sport 1894 baltimore orioles season
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League ___MASK26___ ( MLB ) in North America , contested since 1903 between the American League ( AL ) champion team and the National League ( NL ) champion team . The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best - of - seven playoff , and the winning team is awarded the Commissioner ' s Trophy . As the series is played in October ( and occasionally November ), during the autumn season in North America , it is often referred to as the Fall Classic . The Chicago Cubs are an American professional ___MASK26___ team based in Chicago , Illinois . The Cubs compete in Major League ___MASK26___ ( MLB ) as a member club of the National League ( NL ) Central division , where they are the defending World Series champions . The team plays its home games at Wrigley Field , located on the city ' s North Side . The Cubs are one of two major league teams in Chicago ; the other , the Chicago White Sox , is a member of the American League ( AL ) Central division . The team , first known as the White Stockings , was a founding member of the NL in 1876 , becoming the Chicago Cubs in 1903 . The Stanley Cup is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National ___MASK3___ League ( NHL ) playoff winner . Originally commissioned in 1892 as the " Dominion ___MASK3___ Challenge Cup ", the trophy is named for Lord Stanley of Preston , then  Governor General of Canada , who awarded it to Canada ' s top - ranking amateur ice ___MASK3___ club , which the entire Stanley family supported , with the sons and daughters playing and promoting the game . The first Cup was awarded in 1893 to Montreal HC , and subsequent winners from 1893 to 1914 were determined by challenge games and league play . Professional teams first became eligible to challenge for the Stanley Cup in 1906 . In 1915 , the two professional ice ___MASK3___ organizations , the National ___MASK3___ Association ( NHA ) and the Pacific Coast ___MASK3___ Association ( PCHA ), reached a gentlemen ' s agreement in which their respective champions would face each other annually for the Stanley Cup . After a series of league mergers and folds , it was established as the " de facto " championship trophy of the NHL in 1926 and then the " de jure " NHL championship prize in 1947 . The National League of Professional ___MASK26___ Clubs , known simply as the National League ( NL ), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League ___MASK26___ ( MLB ) in the United States and Canada , and the world ' s oldest current professional team sports league . Founded on February 2 , 1876 , to replace the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players , it is sometimes called the Senior Circuit , in contrast to MLB ' s other league , the American League , which was founded 25 years later . Both leagues currently have 15 teams . The two league champions of 1903 arranged to compete against each other in the inaugural World Series . After the 1904 champions failed to reach a similar agreement , the two leagues formalized the World Series as an arrangement between the leagues . National League teams have won 48 of the 112 World Series contested from 1903 to 2016 . The 2016 National League champions are the Chicago Cubs . The American League of Professional ___MASK26___ Clubs , or simply the American League ( AL ), is one of two leagues that make up Major League ___MASK26___ ( MLB ) 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 league status . It is sometimes called the Junior Circuit because it claimed Major League status for the 1901 season , 25 years after the formation of the National League ( the " Senior Circuit "). The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional ___MASK26___ team based in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . The Pirates compete in Major League ___MASK26___ ( MLB ) as a member club of the National League ( NL ) Central division . The Pirates play their home games at PNC Park ; the team previously played at Forbes Field and Three Rivers Stadium , the latter of which was named after its location near the confluence of the Allegheny , Monongahela , and Ohio Rivers . Founded on October 15 , 1881 as Allegheny , the franchise has won five World Series championships . The Pirates are also often referred to as the " Bucs " or the " Buccos " ( derived from buccaneer , a synonym for pirate ). The Temple Cup was a cup awarded to the winner of a best - of - seven , post - season championship series in the National League , from 1894 to 1897 . The 30 - inch - high ( 76 . 2 - cm - high ) silver cup cost $ 800 , ($ in 2017 dollars ) and was donated by coal , citrus , and lumber baron William Chase Temple , a part - owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates at the time . Much like the Stanley Cup of ice ___MASK3___ and the Temple Cup ' s predecessor the Dauvray Cup , there was only one actual Temple Cup . The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players ( NAPBBP ), or simply the National Association ( NA ), was founded in 1871 and continued through the 1875 season . It succeeded and incorporated several professional clubs from the National Association of Base Ball Players ( NABBP ); in turn several of its clubs created the succeeding National League of Professional ___MASK26___ Clubs . William Chase Temple ( December 28 , 1862  January 9 , 1917 ) was a coal , citrus , and lumber baron during the late 19th and early 20th centuries . He was also a part owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates from ___MASK26___ ' s National League . He also established the Temple Cup , a trophy awarded to the winner of a best - of - seven , post - season Major League ___MASK26___ championship series that was conducted for four seasons in the National League , from 1894 to 1897 . He became the first sole owner of a professional American football team , in 1898 . At the end of each Major League ___MASK26___ season , the league leaders of various statistical categories are announced . Leading the league in a particular category is referred to as a " title ". Ice ___MASK3___ is a contact team sport played on ice , usually in a rink , in which two teams of skaters use their sticks to shoot a vulcanized rubber puck into their opponent ' s net to score points . Ice ___MASK3___ teams usually consist of six players each : one goaltender , and five players who skate up and down the ice trying to take the puck and score a goal against the opposing team . The Baltimore Orioles won their first National League pennant in 1894 . They won 24 of their last 25 games . After the regular season ' s conclusion , the Orioles participated in the first Temple Cup competition against the second - place New York Giants . The Orioles lost to the Giants in a sweep , four games to none . The Orioles roster contained six future Hall of Famers : Wilbert Robinson , John McGraw , Dan Brouthers , Hughie Jennings , Wee Willie Keeler and Joe Kelley . Every man in their starting line up hit . 300 for the season . They bunted , hit - and - ran , Baltimore chopped , backed up throws , cut off throws , and had pitchers cover first . They also deadened balls by icing them , tilted baselines so bunts would roll fair , and put soap around the mound so opposing pitchers would get slippery fingers if he tried to dry his hands in the dirt .