Home About us Products Services Contact us Bookmark
:: wikimiki.org ::
World Series

World Series

:For other events named "World Series", see World Series (disambiguation). The World Series is the championship series of Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada, the culmination of the sport's postseason each October. It is played between the pennant winner of the American League and the pennant winner of the National League. The Series winner is determined through a best-of-seven playoff (except in 1903, 1919, 1920 and 1921 when the winner was determined through a best-of-nine playoff) and is awarded the World Series Trophy, as well as World Series rings. Baseball has employed various championship formulas since the 1850s. The modern World Series has been an annual event since 1903, with the exceptions of 1904 and 1994. The New York Yankees have the most World Series titles, with 26 championships through the 2005 season. Eight teams, all established after 1961, have never won a World Series title: the Texas Rangers, Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, Washington Nationals, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners, Colorado Rockies, and Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Of those eight teams, only three have appeared in the Series: Milwaukee, San Diego, and Houston. The Chicago Cubs have gone the longest between titles, having last won the World Series in 1908.

Introduction

The first two games of the series are played in the home ballpark of the team awarded home-field advantage; the next three are in the other team's ballpark, and the final two, if necessary, are back in the first team's ballpark. That has been the pattern since 1924, with the exception of World War II, when travel restrictions were in place. Until 2003, the team given the home-field advantage was switched every year between the American League and the National League. Starting with the 2003 World Series, the league that wins the mid-season All-Star Game has been awarded home-field advantage. Since 1986, the designated hitter rule has been applied based on the rules normally in effect at the home ballpark. In an American League ballpark, both teams use a designated hitter to hit for the pitcher. In a National League ballpark, both team's pitchers must hit. From 1975 through 1985, the designated hitter was used for all games in even-numbered years, and was not used in any games in odd-numbered years. The designated hitter was not used at all prior to the 1975 Series, although the DH rule had been adopted by the AL in 1973. A portion of the gate receipts from the World Series — and, from 1969 onward, the other rounds of postseason play preceding it — is used to fund a Players' Pool, from which descending shares are distributed to the World Series winner, the World Series loser, all the other teams qualifying for the playoffs which did not reach the World Series, and certain other teams which did not qualify for the playoffs, the criteria for the latter changing at various times. Prior to 1969, teams finishing in the first division, or top half of the leagues' standings, received such shares; today, only the teams finishing in second place in their division but not earning a wild card receive them, because there are more divisions with each having fewer teams. The shares for the actual participants are limited to the gate receipts of the minimum number of games necessary to play the series. That rule has been in place from the beginning, to keep the games "honest". The "World" appellation has stuck despite the fact that only teams in the two major leagues, which happen to cover only the United States and Canada, actually participate. At the time the term was first used, baseball at the major league level was only played in the United States. While some would contend that there is no reason to believe that the World Series winner is a significantly better team than any club team outside Major League Baseball, no challenges have been made by other leagues. Moreover, virtually all of the best international players — from the Pacific Rim, Latin America, the Caribbean, and elsewhere — play on Major League rosters, with the notable exception of Cuban nationals. The World Series winners have occasionally played winter exhibition series against the best players of other leagues around the world, such as Japan. Sometimes the Japanese have gained the upper hand in those series; but since they are only exhibitions, their results cannot be regarded as conclusive. Attempts to pit the North American champions against champions in the Japanese or Latin American leagues in a truly meaningful way have, so far, not succeeded. A persistent myth is that the "World" in "World Series" came about because the New York World newspaper sponsored it. Baseball researcher Doug Pappas refutes that claim, demonstrating a linear progression from the phrase "World's Championship Series" (used to describe the 1903 series as well as some of the 19th-century postseason series) to "World's Series" (a term first used in the 1880s and which persisted for decades) to "World Series". Furthermore, investigation of the New York World for the relevant years revealed no evidence of the supposed sponsorship. (For details, see [http://roadsidephotos.com/baseball/name.htm Mr. Pappas' web page on the subject].) In deference to any controversy, more and more the term "World Series Championship" is being used, the subtlety being that it is merely a title and not a political statement. Baseball tournaments between international teams do occur, notably at the world championships and at the Olympic Games. The United States sends a team of minor league players to the Summer Olympics, as it takes place during the regular Major League season. At the 2004 Summer Olympics the United States was not represented at all, since its team of minor league players did not survive the qualifying rounds. The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) has lobbied MLB to suspend play during the Summer Olympics, so that MLB players could compete for their respective national teams, and has agreed to shorten the Olympic tournament if MLB agrees to freeing its players. According to the IBAF chairman, such a move would do more for popularizing baseball around the world than any amount of money spent by the MLB for its current worldwide marketing. Recently, Major League Baseball officially revealed its plans for the World Baseball Classic, to be held in March 2006. It will be the first international baseball competition to feature Major League players. In light of the International Olympic Committee recently voting baseball out of the Summer Games as a medal sport, this competition hopes to prove to the IOC that baseball is truly an international game. Many major leaguers have expressed interest in playing in such a competition, including Miguel Tejada of the Baltimore Orioles (Dominican Republic), Dontrelle Willis of the Florida Marlins (United States), Carlos Lee of the Milwaukee Brewers (Panama), and Andruw Jones of the Atlanta Braves (from the Dutch island of Curaçao). The tournament will be held in sites around North America, Central America, and Asia. Teams will be split into four groups of four and play a round robin schedule, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the next round. Many of the major baseball playing nations have committed to participating (the United States, Dominican Republic, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, etc.). Commissioner Bud Selig, among others, has high hopes that this tournament could be as big as soccer's World Cup. The term World Series has since been appropriated by other championships, such as the College World Series, the Little League World Series, the World Series of Golf, the World Series of Poker, the World Series of Birding and the World Series of Martial Arts. World Series Cricket was a short-lived but influential cricket competition.

Precursors to the World Series (1857-1901)

The following are teams that played an earlier version of the "World's Championship Series" or otherwise claimed the national championship "Pennant". National Association of Baseball Players (Amateur -> Professional)
- 1857 Brooklyn Atlantics
- 1858 New York Mutuals
- 1859 Brooklyn Atlantics
- 1860 Brooklyn Atlantics
- 1861 Brooklyn Atlantics
- 1862 Brooklyn Eckfords
- 1863 Brooklyn Eckfords
- 1864 Brooklyn Atlantics
- 1865 Brooklyn Atlantics
- 1866 Brooklyn Atlantics
- 1867 Morrisania Unions
- 1868 New York Mutuals
- 1869 Brooklyn Atlantics
- 1870 Chicago White Stockings National Association of Professional Baseball Players
- 1871 Philadelphia Athletics
- 1872 Boston Red Stockings
- 1873 Boston Red Stockings
- 1874 Boston Red Stockings
- 1875 Boston Red Stockings National League
- 1876 Chicago White Stockings
- 1877 Boston Red Caps
- 1878 Boston Red Caps
- 1879 Providence Grays
- 1880 Chicago White Stockings
- 1881 Chicago White Stockings National League vs. American Association
- 1882 Chicago White Stockings NL, Cincinnati Reds AA - 2 game Series, each club wins 1
- 1883 Boston Beaneaters NL, Philadelphia AA - Philadelphia cancels scheduled Series after losing "City Series" to Phillies.
- 1884 Providence Grays NL, Metropolitan [New York] AA - 3 game series, Providence wins all 3, 60-game winner Old Hoss Radbourn pitches every inning
- 1885 Chicago White Stockings NL, St. Louis Browns AA - 6 game Series, ends in dispute
- 1886 St. Louis Browns AA win 4, Chicago White Stockings NL win 2
- 1887 Detroit Wolverines NL win 10, St. Louis Browns AA win 5
- 1888 New York Giants NL win 6, St. Louis Browns AA win 2
- 1889 New York Giants NL win 6, Brooklyn Bridegrooms AA win 3
- 1890 Brooklyn Bridegrooms NL, Louisville Colonels AA - each win 3, no resolution
- 1891 Boston Beaneaters NL, Boston Reds AA - NL instructs Beaneaters not to play Series as leagues discuss restructuring National League
- 1892 Boston Beaneaters win 5, Cleveland Spiders win 0 - split-season championship
- 1893 Boston Beaneaters - no Series
- 1894 New York Giants win 4, Baltimore Orioles win 0 - Temple Cup Series
- 1895 Cleveland Spiders win 4, Baltimore Orioles win 1 - Temple Cup Series
- 1896 Baltimore Orioles win 4, Cleveland Spiders win 0 - Temple Cup Series
- 1897 Baltimore Orioles win 4, Boston Beaneaters win 1 - Temple Cup Series
- 1898 Boston Beaneaters - no Series
- 1899 Brooklyn Superbas - no Series
- 1900 Brooklyn Superbas win 4, Pittsburgh Pirates win 1 - Chronicle-Telegraph Cup Series National League - American League
- 1901 Pittsburgh Pirates NL, Chicago White Sox AL - no Series
- 1902 Pittsburgh Pirates NL, Philadelphia Athletics AL - no Series

The modern World Series (1903-present)

Philadelphia Athletics

The first attempt

After two years of bitter competition and player raiding, the National and American Leagues made peace and, as part of the accord, several pairs of teams squared off for interleague exhibition games after the 1903 regular season. These series were arranged by the individual teams, not by the leagues directly, the same as the 1880s World's Series matches had been. One of these series at the end of 1903 was a meeting between the two pennant winners. It had been arranged well in advance by the owners of the respective teams, as both were league leaders by large margins. : 1903: The Boston "Americans" (AL) defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates (NL), 5 games to 3. Pittsburgh Pirates :::Pittsburgh wins 3 of the first 4 games, then falters, Boston winning the last 4 in a row, behind the strong pitching of Bill Dinneen (3 wins) and Cy Young (2 wins). Much will be made of the influence of the "Royal Rooters", although Boston only goes 2-2 at home but 3-1 at Pittsburgh. :::The Pirates' benevolent owner Barney Dreyfuss adds his share of the gate receipts to the players' share, so the losing team's players actually finish with a larger individual share than does the winning team's.

The boycott of 1904

The 1904 Series would have been between the AL's Boston Americans and the NL's New York Giants. The Giants' owner, John T. Brush, refused to allow his team to play, citing the "inferiority" of the upstart American League. At the time of the announcement, their new cross-town rivals, the Highlanders, were leading the AL. Boston won on the last day of the season, but Brush stuck to his original decision. Brush also cited the lack of rules under which the games would be played and how the money would be split. During the winter of 1904/05, however, feeling the sting of press criticism, Brush saw the light and proposed what came to be known as the "Brush Rules", under which the series would be played over subsequent years. One rule was that player shares would come from gate receipts from the first four games only. This was to discourage teams from throwing early games in order to prolong the series and make more money. Receipts for later games were split among the two teams and the National Commission, the governing body for the sport, which was able to cover much of its annual operating expenses from World Series revenue. Most importantly, the now-official (and compulsory) World's Series match was to be operated strictly by the National Commission itself, not on the whims of individual teams. The list of post-season rules evolved over time. In 1925, Brooklyn owner Charles Ebbets convinced owners to adopt the current 2-3-2 system of scheduling World Series games (one team would host the first two games, the other team would host the next three, and the first team would host the last two if necessary; the leagues alternated which representative would host the first games), already used in the 1924 Series, as a permanent rule. Prior to 1924, the pattern generally had been to alternate, or to make other arrangements convenient to both clubs.

List of World Series after 1904

The World Series has been a best-of-seven series except in the years 1903, 1919, 1920 and 1921, when it was best-of-nine. Many seven-game Series have gone the distance, but none of the best-of-nine Series went beyond eight games.

1905-1919: The "Dead ball era"

:1905: New York Giants (NL) defeat Philadelphia Athletics (AL), 4 games to 1. :::Every game is a shutout. Christy Mathewson hurls three of them, over a span of just six days, in one of the most dominant pitching performances in history. :1906: Chicago White Sox (AL) defeat Chicago Cubs (NL), 4 games to 2. :::Some consider this the greatest World Series upset. The Cubs post the best regular-season record ever while the White Sox were the worst-hitting team in the American League. Eventually, the "Hitless Wonders" get all the hitting they need to shock their crosstown rivals. Oddly, this is the last World Series to feature two franchises that had never previously appeared in the Series. :1907: Chicago Cubs (NL) defeat Detroit Tigers (AL), 4 games to 0 (one tie). :::The Cubs come back strong, with pitching dominance over the Tigers and a young Ty Cobb, allowing only 3 runs in the 4 games they win, while stealing 18 bases off the rattled Tigers. :1908: Chicago Cubs (NL) defeat Detroit Tigers (AL), 4 games to 1. :::The Series is anticlimactic after the tight pennant races in both leagues. Cobb has a much better Series, but the Cubs' pitchers and catcher Johnny Kling stifle the rest of the Tigers team. The final two games, in Detroit, are shutouts. The last Cubs Series win to date, and also the most poorly attended Series. The final game draws a record-low 6,210 fans. :1909: Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) defeat Detroit Tigers (AL), 4 games to 3. :::The Tigers might have finally won the Fall Classic in their third try had it not been for Babe Adams. A rookie pitcher for Pittsburgh that year, manager Fred Clarke starts him, on a hunch, in game 1. Adams wins that game and two more. :1910: Philadelphia Athletics (AL) defeat Chicago Cubs (NL), 4 games to 1. :::Jack Coombs of Philadelphia wins three games, and Eddie Collins supplies timely hitting as the Athletics win their first Fall Classic, and the greatest Cubs team in history closes out its glory years, only ten years into the new century. :1911: Philadelphia Athletics (AL) defeat New York Giants (NL), 4 games to 2. :::Philadelphia third baseman Frank "Home Run" Baker earns his nickname hitting pivotal home runs in Games 2 and 3. The Giants never recover. :1912: Boston Red Sox (AL) defeat New York Giants (NL), 4 games to 3 (one tie). :::This dramatic Series, regarded by some as the best ever, showcases great pitching from Christy Mathewson and from Boston fireballer Smokey Joe Wood, who wins two of his three starts and pitches in relief in the final game, won when Boston rallies for two runs in the ninth inning thanks to two costly Giants fielding misplays. :1913: Philadelphia Athletics (AL) defeat New York Giants (NL), 4 games to 1. :::The A's pitching gives the edge to a closer-than-it-looked Series. The great Mathewson loses his Series swan song in the final game to an old college rival, Eddie Plank. :1914: Boston Braves (NL) defeat Philadelphia Athletics (AL), 4 games to 0. :::Another contender for greatest upset of all time. The "Miracle Braves," in last place on July 4th, roared on to win the NL pennant and sweep the stunned Athletics. In some circles it has been alleged that the A's were irritated at the penny-pinching ways of their manager/owner, and did not play hard. Mack apparently thought so, as he unloaded most of his high-priced stars soon after, and within two years the A's would achieve the worst won-lost percentage in modern history (even worse than the 1962 Mets or the 2003 Tigers). :1915: Boston Red Sox (AL) defeat Philadelphia Phillies (NL), 4 games to 1. :::The Phillies win Game 1 before being swept the rest of the way. It will be 65 years before the Phils will win their next Series game. The Red Sox pitching is so strong that the young Babe Ruth is not used on the mound, but only for a single pinch-hitting appearance. :1916: Boston Red Sox (AL) defeat Brooklyn Robins/Dodgers (NL), 4 games to 1. :::Casey Stengel shines on offense, but otherwise the Red Sox pitching core proves too much for the denizens of Flatbush. Babe Ruth pitches 13 shutout innings in Game 2, starting a consecutive scoreless innings streak that will reach 29 in 1918. The Red Sox play their home games at the larger Braves Field, and it pays off as they draw a then-record 42,620 for the final game. :1917: Chicago White Sox (AL) defeat New York Giants (NL), 4 games to 2. :::Another Series loss for the Giants. The decisive game underscores the Giants' post-season frustrations, featuring a famous rundown in which Giants' third baseman Heinie Zimmerman futilely chases the speedy Eddie Collins toward home plate with apparently no one to throw to. This will be the last White Sox World Series win until 2005. :1918: Boston Red Sox (AL) defeat Chicago Cubs (NL), 4 games to 2. :::The Series is played early in September due to the World War I "Work or Fight order." It is marred by players threatening to strike due to low gate receipts. There are also rumors of a "fix," but there is no solid evidence, and with the War dominating the news, nothing comes of it. :::This will be the last Red Sox World Series win until 2004. The subsequent drought of eighty-six years will eventually become attributed to the Curse of the Bambino, as the Red Sox trade the superbly talented but troublesome Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for cash in the off-season a year later. :1919: Cincinnati Reds (NL) defeat Chicago White Sox (AL), 5 games to 3. :::The Black Sox scandal. Eight Chicago players conspire with gamblers to accept bribes and purposely lose the Series, in the face of being heavy favorites at the conclusion of the regular season. Of the 3 games won by the Sox, 2 come with Dick Kerr on the mound; he was not in on the "fix." The third is won by Ed Cicotte, who was, but was angry about gamblers reneging on their deals. It is likely the Sox would have won the Series easily if it had been played honestly. Although rumors are rife, even as the games are being played, that the Series is fixed (or "doped" in the slang of the day), it will be almost a year before suspicion becomes certainty, at which point the eight men are banned permanently from organized baseball. Some attribute the White Sox's inability to win a World Series for 86 years following this event to the "curse" brought on by the scandal.

1920-1941: The "Live Ball Era" (sometimes "The Golden Age")

:1920: Cleveland Indians (AL) defeat Brooklyn Robins/Dodgers (NL), 5 games to 2. :::Wilbert Robinson's boys again face a juggernaut in the post-season. Cleveland second baseman Bill Wambsganss turns an unassisted triple play — one of roughly only a dozen such plays in major league history, and the only one in a World Series. Earlier in the same game, Cleveland rightfielder Elmer Smith had hit the first grand slam home run in Series history. :1921: New York Giants (NL) defeat New York Yankees (AL), 5 games to 3. :::McGraw's Giants finally get another win in a closely-contested matchup. The Series ends on a double play featuring a baserunning miscue. All games are played at the Polo Grounds, the two teams alternating as the home team every game. The last of the experimental 5-of-9 Series. :1922: New York Giants (NL) defeat New York Yankees (AL), 4 games to 0 (one tie). :::By now the term "World Series" is frequently used, as opposed to "World's Series". Game 2, a tie called on account of darkness, produces such an uproar that Commissioner Landis orders the gate receipts turned over to charity. The Giants pitch around Babe Ruth and score just enough runs to win each of the other games. All games again played at the Polo Grounds, and again alternating home teams. McGraw's final Series win. :1923: New York Yankees (AL) defeat New York Giants (NL), 4 games to 2. :::The Yankees opened their new Yankee Stadium in April on a home run by Ruth, setting the tone for the season and this Series, in which he hit 3 home runs along with drawing 8 walks. The Giants' one bright spot was "Old Casey" Stengel, who hit game-winning homers in each of the two Giants' victories. He would be traded after the season, leading him to quip later in life, "It's a good thing I didn't hit three homers in three games, or McGraw would have traded me to the Three-I League!". This marks the only time that three straight World Series have featured the same two teams.Three-I League :1924: Washington Senators/Nationals (AL) defeat New York Giants (NL), 4 games to 3. :::Walter Johnson, making his first World Series appearance toward the end of his storied career with the Senators, loses his two starts. The Nats battle back to force a game seven, giving Johnson a chance to redeem himself when he comes on in relief in that game. Johnson holds on to get the win and to give Washington its only World Series win. The franchise will not win another World Series until 1987, by which time it will have been playing in the Twin Cities (Minnesota) for over a quarter-century. The Giants become the only National League team to play in four consecutive World Series. :1925: Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) defeat Washington Senators/Nationals (AL), 4 games to 3. :::Washington's Walter Johnson dominates the Pirates in Games 1 and 4 to give the Senators a 3 games to 1 lead in the Series. After Pittsburgh wins the next two games, Johnson again takes the mound for Game 7, and carries a 6-4 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning. But errors by shortstop Roger Peckinpaugh in both the seventh and eighth inning lead to four unearned runs, and the Pirates become the first team in a best-of-7 Series to overcome a 3 games to 1 deficit to win the championship. :1926: St. Louis Cardinals (NL) defeat New York Yankees (AL), 4 games to 3. :::Grover Cleveland Alexander, pitching on short rest, comes out of the bullpen to strike out Tony Lazzeri with the bases loaded in game seven and lead the Cardinals to victory, upsetting the powerful New York Yankees Murderers' Row lineup. Social historians point out the irony of that matchup, as both men suffered secretly from epilepsy. The final out of the series is made when Babe Ruth, having been walked, inadvisably tries to steal and is easily thrown out. The series features a three-home run game by Ruth in game four, a World Series record only equalled twice: by Ruth again in 1928, and by Reggie Jackson in 1977. :1927: New York Yankees (AL) defeat Pittsburgh Pirates (NL), 4 games to 0. :::The "Murderers Row" Yankees, who won 110 games during the regular season, reportedly take a show-off batting practice before Game 1 in which they purposely rocket as many as they can into the seats. Whether true or legend, the Yankees have little trouble dispatching the Pirates, who will not see another Series for 33 years. :1928: New York Yankees (AL) defeat St. Louis Cardinals (NL), 4 games to 0. :::Babe Ruth hits .625 (10 for 16) as the Yankees demolish their opponents by a combined score of 27 to 10. :1929: Philadelphia Athletics (AL) defeat Chicago Cubs (NL), 4 games to 1. :::The famous "Mack Attack" occurs, named for the legendary manager of the Athletics, Connie Mack, in which the Athletics overcome an eight run deficit by scoring ten runs in the 7th inning of Game 4. The inning features an infamous Cubs' historic moment when centerfielder Hack Wilson loses Mule Haas' fly ball in the sun, resulting in a bases-clearing, inside-the-park home run, although the A's still trail 8-7 at that point. Game 1 features a surprise start by aging Howard Ehmke, whose record 13 Cubs strikeouts will stand until 1953. :1930: Philadelphia Athletics (AL) defeat St. Louis Cardinals (NL), 4 games to 2. :::The A's pitching ace Lefty Grove wins 2 and saves 1 as the Mackmen play the Cards right. :1931: St. Louis Cardinals (NL) defeat Philadelphia Athletics (AL), 4 games to 3. :::Pepper Martin leads the Redbirds with hits and stolen bases galore, and also makes a running catch to stifle a 9th-inning rally by the A's in the final game and Mack's final World Series appearance. :1932: New York Yankees (AL) defeat Chicago Cubs (NL), 4 games to 0. :::Babe Ruth hits his famous "called shot" home run — which is followed immediately by a Lou Gehrig solo home run, "The Thunder after the Lightning" — in Game 3 of this dominating Yankees performance in what will be Ruth's final Series. :1933: New York Giants (NL) defeat Washington Senators (AL), 4 games to 1. :::The Giants easily defeat the Nats behind "King" Carl Hubbell and "Prince" Hal Schumacher. This will be the last Series appearance by a Washington team as of 2005. :1934: St. Louis Cardinals (NL) defeat Detroit Tigers (AL), 4 games to 3. :::Brothers Dizzy Dean and Paul Dean each win two games for the "Gas House Gang" Cardinals. :1935: Detroit Tigers (AL) defeat Chicago Cubs (NL), 4 games to 2. :::Stan Hack leads of the 9th of Game 6 with a triple, only to be stranded, and the Tigers score the Series winner on a single by Goose Goslin in the bottom of the inning. :1936: New York Yankees (AL) defeat New York Giants (NL), 4 games to 2. :::Hubbell wins Game 1, but it's all downhill after that. The Yankees win Game 2 at the Polo Grounds by an 18-4 count, a Series record for lopsided scoring. Joe DiMaggio makes all three 9th inning outs in that game, the final a long fly that he snares and then keeps on running all the way up the clubhouse steps. :1937: New York Yankees (AL) defeat New York Giants (NL), 4 games to 1. :::DiMaggio hits his first Series homer, and Gehrig his last, in an easy Yanks victory. :1938: New York Yankees (AL) defeat Chicago Cubs (NL), 4 games to 0. :::Dizzy Dean, whose sore arm had carried the Cubs all year, runs out of gas in the Series as the Yanks crush the Cubs again. It will be the 2003 regular season (inter-league play) before the Cubs win a meaningful game against the Yankees. :1939: New York Yankees (AL) defeat Cincinnati Reds (NL), 4 games to 0. :::In the 9th inning of the final game, a famous play at the plate typifies the Series, as Charlie Keller scores when he and the ball both collide with catcher Ernie Lombardi, and then Joe DiMaggio also scores while Lombardi, rolling on the ground, tries in vain to retrieve the ball to make the tag. Lombardi had been smacked in the groin, but the puritanical press reported it as if Lombardi was "napping" at the plate. For the fourth consecutive year, every game is won by a team from New York. :1940: Cincinnati Reds (NL) defeat Detroit Tigers (AL), 4 games to 3. :::A closely contested Series, especially the final game which was a heartbreaker for the Tigers, as losing pitcher Bobo Newsom had lost his father, who died in a Cincinnati hotel room the day after watching his son win Game 5. :1941: New York Yankees (AL) defeat Brooklyn Dodgers (NL), 4 games to 1. :::The name "Subway Series" arises, for a World Series played between two New York City teams. The last pre-War Series. Punctuated by Mickey Owen's dropped third strike of a sharply breaking curve (a suspected spitball) pitched by Hugh Casey, in the 9th inning of Game 4, leading to a Yankees rally and one win away from another Series clincher.

1942-1945: The war years

:1942: St. Louis Cardinals (NL) defeat New York Yankees (AL), 4 games to 1. :::A scrappy young Redbirds team, their rally in Game 1 falling just short, sweep the remaining games and shock the old-guard Yankees players in a notable upset. :1943: New York Yankees (AL) defeat St. Louis Cardinals (NL), 4 games to 1. :::The old Yanks turn the tables on the Cardinals and get revenge for 1942. The Series is scheduled for a 3-4 format due to wartime travel restrictions. Yankees manager Joe McCarthy's final Series win. :1944: St. Louis Cardinals (NL) defeat St. Louis Browns (AL), 4 games to 2. :::This war year sees perhaps the nadir of 20th-century baseball, as the long-moribund St. Louis Browns win their only American League pennant. As both teams call Sportsman's Park home, the 2-3-2 home field assignment is preserved. The Junior World Series of that same year, partly hosted in Baltimore's converted football stadium, easily outdraws the "real" Series and attracts attention to Baltimore as a potential major league city. Ten years from now, the Browns will transfer there and become the Orioles. :1945: Detroit Tigers (AL) defeat Chicago Cubs (NL), 4 games to 3. :::Frank Graham called this Series jokingly "the fat men versus the tall men at the office picnic." Warren Brown, when asked who he liked, said, "I don't think either one of them can win it." The Series is again a 3-4 format due to travel restrictions, even though the major combat of the war has actually ended. In an unknowing foreshadowing of their future, the Cubs win 2 of 3 in spacious Briggs Stadium, but lose 3 of 4 in the too-hitter-friendly confines of Wrigley Field. It is the last time, through the 2005 season, that the Chicago Cubs have appeared in the World Series.

1946-1960: The postwar years

:1946: St. Louis Cardinals (NL) defeat Boston Red Sox (AL), 4 games to 3. :::Ted Williams plays injured, and is largely ineffective, though refusing to use his injury as an excuse. Enos Slaughter scores the eventual Series-winning run in the 8th inning of Game 7, dashing around the bases to take advantage of a Red Sox fielding lapse. :1947: New York Yankees (AL) defeat Brooklyn Dodgers (NL), 4 games to 3. :::Yankees pitcher Bill Bevens comes within 1 out of throwing a no-hitter in Game 4, but Cookie Lavagetto's pinch-hit double off the rightfield wall at Ebbets Field scores two runs and wins the game for the Dodgers. :1948: Cleveland Indians (AL) defeat Boston Braves (NL), 4 games to 2. :::The Cleveland Indians ruin a possible all-Boston World Series by defeating the Boston Red Sox in a playoff after the two top American League teams were tied at the end of the season. The Indians, whose nickname was inspired by the 1914 Braves, defeat them with little trouble. :1949: New York Yankees (AL) defeat Brooklyn Dodgers (NL), 4 games to 1. :::History is made in the 9th inning of Game 5, when the Ebbets Field lights are turned on, the first World Series game finished under artificial lights. The first scheduled Series night game will not be held until 1971. :1950: New York Yankees (AL) defeat Philadelphia Phillies (NL), 4 games to 0. :::The Phillies win in dramatic fashion on the final day of the season to garner their first pennant in 35 years, but the Bombers easily overwhelm the Phils' worn-out pitching staff. :1951: New York Yankees (AL) defeat New York Giants (NL), 4 games to 2. :::Joe DiMaggio bows out as a Yankee, while rookies Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle make their series debuts. The powerful Yankees take the joy out of the Giants dramatic pennant-playoff win over the Dodgers. :1952: New York Yankees (AL) defeat Brooklyn Dodgers (NL), 4 games to 3. :::Second baseman Billy Martin makes a game-saving catch in the final contest. :1953: New York Yankees (AL) defeat Brooklyn Dodgers (NL), 4 games to 2. :::Brooklyn pitcher Carl Erskine sets a new Series record by striking out 14 Yankees in Game 2. Despite that setback, the New York Yankees win their fifth straight World Series, breaking their own record of the late 1930s, a feat which has never been accomplished since. New York Yankees, 1954]] :1954: New York Giants (NL) defeat Cleveland Indians (AL), 4 games to 0. :::A shocker, as the Indians had won a then-league record 111 games during the regular season. :::In Game 1, Willie Mays makes "The Catch" — a dramatic over-the-shoulder catch of a line drive to deep center field which would otherwise have given Cleveland the lead. Dusty Rhodes, in 3 pinch-hit appearances, homers twice and drives in the game winning run twice. :1955: Brooklyn Dodgers (NL) defeat New York Yankees (AL), 4 games to 3. MVP: Johnny Podres, Brooklyn :::"Next Year" finally becomes "This Year" for the Flatbush Faithful, as Brooklyn wins its only World Series title. Leftfielder Sandy Amoros makes a dramatic game-saving catch off the bat of Yogi Berra in the 6th inning of Game 7, to start a double play and stymie the Yankees' best chance of the day. :1956: New York Yankees (AL) defeat Brooklyn Dodgers (NL), 4 games to 3. MVP: Don Larsen, New York :::Larsen pitches the only no-hitter in World Series play — a perfect game, no less — for the Yankees. Catcher Yogi Berra, who caught Larsen's gem, remarked many years later, "It's never happened in World Series history, and it hasn't happened since." :1957: Milwaukee Braves (NL) defeat New York Yankees (AL), 4 games to 3. MVP: Lew Burdette, Milwaukee :::The Milwaukee Braves become the first team to win a Championship after relocating. Until 1953, they had been the Boston Braves, winners of the 1914 Series. In 1995 they would win again, as the Atlanta Braves. :1958: New York Yankees (AL) defeat Milwaukee Braves (NL), 4 games to 3. MVP: Bob Turley, New York :::Trailing 3 games to 1, the Yanks roar back and break the hearts of the Milwaukeans. :1959: Los Angeles Dodgers (NL) defeat Chicago White Sox (AL), 4 games to 2. MVP: Larry Sherry, Los Angeles :::As Vin Scully says in the official film of the Series, "what a change of scenery" for the Fall Classic, the first time since 1948 that no Series games are played in New York City. The Los Angeles Dodgers win a pennant-playoff against the Braves, and continue on to win the franchise's first title since moving to the West Coast from Brooklyn after the 1957 season. This proves to be the first and only post-Black Sox World Series appearance by the Chicago White Sox until 2005. :1960: Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) defeat New York Yankees (AL), 4 games to 3. MVP: Bobby Richardson, New York :::Best remembered for a pulsating Game 7. The Yankees lead 7-4 in the 8th inning, but the Bucs score 5 times, climaxed by catcher Hal Smith's 3-run homer. The Yanks fight back to score 2 in the 9th to tie it, and then second baseman Bill Mazeroski, known primarily for his glove wizardry rather than his bat, leads off the Pittsburgh half of the 9th and hits the first "walk-off" or "sudden-victory" homer to end a World Series. :::The Yanks lose four close games while outscoring the Bucs 38-3 in the three contests they won. Yogi Berra's assessment of what happened to his club is, "We made too many wrong mistakes."

1961-1968: The first expansion period

(Following addition of the Los Angeles Angels and the Washington Senators in 1961, and the Houston Colt .45s and the New York Mets in 1962.) :1961: New York Yankees (AL) defeat Cincinnati Reds (NL), 4 games to 1. MVP: Whitey Ford, New York :::After the summer-long Maris-Mantle pursuit of Babe Ruth's season home run record, the Series proves anti-climactic as the Yanks subdue the Reds easily. :1962: New York Yankees (AL) defeat San Francisco Giants (NL), 4 games to 3. MVP: Ralph Terry, New York :::This Series, closely matched in every game, is remembered for its appropriately dramatic final play. The New Yorkers are up 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7, with two outs. The Giants' Matty Alou and Willie Mays are on third and second, carrying the potential tying and winning runs. Ralph Terry, who had given up Maz's sudden-victory homer in 1960, elects to pitch to slugger Willie McCovey instead of walking him. McCovey hits a screaming line drive out to New York's second baseman Bobby Richardson, handing the Yankees their second consecutive World title and redemption for Terry. Soon after, Peanuts cartoonist and Giants fan Charles M. Schulz would draw a comic strip with Charlie Brown sitting glumly with Linus, lamenting in the last panel, "Why couldn't McCovey have hit the ball just three feet higher?" Later, he would draw an identical strip, except in the last panel Charlie is moaning, "Or why couldn't McCovey have hit the ball just two feet higher?" :1963: Los Angeles Dodgers (NL) defeat New York Yankees (AL), 4 games to 0. MVP: Sandy Koufax, Los Angeles :::Before Randy and Curt, there were Sandy and Don. Koufax, Drysdale and Johnny Podres combine to give up only 4 runs in 4 complete games. Koufax starts it off with a 15-strikeout performance in Game 1, and the Yankees are stymied throughout. This is the first time that the New York Yankees have been swept in a World Series in four games (the 1922 series had one tie). :1964: St. Louis Cardinals (NL) defeat New York Yankees (AL), 4 games to 3. MVP: Bob Gibson, St. Louis :::The Cardinals are the only team that has played the Yankees more than once in a World Series and holds a winning edge, 3 Series to 2. The Diamondbacks and the Marlins won single Series against the Yanks in the early 21st century. :::For an account of this Series, and the lively season that preceded it, see David Halberstam's book, October 1964. :1965: Los Angeles Dodgers (NL) defeat Minnesota Twins (AL), 4 games to 3. MVP: Sandy Koufax, Los Angeles :::Koufax and Drysdale return to the Series. LA's lefty-righty one-two punch had combined for 49 wins and 15 shutouts in '65, but after Sandy and Don got rocked by the Twins in the first two games, it takes a five-hit shutout by Claude Osteen to get the Dodgers back into the Series. The Dodgers proceed to win the 3 middle games at Dodger Stadium. By Game 7, Koufax regains his form and clinches the title with a three-hit, 10-strikeout, 2-0 victory. Koufax was the MVP while Ron Fairly hit two home runs. Sandy Koufax :1966: Baltimore Orioles (AL) defeat Los Angeles Dodgers (NL), 4 games to 0. MVP: Frank Robinson, Baltimore :::This is a thoroughly dominating performance by Hank Bauer's Baltimore club. Sandy Koufax announces his retirement after the Series due to his chronic sore elbow. :1967: St. Louis Cardinals (NL) defeat Boston Red Sox (AL), 4 games to 3. MVP: Bob Gibson, St. Louis :::After a dramatic pennant-clinching win on the last day of the regular season, "The Impossible Dream" comes to an end for the Red Sox. Bob Gibson throws three complete games on his way to a second World Series MVP title. :1968: Detroit Tigers (AL) defeat St. Louis Cardinals (NL), 4 games to 3. MVP: Mickey Lolich, Detroit :::Both 1968 MVPs, the Tigers' Denny McLain and the Cardinals' Bob Gibson, pitch in the Series in "The Year of the Pitcher," but Lolich steals the

World Series (disambiguation)

The term world series is used for the following competitions:
- The World Series in Major League Baseball
- The World Series of Poker
- The cricket World Series Cup, currently known as the VB series but also previously branded as the Carlton & United Series and the Benson and Hedges World Series

United States

:For alternative meanings, see the disambiguation page for US, USA, United States, or American. The United States of America is a federal democratic republic situated primarily in central North America. It comprises 50 states and one federal district, and has several territories. It is also referred to, with varying formality, as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., the States, or simply and most commonly, America. The official founding date of the United States is July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress—representing thirteen British colonies—adopted the Declaration of Independence. However, the structure of the government was profoundly changed in 1788, when the states replaced the Articles of Confederation with the United States Constitution. The date on which each of the fifty states adopted the Constitution is typically regarded as the date that state "entered the Union" (became part of the United States). Since the mid-20th century, following World War II, the United States has emerged as a dominant global influence in economic, political, military, scientific, technological, and cultural affairs.

Geography and climate

The United States shares land borders with Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south), and territorial water boundaries with Canada, Russia, the Bahamas, and numerous smaller nations. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, in the west; the Arctic Ocean, in the northernmost areas; and the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, in the eastern and southeastern areas. Forty-eight of the states are in the single region between Canada and Mexico; this group is referred to, with varying precision and formality, as the continental or contiguous United States, sometimes abbreviated CONUS, and as the Lower 48. Alaska, which is not included in the term contiguous United States, is at the northwestern end of North America, separated from the Lower 48 by Canada. The archipelago of Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean. The capital city, Washington, District of Columbia is a federal district located on land donated by the state of Maryland. (Virginia also donated land, but it was returned in 1847.) The United States also has overseas territories with varying levels of independence and organization. When inland water is included in the total area, only Russia and Canada are larger than the United States; if inland water is excluded, China ranks third and the U.S. ranks fourth. The United States' total area is 3,718,711 square miles (9,631,418 km²), of which land makes up 3,537,438 square miles (9,161,923 km²) and water makes up 181,273 square miles (469,495 km²). The United States' landscape is one of the most varied among those of the world's nations: among its many features are temperate forestland and rolling hills, on the east coast; mangrove, in Florida; the Great Plains, in the center of the country; the Mississippi–Missouri river system; the Great Lakes, four of the five of which are shared with Canada; the Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains; deserts and temperate coastal zones, west of the Rocky Mountains; and temperate rain forests, in the Pacific northwest. Alaska's tundra, and the volcanic, tropical islands of Hawaii add to the geographic diversity. Hawaii The climate varies along with the landscape, from tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida to tundra in Alaska and atop some of the highest mountains. Most of the North and East experience a temperate continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. Most of the South experiences a subtropical humid climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. Rainfall decreases markedly from the humid forests of the Eastern Great Plains to the semi-arid shortgrass prairies on the high plains abutting the Rocky Mountains. Arid deserts, including the Mojave, extend through the lowlands and valleys of the southwest, from westernmost Texas to California and northward throughout much of Nevada. Some parts of California have a Mediterranean climate. Rainforests line the windward mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to Alaska.

History

American history started with the migration of people from Asia across the Bering land bridge approximately 12,000 years ago following large animals that they hunted into the Americas. These Native Americans left evidence of their presence in petroglyphs, burial mounds, and other artifacts. It is estimated that 2-9 million people lived in the territory now occupied by the U.S. before European contact, and the subsequent introduction of foreign diseases such as small pox that greatly diminished the native populations. Some advanced societies were the Anasazi of the southwest, who inhabited Chaco Canyon, and the Woodland Indians, who built Cahokia, located near present-day St Louis, a city with a population of 40,000 at its peak in AD 1200. Vikings first visited North America around 1000, but did not settle permanently. Following the discovery voyages of Christopher Columbus around 1492, other Europeans began to explore and settle there. During the 1500s and 1600s, the Spanish settled parts of the present-day Southwest and Florida, founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 and Santa Fe (in what is now New Mexico) in 1607. The first successful English settlement was at Jamestown, Virginia, also in 1607. Within the next two decades, several Dutch settlements, including New Amsterdam (the predecessor to New York City), were established in what are now the states of New York and New Jersey. In 1637, Sweden established a colony at Fort Christina (in what is now Delaware), but lost the settlement to the Dutch in 1655. This was followed by extensive British settlement of the east coast. The British colonists remained relatively undisturbed by their home country until after the French and Indian War, when France ceded Canada and the Great Lakes region to Britain. Britain then imposed taxes on the 13 colonies, widely regarded by the colonists as unfair because they were denied representation in the British Parliament. Tensions between Britain and the colonists increased, and the thirteen colonies eventually rebelled against British rule. British Parliament, George Washington (1789-1797).]] In 1776, the 13 colonies split from Great Britain and formed the United States, the world's first constitutional and democratic federal republic, after their Declaration of Independence of that year, and the Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783). The original political structure was a confederation in 1777, ratified in 1781 as the Articles of Confederation. After long debate, this was supplanted by the Constitution in 1789, forming a more centralized federal government. Prior to all these was the Albany Congress in 1754, in which a union was first seriously proposed. From early colonial times, there was a shortage of labor, which encouraged unfree labor, particularly indentured servitude and slavery. In the mid-19th century, a major division occurred in the United States over the issue of states' rights and the expansion of slavery. The northern states had become opposed to slavery, while the southern states saw it as necessary for the continued success of southern agriculture and wanted it expanded to the territories. Several federal laws were passed in an attempt to settle the dispute, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. The dispute reached a crisis in 1861, when seven southern states seceded1 from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, leading to the Civil War. Soon after the war began, four more southern states seceded. During the war, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, mandating the freedom of all slaves in states in rebellion, though full emancipation did not take place until after the end of the war in 1865, the dissolution of the Confederacy, and the Thirteenth Amendment took effect. The Civil War effectively ended the question of a state's right to secede, and is widely accepted as a major turning point after which the federal government became more powerful than state governments. Thirteenth Amendment). The title of the painting, from a 1726 poem by Bishop Berkeley, was a phrase often quoted in the era of Manifest Destiny, expressing a widely held belief that civilization had steadily moved westward throughout history. [http://americanart.si.edu/t2go/1lw/1931.6.1.html (more)] ]] During the 19th century, many new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the continent. Manifest Destiny was a philosophy that encouraged westward expansion in the United States. As the population of the Eastern states grew and as a steady increase of immigrants entered the country, settlers moved steadily westward across North America. In the process, the U.S. displaced most American Indian nations. This displacement of American Indians continues to be a matter of contention in the U.S. with many tribes attempting to assert their original claims to various lands. In some areas American Indian populations were reduced by foreign diseases contracted through contact with European settlers, and US settlers acquired those emptied lands. In other instances American Indians were removed from their traditional lands by force. Though some would say the U.S. was not a colonial power until the Spanish-American War when it acquired Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, the dominion exercised over land in North America the United States claimed is essentially colonial. The Philippines became independent in 1946. During this period, the nation also became an industrial power. This continued into the 20th century, which has been termed "the American Century" because of the nation's overriding influence on the world. The US became a center for innovation and technological development; major technologies that America either developed or was greatly involved in improving include the telephone, television, computer, the Internet, nuclear weapons, nuclear power, aviation, and aeronautics. In addition to the Civil War, another major traumatic experience for the nation was the Great Depression (1929 to 1939). The nation has also taken part in several major foreign wars, including World War I and World War II (in both of which the US later joined the Allies). During the Cold War, the US was a major player in the Korean War and Vietnam War, and, along with the Soviet Union, was considered one of the world's two "superpowers". With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US emerged as the world's leading economic and military power. Beginning in the 1990s, the United States became very involved in police actions and peacekeeping, including actions in Kosovo, Haiti, Somalia and Liberia, and the first Persian Gulf War driving Iraq out of Kuwait. After attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the United States and other allied nations found themselves involved in what has come to be called the "War on Terrorism," which has primarily encompassed military actions in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Government

Iraq of the United States.]]

Republic and suffrage

The United States is an example of a constitutional republic, with a government composed of and operating through a set of limited powers imposed by its design and enumerated in the United States Constitution. Specifically, the nation operates as a presidential democracy. There are three levels of government: federal, state, and local. Officials of each of these levels are either elected by eligible voters via secret ballot or appointed by other elected officials. Americans enjoy almost universal suffrage from the age of 18 regardless of race, sex, or wealth. There are some limits, however: felons are disenfranchised and in some states former felons are likewise. Furthermore, the national representation of territories and the federal district of Washington, DC in Congress is limited: residents of the District of Columbia are subject to federal laws and federal taxes but their only Congressional representative is a non-voting delegate.

Federal government

The federal government is the national government, comprising the Legislative Branch (led by Congress), the Executive Branch (led by the President), and the Judicial Branch (led by the Supreme Court). These three branches were designed to apply checks and balances on each other. The Constitution limits the powers of the federal government to defense, foreign affairs, the issuing and management of currency, the management of trade and relations between the states, and the protection of human rights. In addition to these explicitly stated powers, the federal government—with the assistance of the Supreme Court—has gradually extended these powers into such areas as welfare and education, on the basis of the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution.

The Congress

necessary and proper The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district and serves for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population; in contrast, each state has two Senators, regardless of population. There are a total of 100 senators, who serve six-year terms. The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the states and the people. The Constitution also includes the necessary-and-proper clause, which grants Congress the power to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers."

The President

necessary-and-proper clause At the top level of the executive branch is the President of the United States. The President and Vice-President are elected as 'running mates' for four-year terms by the Electoral College, for which each state, as well as the District of Columbia, is allocated a number of seats based on its representation (or ostensible representation, in the case of D. C.) in both houses of Congress (see U.S. Electoral College). The relationship between the President and the Congress reflects that between the English monarchy and parliament at the time of the framing of the United States Constitution. Congress can legislate to constrain the President's executive power, even with respect to his or her command of the armed forces; however, this power is used only very rarely—a notable example was the constraint placed on President Richard Nixon's strategy of bombing Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The President cannot directly propose legislation, and must rely on supporters in Congress to promote his or her legislative agenda. The President's signature is required to turn congressional bills into law; in this respect, the President has the power—only occasionally used—to veto congressional legislation. Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses. The ultimate power of Congress over the President is that of impeachment or removal of the elected President through a House vote, a Senate trial, and a Senate vote. The threat of using this power has had major political ramifications in the cases of Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton. The President makes around 2,000 executive appointments, including members of the Cabinet and ambassadors, which must be approved by the Senate; the President can also issue executive orders and pardons, and has other Constitutional duties, among them the requirement to give a State of the Union address to Congress once a year. Although the President's constitutional role may appear to be constrained, in practice, the office carries enormous prestige that typically eclipses the power of Congress: the Presidency has justifiably been referred to as 'the most powerful office in the world'. The Vice President is first in the line of succession, and is the President of the Senate ex officio, with the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote. The members of the President's Cabinet are responsible for administering the various departments of state, including the Department of Defense, the Justice Department, and the State Department. These departments and department heads have considerable regulatory and political power, and it is they who are responsible for executing federal laws and regulations. George W. Bush is the 43rd President, currently serving his second term.

The Courts

George W. Bush The highest court is the Supreme Court, which consists of nine justices. The court deals with federal and constitutional matters, and can declare legislation made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions. Below the Supreme Court are the courts of appeals, and below them in turn are the district courts, which are the general trial courts for federal law. Separate from, but not entirely independent of, this federal court system are the individual court systems of each state, each dealing with its own laws and having its own judicial rules and procedures. A case may be appealed from a state court to a federal court only if there is a federal question; the supreme court of each state is the final authority on the interpretation of that state's laws and constitution.

State and local governments

supreme court of each state. Note that Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that the Aleutian Islands and the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.]] The state governments have the greatest influence over people's daily lives. Each state has its own written constitution and has different laws. There are sometimes great differences in law and procedure between the different states, concerning issues such as property, crime, health, and education. The highest elected official of each state is the Governor. Each state also has an elected legislature (bicameral in every state except Nebraska), whose members represent the different parts of the state. Of note is the New Hampshire legislature, which is the third-largest legislative body in the English-speaking world, and has one representative for every 3,000 people. Each state maintains its own judiciary, with the lowest level typically being county courts, and culminating in each state supreme court, though sometimes named differently. In some states, supreme and lower court justices are elected by the people; in others, they are appointed, as they are in the federal system. The institutions that are responsible for local government are typically town, city, or county boards, making laws that affect their particular area. These laws concern issues such as traffic, the sale of alcohol, and keeping animals. The highest elected official of a town or city is usually the mayor. In New England, towns operate directly democratically, and in some states, such as Rhode Island and Connecticut, counties have little or no power, existing only as geographic distinctions. In other areas, county governments have more power, such as to collect taxes and maintain law enforcement agencies.

Political divisions

With the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen colonies proclaimed themselves to be nation states modeled after the European states of the time. Although considered as sovereigns initially, under the Articles of Confederation of 1781 they entered into a "Perpetual Union" and created a fully sovereign federal state, delegating certain powers to the national Congress, including the right to engage in diplomatic relations and to levy war, while each retaining their individual sovereignty, freedom and independence. But the national government proved too ineffective, so the administrative structure of the government was vastly reorganized with the United States Constitution of 1789. Under this new union, the continued status of the individual states as sovereign nation states fell into dispute in 1861, as several states attempted to secede from the union; in response, then-President Abraham Lincoln claimed that such secession was illegal, and the result was the American Civil War. Since the Union victory in 1865, the independent status of the individual states has not been broached again by any state, and the status of each state within the union has been deemed by mainstream officials and academics to be settled as being subordinate to the union as a whole. In subsequent years, the number of states grew steadily due to western expansion, the purchase of lands by the national government from other nation states, and the subdivision of existing states, resulting in the current total of 50. The states are generally divided into smaller administrative regions, including counties, cities and townships. The United States–Canadian border is the longest undefended political boundary in the world. The U.S. is divided into three distinct sections:
- the "continental United States," also known as "the Lower 48" and more accurately termed the conterminous, coterminous or contiguous United States
- Alaska, which is physically connected only to Canada
- the archipelago of Hawaii, in the central Pacific Ocean. The United States also holds several other territories, districts, and possessions, notably the federal district of the District of Columbia, which is the nation's capital, and several overseas insular areas, the most significant of which are American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. The Palmyra Atoll is the United States' only incorporated territory; it is unorganized and uninhabited. The United States Navy has held a base at a portion of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 1898. The United States government possesses a lease to this land, which only mutual agreement or United States abandonment of the area can terminate. The present Cuban government of Fidel Castro disputes this arrangement, claiming Cuba was not truly sovereign at the time of the signing. The United States argues this point moot because Cuba apparently ratified the lease post-revolution, and with full sovereignty, when it cashed one rent check in accordance with the disputed treaty.

Foreign relations and military

sovereign] The immense military and economic dominance of the United States has made foreign relations an especially important topic in its politics, with considerable concern about the image of the United States throughout the world. Reactions towards the United States by other nationalities are often strong, ranging from uninhibited admiration and mimicking of all things American to anti-Americanism. US foreign policy has swung about several times over the course of its history between the poles of strict isolationism and imperialism and everywhere in between. Three of the nation's four military branches are administered by the Department of Defense: the Army, the Navy (including the Marine Corps), and the Air Force. The Coast Guard falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime, but is placed under the Department of the Navy in time of war. The combined United States armed forces consist of 1.4 million active duty personnel, along with several hundred thousand each in the Reserves and the National Guard. Military conscription ended in 1973. The United States Armed forces are considered to be the most powerful military (of any sort) on Earth and their force projection capabilities are unrivaled by any other nation. The 2005 defense budget amounted to $401.7 billion, which is an increase of 4% over 2004 and of 35% since 2001. Over 50% of that number is spent in research & development. (For comparison, in 2004 the European Union (considered as the second-largest military force) had a combined total of 1.6 million troops, and a defense budget of €160 billion, with less than 10% of that being spent on R&D.)

Largest cities

The United States has dozens of major cities, including 11 of the 55 global cities of all types — with three "alpha" global cities: New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The figures expressed below are for populations within city limits. A different ranking is evident when considering U.S. metro area populations, although the top three would be unchanged. Note that some cities not listed (such as Atlanta, Boston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.) are still considered important on the basis of other factors and issues, including culture, economics, heritage, and politics. The twenty largest cities, based on the United States Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, are as follows:

Economy

The United States has the largest single-country economy in the world, with a per-capita gross domestic product of $40,100. In this market-oriented economy, private individuals and business firms make most of the decisions, and the federal and state governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace. gross domestic product The largest industry of the U.S. is now service, which employs roughly three quarters of the U.S. work force. The United States has many natural resources, including oil and gas, metals, and such minerals as gold, soda ash, and zinc. In agriculture, the U.S. is a top producer of, among other crops, corn, soy beans, and wheat; the United States is a net exporter of food. The U.S. manufacturing sector produces goods such as, cars, airplanes, steel, and electronics, among many others. Economic activity varies greatly from one part of the country to another, with many industries being largely dependent on a certain city or region; New York City is the center of the American financial, publishing, broadcasting, and advertising industries; Silicon Valley is the country’s primary location for high-technology companies, while Los Angeles is the most important center for film production. The Midwest is known for its reliance on manufacturing and heavy industry, with Detroit, Michigan, serving as the center of the American automotive industry; the Great Plains are known as the "breadbasket" of America for their tremendous agricultural output; the intermountain region serves as a mining hub and natural gas resource; the Pacific Northwest for fish and timber, while Texas is largely associated with the oil industry; the Southeast is a major hub for both medical research and the textiles industry. Several countries continue to link their currency to the dollar or even use it as a currency (such as Ecuador), although this practice has subsided since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system. Many markets are also quoted in dollars, such as those of oil and gold. The dollar is also the predominant reserve currency in the world, and more than half of global reserves are in dollars. The largest trading partner of the United States is Canada (19%), followed by China (12%), Mexico (11%), and Japan (8%). More than 50% of total trade is with these four countries. In 2003, the United States was ranked as the third most visited tourist destination in the world; its 40,400,000 visitors ranked behind France's 75,000,000 and Spain's 52,500,000. Labor unions have existed since the 19th century, and grew large and powerful from the 1930s to the 1950s. See Labor history of the United States. Since 1970 they have shrunk in the private sector and now cover fewer than 8% of the workers. However union membership has grown rapidly in the public sector, especially among teachers, nurses, police, postal workers, and municipal clerks. There have been few strikes in recent years. The United States' imports exceed exports by 80%, leading to an annual trade deficit of $700,000,000,000, or 6% of gross domestic product. It is the largest debtor nation in the world, with total gross foreign debt of over $13,000,000,000,000 (2005 estimate); and it absorbs more than 50% of global savings annually. Since the 1980s, the U.S. has increased the use of neoliberal economic policies that reduce government intervention and reduce the size of the welfare state, backing away from the more interventionist Keynsian economic policies that had been in favor since the Great Depression. As a result, the United States provides fewer government-delivered social welfare services than most industrialized nations, choosing instead to keep its tax burden lower and relying more heavily on the free market and private charities. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages higher than the national level ($5.15 per-hour), including the highest, Washington State at $7.35. Twenty-six states are the same as the federal level; two--Ohio and Kansas--are below; and six do not have state laws. America's wealth is relatively highly concentrated. The average C.E.O. earns 500 times the typical amount a worker grosses, this is up from 25 times in the late 1970s. In terms of wealth the top 1% of Americans own 40% of all assets and 50.1% of the country's income goes to the top twenty percent of households. Average wages for the majority of employees have been largely stagnating since the 1970s. America's poverty line defined as a family of four earning less than $19,157 is at 12.7% of the general population. Approximately one out of every five children in the United States grows up below the official poverty line. Among racial groups; African Americans have the lowest median income while Asians had the highest. Regionally, the southern states had the lowest median incomes while the West Coast and New England had the highest. The current Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan remarked that the U.S.’s growing income inequality since the 1970s is, "not the type of thing which a democratic society - a capitalist democratic society - can really accept without addressing."[http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0614/p01s03-usec.html?s=itm] However, Greenspan also noted, "...you can look at the system and say it's got a lot of problems to it, and sure it does. It always has. But you can't get around the fact that this is the most extraordinarily successful economy in history."

Transportation

Alan Greenspan ]] Because the United States is a relatively young nation, most of the development of U.S. cities has taken place since the invention of the automobile. To link its vast territory, the United States built a network of high-capacity, high-speed highways, of which the most important element is the Interstate Highway system, commissioned in the 1950s by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and modeled after the German Autobahn. The United States also has a transcontinental rail system, which is used for moving freight across the lower forty-eight states. Passenger rail service is provided by Amtrak, which serves forty-six of the lower forty-eight states. Many cities in the United States have extensive mass-transit systems. New York City operates one of the world's largest and most heavily used subway systems. The regional rail and bus networks that extend into Long Island, New Jersey, Upstate New York, and Connecticut are among the most heavily used in the world. Air travel is often preferred for destinations over 300 miles (500 kilometers) away. In terms of passengers, seventeen of the world's thirty busiest airports in 2004 were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; in terms of cargo, in the same year, twelve of the world's thirty busiest airports were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Memphis International Airport. There are several major seaports in the United States; the three busiest are the Port of Los Angeles, California; the Port of Long Beach, California; and the Port of New York and New Jersey. Others include Houston, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Seattle, Washington; plus, outside the contiguous forty-eight states, Anchorage, Alaska, and Honolulu, Hawaii.

Society

Demographics

Hawaii The mean center of the U.S. population continues to drift farther west and south. The fastest growing region is the western United States followed by the southern portion. According to Census 2000, the states that saw the greatest increases from 1990 were: Nevada (66.3%), Arizona (40%), Colorado (30.6%), Utah (29.6%), Idaho (28.5%), Georgia (26.4%), Florida (23.5%), Texas (22.8%), North Carolina (21.4%), and Washington (21.1%). [http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t2/tab03.pdf]

Ethnicity and race

:Main article: Racial demographics of the United States The United States is a very racially diverse country. According to the 2000 census, it has 31 ethnic groups with at least one million members each, and numerous others represented in smaller amounts. The majority of Americans descend from white European immigrants who arrived at the establishment of the first colonies (most after Reconstruction). This majority--69.1% in 2000--decreases each year, and is expected to become a plurality within a few decades. The most frequently stated European ancestries are German (15.2%), Irish (10.8%), English (8.7%), Italian (5.6%) and Scandinavian (3.7%). Many immigrants also hail from Slavic countries such as Poland and Russia. Other significant immigrant populations came from eastern and southern Europe and French Canada. Russia Hispanics from Mexico and South and Central America are the largest minority group in the country, comprising 12.5% of the population (2000 census). People of Mexican descent made up 7.3% of the population in the 2000 census, and this proportion is expected to increase significantly in the coming decades. About 12.3% (2000 census) of the American people are African Americans (