h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Being a woman I don't understand most sports which involve a team of men hitting or kicking a ball (of whatever shape) around a large field. Being English I don't understand how an exclusively American league can hold a 'World Series'. I still don't. I know that the Snooker World Cup is usually won by a Briton, but we do get Canadians, Australians, Thais, etc., playing for it.

I'm not Yank-bashing, but can someone PLEASE explain how it came to be called the 'World' Series in the first place!

Don't hesitate...the only reason it was called a "World" Series is that we Americans are very Ethnocentric. We believe if anyone lives outside of the US, they don't count.

Witness the name of our country: The United States of America. We began our existence by effectively saying those in South America, Central America, and Canada don't matter. Most citizens even shorten our name to America. When we say, "Come visit America, you'll love it here." We don't mean to visit Mexico, or Brazil -- They're not in America, apparently.

It was only time before we expanded this process to the world.

(Of course, its the same thought process that yielded the Miss Universe pageant! I keep looking for Miss Venus)

That discussion has taken place here: http://www.h2g2.com/F19585?thread=23455&post=206573 In the Ask h2g2 forums. :-) - X

Also, as to the "United States of America". There's nothing wrong with that title. We live in the Americas.. North and South... We are the "United States". That's the title of our country.

However, I believe you're absolutly right about the shortening of "US of A" to "America". I actually think that's a shortening of "North America" to "America". Maybe it's just that for years if someone was inviting you in English to come to "America" they were obviously meaning "North America". Now, of course, that the linguistic boundries have blurred with a smattering of English/Spanish speaking individuals all over North and South America, it does seem a bit ehtnocentric.

I would say that "World Series" and "America" are both ethnocentric viewpoints and ideas in today's diverse society and blurring of clear political and physical boarders, but argue that they may not have started out that way.

Suggesting "America" is short for "North America" doesn't work either, since when most citizens of the USA say "America," they are not thinking Canada too. They are thinking USA.

Of course, there is no other term to call a citizen of the United States. We call ourseveles Americans, and those in Canada Canadians. There's also no way we will come up with another term at this late date, so it will always be this way, however unfair it is.

The subject is, of course, baseball, not world geography or ethnography. However enlightened this discussion may be the truth of the matter is that, at the professional level, the "World Series of Baseball" was an event played by men from the United States simply due to the fact that that was where the teams played. As the years progressed, baseball was exported to other countries and for all of their ability (or inability) the logistics of including teams from, say, Japan in the championship would be supremely difficult. There are two professional teams in Canada, by the way, and one of them, the Toronto Blue Jays, has won "The World Series." What have we learned to this point? Well, we have learned that, perhaps, through the sins of our fore fathers the "World Series" was misnamed. We have also learned that baseball is a sport and any time spent reflecting on it should be just that, time spent thinking about the best game ever invented by man. (since it was invented by man I hope I'm not being politically incorrect by spelling that out.)
Thank You

H'mm,

Well if that didn't help, perhaps an answer to the question:
"On what planet does the event take place?"
may provide some sort of respite.

OK, so you reckon it's the best sport. How about an article that explains the rules? (Just the basics, nothing fancy. ) And then another on the rules of American football. I guess some people might want an article on the rules of cricket, if there isn't one already. Then there's ...

The football (soccer to you yanks) world cup features teams from all over the planet.
The rugby world cup features teams from all over the planet.
The darts world championship features players from all over the world.
The cricket world cup features teams from all over the planet.

Are the Americans that afraid that someone else will beat them?
Come on, be honest?

And is the reason Grid Iron is referred to as American Football, because they are worried other countries will want to play against them? (The fact that there is a World league makes no odds!)

I once read that the name 'World Series' came about because it was originally sponsored by a newspaper called 'The World' (or something). A quick web search has failed to provide any supporting evidence for this. In fact, it seems that the name came from a decision by the two top teams (Boston and Pittsburg) from rival leagues to have a 9-game play-off, the winner to be declared 'World champion'.

Oh, and Gridiron is known as 'American' football to differentiate it from 'Association' football (soccer), 'Australian rules' football (there are no rules) and rugby football. Other countries do play it, but they won't take on the U.S. teams 'cos they aren't good enough at the game.

When the World Series began in the very early 20th century, only the U.S. had teams. I grant it may now be a misnomer.

There's an entry at snopes.com (http://www.snopes.com/business/names/worldseries.asp) invalidating the theory of the New York World newspaper as the origins of the name 'World Series'. Basically, their article states that nobody really knows where the name 'World Series' originates.

When the post-season championship series was started, the MLB didnt exist as we know it today (with American League and National League). The AL and NL were completely seperate entities and the series was basically an exposition series.

I would like to point out that this article is no longer accurate when it describes where teams are. There are no longer two Canadian teams as the Montreal Expos recently relocated to Washington DC to become known as the 'Nationals'.

Regarding explaining the rules, i did find an entry (http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/A565779) explaining the rules of the game. I've been a life-long fan of the game and while I can follow the description, I dont think it would be simple for someone not familair with the game to follow.

If you can find nine Englishmen who can play baseball, we would love to let you try to qualify for the World Series.