World Series Trophy
Encyclopedia
Commissioner of Baseball
The Commissioner of Baseball is the chief executive of Major League Baseball and its associated minor leagues. Under the direction of the Commissioner, the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball hires and maintains the sport's umpiring crews, and negotiates marketing, labor, and television contracts...
to the Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
team that wins the World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
. Recent trophy designs contain flags representing each team in North America's top two leagues, the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
and the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
. The two participating teams in that year's World Series were previously represented by two press pins set on the base of the trophy. It is the only championship trophy of the four major sports in the United States that is not named after a particular person (contrasting with the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
's Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
, the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
's Vince Lombardi Trophy
Vince Lombardi Trophy
The Vince Lombardi Trophy is the trophy awarded each year to the winning team of the National Football League's championship game, the Super Bowl.-History:...
, and the National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
's Larry O'Brien Trophy).
History
The trophy was first awarded in 1967, when the St. Louis CardinalsSt. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
defeated the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
. A new Commissioner's Trophy is created each year, much like the Lombardi Trophy and the O'Brien Trophy; in contrast, the Stanley Cup is passed from champion to champion. Since its inception, the only year that the Commissioner's Trophy has not been awarded was 1994, when the players' strike ended the season on August 11, resulting in the cancellation of the entire post-season. The New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
have won the most Commissioner's Trophies (seven World Series wins since 1967). The St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
hold the record for the most trophies won in the National League (four wins). and the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
have won the most in the American League. The latest trophy was awarded to the National League's St. Louis Cardinals, who won the 2011 World Series
2011 World Series
The 2011 World Series was the 107th edition of Major League Baseball's championship series. The best-of-seven playoff was played between the American League champion Texas Rangers and the National League champion St...
.
Design
The current trophy design, which was redesigned in 1999 for the 2000 World Series2000 World Series
-Game 1:Saturday, October 21, 2000 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New YorkThe opener fell on two anniversaries. Twenty-five years prior, Boston Red Sox's catcher Carlton Fisk ended Game 6 of the 1975 World Series with his famous home run off the left field foul pole in Fenway Park in Boston to beat...
and made by Tiffany & Co.
Tiffany & Co.
Tiffany & Co. is an American jewelry and silverware company. As part of its branding, the company is strongly associated with its Tiffany Blue , which is a registered trademark.- History :...
, is worth approximately $15,000. The original trophy was designed by Lawrence Voegele, of Owatonna, Minnesota
Owatonna, Minnesota
Owatonna is a city in Steele County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 25,599 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Steele County. Owatonna is home to the Steele County Fairgrounds, which hosts the Steele County Free Fair in August....
. The trophy is 24 inches (61 cm) tall, excluding the base, and has a diameter of 11 inches (27.9 cm). It weighs approximately 30 lbs and is made of sterling silver
Sterling silver
Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by mass of silver and 7.5% by mass of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925....
. The trophy features 30 gold-plated flags, one for each of the Major League teams, which rise above a silver baseball covered with latitude and longitude lines that symbolize the world. The baseball also contains 24-karat vermeil
Vermeil
Vermeil is a combination of sterling silver, gold, and other precious metals, commonly used as a component in jewelry. A typical example is sterling silver coated with 14 carat gold. To be considered vermeil, the gold must be at least 10 carat and be at least 2.5 micrometres thick...
baseball stitches. The base contains an inscription of the signature of the commissioner, as well as the words "Presented by the Commissioner of Baseball". The new design was presented for the first time at the conclusion of the 2000 World Series
2000 World Series
-Game 1:Saturday, October 21, 2000 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New YorkThe opener fell on two anniversaries. Twenty-five years prior, Boston Red Sox's catcher Carlton Fisk ended Game 6 of the 1975 World Series with his famous home run off the left field foul pole in Fenway Park in Boston to beat...
, won by the Yankees.