100 and counting: baseball's past and present can be seen through the lens of the World Series

The 2004 World Series will be the 100th in major league history. Thanks to the Yankees' stranglehold on the event, American League teams take a 58-41 lead into this year's matchup of pennant winners. With or without the Yankees, Series history is colorful and compelling--and it seems to fit tidily into five distinct eras:

1903-1922: The Red Sex rule

OVERVIEW

* A winner-take-all postseason series between the champions of the established National League (founded in 1876) and the upstart American League (born in 1901)is introduced in 1903. The A.L.'s Boston team, which includes an aging pitcher named Cy Young, upsets Pittsburgh in the first World Series.

ECSTASY

* The Red Sox win five of the first 15 Series played.

* The Yankees win none in this period. (Sorry, Yankees fans.)

* Christy Mathewson pitches three shutouts in six days for the victorious Giants in 1905.

* The Cubs--the Cubs!--win consecutive Series crowns (1907, 1908). They haven't won since.

AGONY

* The Series is not held in 1904. The Giants, considering themselves champions of "the only real major league," refuse to engage in postseason play.

* Chicago's Black Sox throw the 1919 Series against Cincinnati

LORE

* Giants outfielder Fred Snodgrass muffs a fly ball in the 10th inning of the deciding game in 1912, paving the way for a Red Sox victory.

* The Miracle Braves, in last place as late as July 18, win the pennant and take four straight from Connie Mack's vaunted Philadelphia Athletics in the 1914 Series.

* Cleveland second baseman Bill Wambsganss pulls off an unassisted triple play against Brooklyn in 1920.

SCOREBOARD

Titles: A.L. 11, N.L. 8.

1923-1945: The Yankees take over

OVERVIEW

* The Yankees' dominance of the Fall Classic begins. They win their first Series, in 1923, and take 10 titles overall in this time frame. The Cardinals also emerge as an elite team, winning five times.

ECSTASY

* The Bronx juggernaut sweeps the '27, '28, '32, '38 and '39 Series.

* The Athletics, down 8-0 in Game 4 in 1929, score 10 seventh-inning runs and stun the Cubs. Philadelphia wraps up the Series crown in Game 5.

AGONY

The Giants lose the 1924 Series to the Senators on a bad-hop grounder. It is Washington's only Series championship.

* With Brooklyn on the verge of tying Series in 1941, catcher Mickey Owen lets Strike 3 get past him with two outs in the ninth inning of Game 4, The Yankees erupt for four runs and win the game. New York closes out the Dodgers the next day,

LORE

* With the Cardinals ahead, 3-2, in the seventh inning of Game 7 in 1926, Grover Alexander ambles out of the bullpen and strikes out the Yankees' Tony Lazzeri with the bases loaded and two outs. The Cards win their first Series.

* Babe Ruth hits his "called-shot" homer against the Cubs in Game 3 in 1932. Then again, maybe he didn't (call it, that is). We'll never know.

SCOREBOARD

Titles: A.L, 15, N,L. 8.

1946-1968: New York, New York

OVERVIEW

* The postwar era is marked by television's impact on the game, franchise shifts (including moves to the West Coast) and expansion. It also features a decidedly New York flavor to the Series--seven of the 10 Series from 1947 to 1956 were all-New York matchups (Yankees-Dodgers or Yankees-Giants).

ECSTASY

* The Yankees win five consecutive Series, 1949 through 1953.

* "Next year" finally comes in Brooklyn--the Dodgers win it all in 1955.

* The Yankees' Don Larsen pitches a perfect game against Brooklyn in 1956.

* Bill Mazeroski's bottom-of-the ninth homer in Game 7 wins the 1960 Series for the Pirates.

* St. Louis' Bob Gibson strikes out 17 Tigers in the 1968 Series opener.

AGONY

* The Yankees' Bill Bevens loses a no-hitter--and the game--with two outs in the ninth inning of Game 4 against the Dodgers in 1947.

LORE

Enos Slaughter sets off on his "mad dash" from first base to the plate and scores the Series-winning run for the Cardinals in 1946.

* Willie Mays makes a still-unfathomable catch on Vic Wertz's long smash in Game 1 of the 1954 Giants-Indians Series.

SCOREBOARD

Titles: A.L. 13, N.L. 10.

1969-1994: The road gets longer

OVERVIEW

* The designated hitter, the free-agent market and nighttime World Series games arrive. The biggest change, though, comes in the structure of the sport, with each major league being split into two divisions. The makeover means an extra tier is added to the postseason: the League Championship Series.

ECSTASY

* The Mets, never better than ninth-place finishers in their seven-year history, make an amazin' rise to Series champions in 1969.

* Boston's Carlton Fisk waves his long drive fair in the 12th inning of Game 6 of the 1975 Series. The dramatic home run deadlocks the Series, but the Reds prevail the next night.

* Reggie Jackson spruces up his Mr. October resume, hitting three first-pitch homers for the Yankees in decisive Game 6 of the 1977 World Series.

* The Twins' Jack Morris pitches a 10-inning shutout against Atlanta in Game 7 in 1991, capping a thrills-filled Series between teams that had finished in last place the season before.