new angle.....

[VitaminD]

Hmm, VitD can weigh in on this, or anyone else for that matter, but as the team name is a singular entity, shouldn't it be "World Series Champion" without the s? I understand that many players make up the team and it seems to be plural but 7 games make the Stanley Cup Final and that has no s.

I'll have to think more about this one.

No, plural is correct. The title is given to a team, not an individual.

For example, which sounds more correct:

Chicago Cubs is the world series champion.

or

Chicago Cubs are the world series champions.

You rang, m'lord?

Honestly, this depends on which side of the Atlantic you're from.

In North America, teams are most commonly referred to by their nicknames, which are almost all plural nouns. By convention, teams are referred to in the plural sense - "they", "them" and so on as a reflection of "the _____s". As such, "they" are the champions of the league/world/galaxy, even though there can only be one champion in a given year. It's thought of as a team of champions, I guess.

On the other side of the Atlantic, clubs are more commonly referred to by their official name, which was most often the club's town or neighborhood. Nicknames are generally unofficial and are conferred on teams by their fans. As such, the club name is singular. However, the club is made up of individuals and so is grammatically represented in the plural, leading to the ear-jangling (singular) [plural verb] sentence, as in "United HAVE (not has) defeated Chelsea", or "Ireland WERE playing more aggressively tonight". Either way, teams are considered a collective encompassing a group of individuals.

Technically, ONE team should be referred to as the champion. However, teams are generally viewed more as the collection of individuals that make the team up; since teams are generally referred to in the plural, the convention has arisen where Team X are the champions. *shrugs*

Then again, people have taken President Harding's mistake and turned it into an acceptable word, another sign of the evolution of "normalcy" (thanks, Warren... )

[Gothamite]

Hey, Harding figured if it was good enough for Shakespeare....

You're right about British English, but in both tongues the teams are referred to as plural nouns and therefore are "Champions."

[AndrewPF]

On another note I would love to see the Japanese Champs playing the World Series Champs in a sort of Ultimate Series of sorts...might help improve the standing of Japanese baseball on an international level...

The Pacific Series

[24 Hour Charleston]

It wouldn't improve the standing of Japanese baseball, because it's not at the same level as our major leagues, and everyone knows it. It'd be like "improving the standing" of the PCL by sending the Tacoma Rainiers to get smacked around by the Red Sox.

[Gothamite]

I am forced to agree.

There is currently no other Major League in the World. That's why "World Champs" is entirely justified in this case.

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

[i see that Charlston and Gothamite have touched on the topic of this post of mine while I was editing it. But, I will post this contribution anyway.]

A couple of people have mentioned the idea of a series between the World Champs and the champions of Japan. If you mean a real series (not exhibitions), then I would not like to see this.

I am sure you all remember several years ago when the CFL agreed to play in a new game called the World Classic Bowl, which was to be an annual competitive game pitting the Grey Cup champs against the champs of NFL Europe. This game was announced as a done deal -- until the CFL backed out upon realising that playing in this game against the champions of a minor league would only devalue the major league status of their own champions. The World Classic Bowl never came off, which is a good thing, in my view.

And this is why I would not be in favour of a series between the World Series winners and the champs of Japan -- it would not be appropriate for the champs of Major League Baseball to play yet another competitive series against the champions of a minor league.

I would say that the only possible legitimate way for Japanese teams to play for the world championship would be for Major Leagues to take over the two Japanese leagues and subsume them into Major League Baseball.

[grmuckrakers]

And here's some cool World Series trophy trivia. What makes the Mets' 1969 trophy different from all the others?

It's the only one with the Seattle Pilots one one of the pennants!

[GentlemanSaw]

Does anyone know of a website that has trophies and cups of different

sports from around the world?

[mjrbaseball]

Does anyone know of a website that has trophies and cups of different

sports from around the world?

Some pictures are located here. And the Wikipedia article on "trophy" lists several, with links to articles on each one.