With a rich history dating back to 1903, the World Series has produced unforgettable moments, from legendary home runs to nail-biting finishes. It’s a time when cities rally behind their teams, and fans create an electric atmosphere in the stadiums. The series not only showcases the talents of baseball’s brightest stars but also serves as a cultural phenomenon, engaging families and communities across the nation.
The World Series is one of the oldest and most prestigious sporting events in North America, often referred to as the “Fall Classic” because it takes place in October. Winning the World Series is the ultimate goal for any MLB team, signifying not only the pinnacle of success in baseball but also cementing a place in the sport’s rich history. Legendary performances, iconic moments, and intense rivalries have all helped make the World Series a defining event in American sports culture.
The early decades of the World Series were dominated by legendary franchises like the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and St. Louis Cardinals. The Yankees, in particular, have left an indelible mark on the event, having won a record 27 World Series titles, led by legends like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, and Derek Jeter. The Red Sox and Cardinals also have storied legacies, each contributing to unforgettable World Series moments.
Throughout the 20th century, the World Series produced some of baseball’s most enduring memories. Games like the 1956 perfect game by Don Larsen of the Yankees, Bill Mazeroski’s walk-off home run for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1960, and the dramatic 1986 series between the New York Mets and Boston Red Sox have become part of baseball lore. The Series is known for its intensity, where legends are made, and fans witness the culmination of months of effort and strategy.
The competition has also been shaped by moments of historic importance beyond the field. In 1947, Jackie Robinson, the first Black player in MLB, made his World Series debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking racial barriers on the sport’s biggest stage. In 2001, the World Series carried emotional weight, as the New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks faced off just weeks after the 9/11 attacks, with baseball serving as a symbol of national unity and resilience.
In recent years, the World Series has seen fresh storylines emerge, with teams like the Chicago Cubs breaking a 108-year championship drought in 2016 and the Houston Astros securing their first title in 2017, though that title was later overshadowed by a sign-stealing scandal. Each fall, new heroes and new controversies arise, ensuring that the World Series remains a compelling and unpredictable climax to the MLB season.
The traditions surrounding the World Series are as vibrant as the game itself. The iconic “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” anthem echoes through stadiums, while players sport their team’s colors with pride. The championship also often features ceremonial first pitches, celebrity appearances, and, of course, the crowning of the most valuable player (MVP) – a recognition of exceptional performances on this grand stage.
What is the MLB World Series?
MLB World Series is the name of the championship series of Major League Baseball, played annually between the winners of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). Established in 1903, it is the culmination of a season-long battle, where teams from each league compete for the title of world champion in a best-of-seven game series.
In terms of visual identity, the MLB World Series is as intense as the spirit of the championship. The event has a new logo each year, and not all of them are alike. So let’s dive into the history of the MLB World Series badges. The first official World Series took place in 1903, but early versions of the championship did not have a standardized logo. It wasn’t until the 1970s that the World Series began to embrace visual branding with more formal logos.
The logo of the MLB World Series from 1974 can be called the first official logo of the event. It was a very bold and bright badge with the solid red “World Series 1974” lettering written in three levels against a white background with each character outlined in blue.
In 1975 the logo was significantly changed, even though the patriotic red, blue, and white color palette remained untouched. The new concept featured a horizontally extended classy crest with a striped pattern: the white “World” on the one, the blue “Series” with two red five-pointed stars on the sides — on the white one, and the white “1975” set in the bottom blue stripe.
The MLB World Series logo of 1976 was the first in history to have a depiction of the famous Commissioner’s Trophy, the main reward of the championship. It was set on the background of the composition, in thin light-gray lines, overlapped by the rounded uppercase lettering in red outline, and the stylized geometric “76” at the bottom.
In 1977 the composition of the logo was simplified to just a three-leveled inscription written in solid red against a plain white background without any graphical additions. The main thing here was the typeface of the lettering — a medium-weight wishbone-style font with extended characters.
A very sleek and elegant logo was designed for the championship in 1978. It was a stylized sans-serif lettering in clean blue lines with a double outline in white and red, accompanied by the MLB emblem in the upper right corner and a white baseball with red stitches replacing the “O” in the “World”.
In 1979 the logo design didn’t change much, just the number was switched from “75th” to “76th”, the blue lines of the lettering became bolder, and some parts of the negative space colored in red, which gave the badge a more vibrant look.
The concept, adopted by the designers in 1980, has stayed with the MLB World Series for seven seasons, with just one alternation — the number. It was an elegant uppercase lettering in a fancy stylized serif font, written in blue against a white background, with a thin red outline. The wordmark was accompanied by the iconic MLB emblem at the bottom, and a contoured date on its right.
The redesign of 1981 has only changed the date in the bottom right corner of the composition, from “1980” to “1981”, with everything else remaining absolutely the same as on the previous logo.
The logo for the championship of 1982, also fully repeated the style of the two previous badges, with just the new date on it.
Since 1983 the use of the MLB World Series logo, designed in 1980, has continued. The contoured “1983” in white and red was now set in the bottom right corner of the badge.
The World Series of 1984 was another in the MLB history to use the logo, adopted in 1980. The bright and distinctive blue, red, and white badge boasted an elegant “1984” datemark on it.
The championship, held in 1985, was another one in the list of those, using the concept of 1980. With no changes at all.
The MLB World Series of 1986 was the last in the championship history to adopt the previous design, with the red and white “1986” date set in the bottom right corner of the logo.
A completely new design was created for the MLB World Series in 1987. The main element here was a solid green rhombus in a white and blue outline, with white squares in all four corners, which represents the baseball field. The script lettering in a red and blue outline was set diagonally across the forked and accompanied by the MLB emblem at the bottom, and the date — on top.
The solid red “1987” in a blue outline was replaced by the white, red, and blue “1988” for the new championship. All other details remained untouched.
The logo of the MLB World Series of 1989 has fully repeated the design of the previous year, with all the color combinations, shapes, and disposition of the elements.
In 1990 all elements remained in their places and kept their style, but the new datemark was drawn with more white color, however, this change was not significant at all.
The MLB World Series championship of 1991 was the last one to use the design concept from 1987 for its logo. Its style fully repeated the previous badge.
The championship of 1992 gained a completely new badge. The concept, however, remained very similar to the previous version: the rhomboid field on the background, and the script lettering overlapping it. But the color palette was changed to a darker one, and a new element was added to the composition: a golden globe on the red rhombus. The date of the championship was now written in blue digits over a narrow white ribbon at the very top of the logo.
The logo design hasn’t changed at all in 1993, with just the new datemark written in blue over a delicate white ribbon, crossing the top of the rhombus.
The redesign of 1994 has played with the color palette of the MLB World Series logo, adopting lighter shades of gold, green, and red. As for the composition, it remained absolutely the same.
The logo of the 1995 MLB World Series championship repeated the design of several previous badges but was executed in a brown gold and bronze color palette, with no bright accenting details.
The vivid palette came back to the World Series logo for the championship of 1996. The smooth gold turned into an intense shade of yellow, and it was also used for the lines and contours of the globe on the background and the ribbon with the date.
The contours of the globe turned blue, and the shade of yellow on the lettering and the ribbon became even more intense in 1997. It was the last logo of this design era of the MLB World Series event.
The new design concept of the MLB World Series visual identity was adopted in 1998 and stayed with the championship for two seasons. It was a refined rhomboid badge turned in ¾ with a modernized white script lettering in a thick blue outline. The MLB emblem moved to the top part of the crest, while the date ribbon — to the bottom.
In 1999 the only thing that was changed on the World Series logo was the date, written in solid blue digits over a narrow yellow ribbon in a blue outline, crossing the rhomboid badge at the bottom.
To celebrate the Millennium, a new logo was created for the MLB World Series. It was a more modern and stylish badge with a background featuring a triangle pointing down and a horizontally extended globe in a blue and gray color palette. The geometric composition was overlapped by a white script lettering with light blue and gray gradients, which added volume. At the top, there was a white and orange baseball, supported by the “2000” at the bottom, executed in the same color palette.
The globe became the main element of the MLB World Series logo in 2001. Drawn in a khaki and burgundy color palette, it was accompanied by a voluminous orbit, made of the geometric white and blue lettering, and a white baseball on top, with a long golden trace behind it.
In 2002 the MLB World Series logo was redesigned again, with the globe turning blue, and the lettering gaining a new geometric sans-serif typeface and a white and yellow color palette. The baseball was placed on top and the MLB icon — was at the bottom.
The design of the MLB World Series badge was refined in 2003, with the idea remaining the same, but the color palette changing to brown and blue, and the lettering was enlarged and set in two levels now. The ribbon, underlining the inscription was there to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the championship.
The logo, introduced in 2004, looked much more brutal and progressive than the previous versions. It had fewer details — just the lettering and the globe on the background; fewer colors — blue and silver; yet much more confidence and power. The gradient white-to-sliver wordmark was written in an extra-bold slightly slanted sans-serif font, and accompanied by three small icons in blue and white at the bottom.
The redrawn blue and khaki globe was moved a bit to the left in the composition of the logo from 2005. The image was accompanied by a bold yet smooth lettering in white, with a blue outline, a small MLB emblem, a red “05” datemark, and two elegant ribbons made of leaves in burgundy and gold.
The MLB World Series logo, designed in 2006, was executed in quite a laconic yet strong and masculine style, using three shades, that work brilliantly together: navy blue, burgundy, and light blue. The globe was inscribed into a rectangle with rounded corners and accompanied by the bold lettering above and beyond, and the datemark on the sides.
The logo of 2007 was distinctive and sharp. With straight lines and square cuts of the bars in the uppercase dark-blue lettering, set directly on a white background, on the right from an interesting geometric emblem. It was a circle, divided into four segments, with the top right one cut out, the top left featuring a yellow background with two white flags, the bottom left — a solid blue background with a white stitch similar to those on baseballs, and the bottom right with a globe pattern in burgundy and white.
The logo from 2008 had a very elegant look, due to the use of quite a traditional serif typeface for the enlarged wordmark, and a smooth forestall shade of green for the rhombus, which was placed on the background. There were also additional elements in a calm shade of red, which added strength to the composition.
The lettering was rewritten in a modern sans-serif typeface and enlarged on the logo, introduced in 2009. The white inscription in a yellow and blue outline was underlined by an arched ribbon in gold and red with the MLB emblem in the center. Both elements were placed over a triangular crest pointing down.
In 2010 the logo was completely redesigned again, in a white, yellow, and blue color palette, with the lettering executed in a medium-weight serif typeface. The wordmark was accompanied by a rectangular MLB emblem on top, a ribbon with a datemark at the bottom, and a sharp geometric crest under it.
The leaves from the crest of the 2010 logo were transferred to the framing of the 2011 version. They were drawn in gold and placed on the sides from an uppercase serif lettering in a blurred and calm shade of gold. The MLB emblem and the datemark were set in the same color scheme.
In 2012 the MLB World Series visual identity came back to its most favorite color palette — blue, red, and white. The bold uppercase lettering was written here in two levels in the very center of the composition, accompanied by two bright red ribbons on top and at the bottom.
The same color palette was used in 2013, but the composition was different: the typeface of the inscription was more elegant, with the first letters of each word enlarged. The white wordmark was outlined in blue, and its left part was set directly on the white background, while the right part was accompanied by the MLB emblem and two triangular flags in red and blue, with the navy negative space.
In 2014 the World Series logo was redesigned in a more airy and minimalistic style, with the arched blue inscription in a narrowed sans-serif typeface, written against a white background and accompanied by red additional lettering in small caps on top, and the red datemark with the MLB emblem in the center at the bottom.
In 2015 the MLB World Series logo got a more confident logo. The addition of the famous Commissioner’s Trophy — a symbol of victory — lent the logo an even greater sense of prestige.
The logo from 2016 boasted an enlarged dark blue lettering in a geometric sans-serif typeface with sharp cuts of the bars and a thin silver outline. The MLB emblem was placed above the wordmark inside the red “2015” datemark, supported by the red ribbon with leaves, arched at the bottom of the badge.
In 2017 a super sleek art deco style, with the use of dark blue and gold colors, which look beautifully on white. The uppercase sans-serif lettering was written with a combination of both colors and accompanied by the upper part of the trophy, set on top of the logo.
The logo, created for the 2018 season of the MLB World Series was executed in a glossy three-dimensional style, with the enlarged geometric lettering in blue accompanied by a classy red and blue ribbon with the MLB emblem in the center.
The version of the MLB World Series visual identity, created in 2019, was all about the progressive approach to design. The solid blue rhombus on the background was enclosed in quite a narrow frame colored in rainbow gradients. As for the inscription, it was written in a medium-weight modern sans-serif with white-to-gray gradients and a thick blue outline.
The shape of the MLB World Series logo was changed to a vertically oriented rectangle in 2020. It had a dark blue solid background with silver lettering and a delicate gold datemark with the MLB emblem in gold, silver, and blue, in the middle.
The glossy gradient blue uppercase lettering in a geometric sans-serif lettering, set on a transparent background was accompanied by a top part of a baseball in white and blue, and a bright red “2021” tagline with the iconic MLB icon in the center.
In 2022 the MLB World Series logo was executed in a modern luxury style, with the use of blue and gold gradients, and additional blue and red details. This was the first primary logo of the event, which had the sponsorship emblem in it. In 2022 the main partner of the championship was the CapitalOne bank.
The use of metallic effects and sharper lines reflected a more contemporary design ethos, aligning with the era’s graphic trends. The sleek silver and gold trophy, set on the left part of the composition, was accompanied by a stable yet elegant serif lettering in flat blue.
The lettering on the 2024 MLB World Series logo was written in a voluminous gradient blue serif typeface, creating the strongest accent on the badge. Accompanied by a golden trophy image, the logo looks super stable and evokes a sense of excellence and power.