legendary pitchers
in the game, Cy Young, as he pitches his second
shutout of the series, giving the Americans a three zero
win to clinch the very first World Series five to three,
(08:58):
after Deacon Philippy had pitched his fifth complete game for
the Pirates, giving it his all, but it wasn't enough
the fallout so the Boston Americans were part of the
American League, and this really legitimized the American League, gave
(09:21):
it credibility and prestige, and provided the al with more
backing to help compete with the more established National League,
and created enthusiasm in demand from fans for future Championship
matchups as the series drew massive crowds in each location,
attracting over sixteen thousand fans, which is a huge amount
(09:44):
back then. But even with all this, there was still
no World Series in nineteen oh four due to the
New York Giants, at the time was a baseball team,
not the football team, refused to play the Ale champion
and his backlass led to fans in each league establishing
in nineteen oh five every year they would have a
championship between the American League and the National League the Pirates.
(10:08):
The Pirates remained competitive even though they lost the very
first World Series, and in nineteen oh nine they would
return to the World Series and win their very first
championship defeating the Detroit Tigers, led by stellar play from
their Hall of Famer Hornis Wagner. They add an additional
World Series in nineteen twenty five, nineteen sixty, nineteen seventy one,
in nineteen seventy nine. However, after the seventy nine season,
(10:32):
they had a long drought throughout the eighties of having struggles,
but they have bounced back to province in the nineteen
nineties and in the two thousands to be a competitive
and a staple in the major leagues. Now. As for
the Boston Americans, they would actually go on to change
their name in nineteen oh eight to the Boston Red Sox,
establishing themselves as a powerhouse. They went on to win
(10:54):
the World Series in nineteen twelve, nineteen fifteen, nineteen sixteen,
and nineteen eighteen, and then we all know what happened.
There was a major drought of World Series wins for
over eighty years until two thousand and four. But ever
since the name changed to the Boston Red Sox, they've
stayed at Finway and had a lot more success in
the World Series after their long long drought. It's amazing
(11:19):
that over one hundred years previously, these two teams competed
against each other in a World Series for a first
of its kind. And both of these are staples and
American fixtures in sports. When you say the Pirates, people
know you're talking about the Pittsburgh Pirates in baseball. When
you say the Red Sox, they know you're talking about
the Boston Red Sox. Yes, not the Americans, but the
(11:42):
Red Sox name is as American as they come. I
want to thank you for listening to today's Daily Sports History.
If you like this, please I would love for you
to take a little bit of time out of your
day to go wherever you're listening, leave a review, leave
a five star rating, whatever you can do, and we'll
see you on the next one. And today's trivia question,
(12:06):
who hit the very first home run in World Series history?
And the answer is Jimmy Seabring, who hit it in
the World Series.
It's October one, nighteen three. Everyone is a buzz as
baseball has risen in popularity decade after decade, becoming the
most popular sport in America. But we never knew who
the best team was until two leagues rose to prominence,
the National League and the American League. He decided to
(00:22):
put their best against each other in a series of
games to determine who had the best team. It was
the World Champion in Baseball, giving us the very first
World Series, showcasing each team's unique features and giving us
our very first World Champion in baseball. Towards today, as
(00:45):
we dive into this incredible series and what it's meant
to the game today today on Daily Sports.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
History, Welcome to eight fours History, your guide because I
used to spend my summers as.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
A catcher in a little league in one hundred degree heat.
And today's trivia question to listen out for is who
hit the very first home run in World Series history?
The beginning. So to understand how we got to this series,
(01:25):
we first have to go back in history. See, professional
baseball didn't start to the eighteen sixties, with the Cincinnati
Red Stockings being the very first professional team and more
teams started to pop up, including more leagues, and multiple
leagues would pop up and fade away, but two leagues
started to rise up. The National League of Professional Baseball
(01:46):
Club's long name ficially shortened down to the National League,
was founded in February of eighteen seventy six. To saying
anything with an eighteen the beginning means it was a
long time ago. It founded in New York and was
championed by William Hubler and Albert Spoulding of the Spaulding
Brothers were the major players were in sports mirror Rebelia,
(02:09):
and it was made to replace the National Association, who
lacked authority and had corruption going on, and so it
took its place as a better lead. The new league
saw more professionalism and exclusive franchises for larger cities, and
it centralized its authority over the clubs, requiring each team
to honor its scheduling commitments. So it really was a
(02:31):
new way of a free fall, really allowing these teams
to have a manager supervisor at guiding light that they
had to follow. It started with eight teams, with Boston, Chicago,
Saint Louis, Philadelphia, New York, Brooklyn, Cincinnati, and Louisville really
focused on the East coast. It'd be another seventy years
before we start to move to the West coast. And
(02:53):
they had their very first tennant, which we still use
that term to day in eighteen seventy six, won by Chicago,
created a blueprint for future leagues popping up. Now there
were multiple other leagues, and one of them that came
just a few years later, the American League, was a
Western league in eighteen ninety three, and it was aimed
(03:13):
to challenge the dominance of the NL. It aggressively would
sign top players from the NL, gaining support from cities,
from fans, and legitimizing their league. And they really focused
on cities that were ignored or vacated by the National League.
And by nineteen oh one there was a quote baseball
(03:34):
war between these two leagues as they were fighting for players,
which was great for players, which meant their salaries increased
exponentially for the time. It really gave us the dream
of being a professional athlete because you couldn't make good money.
And it was because of these challenging leagues. And they
went back and forth between contracts and lawsuits, and then
(03:54):
in nineteen oh three, both leagues got together to end
the challenges they were having. Helped being stabilized them each
other financially, as the more you spend eventually that money
does run out. And Barney Dreyfuss, who owned the pitburd Pirates,
and Henry Khalia, who owned the Boston Americans the American League,
(04:14):
spearheaded negotiations between the two leagues and they got together
and they had an agreement in place in the hostility
and create a truce laying down groundworks for a postseason
competition between the two leagues, essentially making them a larger
league for this one goal, it was a championship challenge. Now,
(04:36):
originally they wanted to have eleven games, but that seems
like a lot of games between the two so they
decided let's cut it down to just still a lot
of games for us today. But the announcement of this
series was huge in the baseball world across America. Fans
were excited at this inner league format in a chance
(04:56):
to see who was truly the best league. US talk
about the Pittsburgh Pirates at this time. They were led
by Hall of Famer Horace Wagner, which we know mainly
through his baseball court, which is one of the most
valuable baseball courts ever and one of the greatest shortstops
to ever live. He was the team's star, but due
to injuries, he did not have much effect on the series.
(05:19):
This series really came down to pitching, which they were
led by Deacon Phillippy and Sam Lever, and the Boston Americans,
who would eventually become the Boston Red Sox, were led
by legendary pitcher Cy Young as well as pitcher Bill Diene.
And you have to remember why pitching was so important
in this era was because it was the dead ball
(05:41):
era the moment, so everyone's excited for this game. It's
the first game basing officanci's two major leagues, and the
Pirates jump out quick. They get four quick runs and
capitalize on errors that were made across the Americans as
(06:03):
Tommy Leitch rips a ground rule triple into a sea
of fans because there was no wall. Instead, they had
fans line up behind a rope and the rule was
if the ball went over, there's a home run, but
if it rolled into the crowd, there was a ground
rule triple, which they would later change to a ground
(06:23):
rule double. But we're on a ground triple and we
have walls. Now things change, and before you know it,
Pittsford has a lead seven to three. Then Jimmy Seabring
hammers the very first World Series home run, and Pittsburgh's ace,
Deacon Phillippy, was unbeatable and gets the win against legendary
pitcher Cy Young as Pirates lead. Now Game two Boston
(06:47):
has a comeback again. The game is in Boston and
Boston puts out Bill Diny, who pitches a three hit
shutout and brings the series to a one one one high.
Now the next game comes back. Deacon Phillippy of the
Pirates pitches on just one day rest, something that's heard
(07:09):
of in today's baseball, and he holds Boston to just
four hits as the Pirates retake the lead two to
one in the series. Now Game four through six are
played in Pittsburgh and Game four the Pirates. The Pirates
come out swinging as Tommy Leach drives in three runs,
Horneus Wagner and Ginger Boumint each collect three hits to
(07:31):
give them a three to one lead in the series. Now,
remember this is to nine, so even if they won
the next game and one four, they have to get
five to win the series. Game five comes up and
Cy Young is back on the mound and he shows
his dominance that he had throughout his career and allows
only six hits and it was enough to shut down
(07:53):
Pittsburgh and get another win in the series two to three.
In Game six, Bill and I of Boston has a
complete game victory, shutting down the Pirates again, giving them
a three to three tie. So now after six games,
it's all tied up. It's now a three game series.
The next to win two games wins it all. So
(08:15):
Game seven comes and the teams Boston jumps out to
an early lead as Cy Young takes the mound, showing
his poise and is able to maintain this lead and
give Boston another victory. Now they lead the series four
to three, just one game needed to win it all.
Game eight comes back to Boston with everything on the line.
(08:37):
The Pirates lose. That's it, they lose the series. Bill
and I of the Boston Americans takes the mound and
steals the spotlight for one of the most legendary pitchers
in the game, Cy Young, as he pitches his second
shutout of the series, giving the Americans a three zero
win to clinch the very first World Series five to three,
(08:58):
after Deacon Philippy had pitched his fifth complete game for
the Pirates, giving it his all, but it wasn't enough
the fallout so the Boston Americans were part of the
American League, and this really legitimized the American League, gave
(09:21):
it credibility and prestige, and provided the al with more
backing to help compete with the more established National League,
and created enthusiasm in demand from fans for future Championship
matchups as the series drew massive crowds in each location,
attracting over sixteen thousand fans, which is a huge amount
(09:44):
back then. But even with all this, there was still
no World Series in nineteen oh four due to the
New York Giants, at the time was a baseball team,
not the football team, refused to play the Ale champion
and his backlass led to fans in each league establishing
in nineteen oh five every year they would have a
championship between the American League and the National League the Pirates.
(10:08):
The Pirates remained competitive even though they lost the very
first World Series, and in nineteen oh nine they would
return to the World Series and win their very first
championship defeating the Detroit Tigers, led by stellar play from
their Hall of Famer Hornis Wagner. They add an additional
World Series in nineteen twenty five, nineteen sixty, nineteen seventy one,
in nineteen seventy nine. However, after the seventy nine season,
(10:32):
they had a long drought throughout the eighties of having struggles,
but they have bounced back to province in the nineteen
nineties and in the two thousands to be a competitive
and a staple in the major leagues. Now. As for
the Boston Americans, they would actually go on to change
their name in nineteen oh eight to the Boston Red Sox,
establishing themselves as a powerhouse. They went on to win
(10:54):
the World Series in nineteen twelve, nineteen fifteen, nineteen sixteen,
and nineteen eighteen, and then we all know what happened.
There was a major drought of World Series wins for
over eighty years until two thousand and four. But ever
since the name changed to the Boston Red Sox, they've
stayed at Finway and had a lot more success in
the World Series after their long long drought. It's amazing
(11:19):
that over one hundred years previously, these two teams competed
against each other in a World Series for a first
of its kind. And both of these are staples and
American fixtures in sports. When you say the Pirates, people
know you're talking about the Pittsburgh Pirates in baseball. When
you say the Red Sox, they know you're talking about
the Boston Red Sox. Yes, not the Americans, but the
(11:42):
Red Sox name is as American as they come. I
want to thank you for listening to today's Daily Sports History.
If you like this, please I would love for you
to take a little bit of time out of your
day to go wherever you're listening, leave a review, leave
a five star rating, whatever you can do, and we'll
see you on the next one. And today's trivia question,
(12:06):
who hit the very first home run in World Series history?
And the answer is Jimmy Seabring, who hit it in
the World Series.
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