Video: '1903 World Series Game 1: Pirates vs Americans/Red Sox'

(Thursday, October 1, 1903, 3:00 p.m. EST; during the 1903 World Series) — The first modern World Series, the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada contested between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL), began today between the Boston Americans (the team that would later be known as the Boston Red Sox) and the Pittsburgh Pirates at Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds in Boston.

The Pirates started Game 1 strong, scoring six runs in the first four innings. They extended their lead to 7–0 on an inside-the-park home run by Jimmy Sebring in the seventh, the first home run in World Series history.

Boston scored a few runs in the last three innings, but it was too little, too late; they ended up losing 7–3 in the first ever World Series game.

Both Phillippe and Young threw complete games, with Phillippe striking out ten and Young fanning five, but Young also gave up twice as many hits and allowed three earned runs to Phillippe’s two.

In the best-of-nine series, Boston would come back from a three games to one deficit, winning the final four games to capture the title on Oct. 13, 1903.

The World Series would be contested 118 times as of 2022, with the AL winning 67 and the NL winning 51. The New York Yankees would win the most championships — 27 from 1923 to 2009.