If you’ve been a baseball fan for awhile, a list of World Series winners by year will take you back through the stages of your own life …
Like how you and your dad were jumping around in front of the black-and-white living room TV, right along with Carlton Fisk in Game 6 of the 1975 Fall Classic …
Or how you griped to your friends at school the next day after Don Denkinger dinked up Game 6 in 1985.
Or how the Braves ruined your fall semester at college in 1995.
Or how you barely even noticed what was happening in 2015 — kids, job, hassles — until someone mentioned that the Royals — the Royals — were about to take it all.
Whether these were your exact scenarios or not, I’ll bet dollars to donuts the general sentiment fits your fandom.
And I’ll bet, too, that this list of World Series winners by year — accompanied by a representative baseball card for each decade — will get your memories all stirred up.
1900s World Series Winners
We all know that the Chicago Cubs suffered through a century-plus World Series drought, but the truth is, they were the bomb in the first decade of the Fall Classic.
The Cubbies took two Series in a row, in 1907 and 1908, which accounted for a third of all championships in the 1900s.
The team even inspired some poetry, courtesy of their famed double-play combination.
T202 Hassan Triple Folders Frank Chance – Johnny Evers – Joe Tinker
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1903 World Series – Boston Pilgrims (AL) over Pittsburgh Pirates (NL), 5 games to 3
1904 World Series – no World Series
1905 World Series – New York Giants (NL) over Philadelphia Athletics (AL), 4 games to 1
1906 World Series – Chicago White Sox (AL) over Chicago Cubs (NL), 4 games to 2
1907 World Series – Chicago Cubs (NL) over Detroit Tigers (AL), 4 games to 0
1908 World Series – Chicago Cubs (NL) over Detroit Tigers (AL), 4 games to 1
1909 World Series – Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) over Detroit Tigers (AL), 4 games to 3
1910s World Series Winners
Like the Cubs, the Boston Red Sox went forever between championships — 86 years, in fact.
But before they fell under the Curse of the Bambino in 1919, they were the class franchise of the game in the 1910s, nabbing titles in 1912, 1915, 1916, and 1918.
This success was due in no small part to the dude they sold off to induce the aforementioned curse …
1916 M101-4 — M101-5 Babe Ruth rookie card (#151)
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1910 World Series – Philadelphia Athletics (AL) over Chicago Cubs (NL), 4 games to 1
1911 World Series – Philadelphia Athletics (AL) over New York Giants (NL), 4 games to 2
1912 World Series – Boston Red Sox (AL) over New York Giants (NL), 4 games to 3
1913 World Series – Philadelphia Athletics (AL) over New York Giants (NL), 4 games to 1
1914 World Series – Boston Braves (NL) over Philadelphia Athletics (AL), 4 games to 0
1915 World Series – Boston Red Sox (AL) over Philadelphia Phillies (NL), 4 games to 1
1916 World Series – Boston Red Sox (AL) over Brooklyn Robins (NL), 4 games to 1
1917 World Series – Chicago White Sox (AL) over New York Giants (NL), 4 games to 2
1918 World Series – Boston Red Sox (AL) over Chicago Cubs (NL), 4 games to 2
1919 World Series – Cincinnati Reds (NL) over Chicago White Sox (AL), 5 games to 3
1920s World Series Winners
Where Ruth went, wins followed, and the New York Yankees rode their new stallion to six World Series appearances and three championships in the 1920s.
1925 Exhibits Babe Ruth
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1920 World Series – Cleveland Indians (AL) over Brooklyn Robins (NL), 5 games to 2
1921 World Series – New York Giants (NL) over New York Yankees (AL), 5 games to 3
1922 World Series – New York Giants (NL) over New York Yankees (AL), 4 games to 0
1923 World Series – New York Yankees (AL) over New York Giants (NL), 4 games to 2
1924 World Series – Washington Senators (AL) over New York Giants (NL), 4 games to 3
1925 World Series – Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) over Washington Senators (AL), 4 games to 3
1926 World Series – St. Louis Cardinals (NL) over New York Yankees (AL), 4 games to 3
1927 World Series – New York Yankees (AL) over Pittsburgh Pirates (NL), 4 games to 0
1928 World Series – New York Yankees (AL) over St. Louis Cardinals (NL), 4 games to 0
1929 World Series – Philadelphia Athletics (AL) over Chicago Cubs (NL), 4 games to 1
1930s World Series Winners
Turns out, the Bombers were just getting started as the Great Depression dawned. And, with Ruth pushing into his 30s, Lou Gehrig emerged as maybe the greatest player in the game in the new decade.
That combo, plus a cadre of other superstars, pushed New York to five titles in the 1930s.
1933 Goudey Lou Gehrig Rookie Card (#92)