Play Ball 打棒球
“世界大赛”（或者称为“总冠军赛”）是北美洲职业棒球大联盟从1903年就开始在美国棒球联盟的冠军队和美国国家联盟的冠军队，每年举行的竞标赛。在1969年之前，各个联盟中战绩最好的球队就自动晋级参加世界大赛；然而现在各个联盟有自己的冠军赛，所以就以冠军赛来决定哪一个队能够晋级到世界大赛。(ALCS - 美国联盟冠军赛；NLCS - 国家联盟冠军赛)就如2015年，就是第111届总冠军赛，美国联盟曾赢过六十三次总冠军，而国家联盟得到过四十七次总冠军。世界大赛是七战四胜制，而获胜的队将得到世界大赛的奖杯。因为世界大赛是在十月份进行的，也就是在北美的秋季进行，因此有人称它为“秋季经典赛”。
在2014年的世界大赛中，旧金山的巨人队以四比三的战绩击败堪萨斯的皇家队而赢得了冠军。在美国联盟里，纽约的洋基队曾经一共进入世界大赛四十次，其中二十七次赢得冠军；那些转载费城、堪萨斯、和奥克兰的球员们参加了是四川世界大赛，赢了九次冠军；波士顿的红袜子队也参加过十二次世界大赛，而且也赢得八次冠军，而且首次世界大赛的冠军就是他们。在国家联盟里，圣路易红雀对在世界大赛中出现了十九次，而且赢了十一次；从纽约搬到旧金山的巨人队参加了二十次世界大赛，赢了八次；从布鲁克林搬到洛杉矶的道奇对参加了十八次世界大赛，赢了六次；辛辛那提红人队参加啦九次世界大赛，赢了五次。
自从2000年以来，已经有十五年没有一个球队连续两次赢得世界大赛的冠军，这是在美国职业棒球大联盟的历史里从未出现过的事情
二零一五年的世界大赛
今年的世界大赛是美国职业棒球大联盟的第111次比赛，冠军将在国家联盟的冠军纽约大都会队与美国联盟冠军堪萨斯皇家队进行七战四胜的队获得。比赛从十月二十七日开始，如果赛满七场的话，就要在十一月四日赛最后一场。如果要赛五场的话，那就会在十一月一日进行，这将是字2010年以来，在十一月进行的世界大赛。这两个队也是世界大赛从来没有过的都是新秀来参加这样大的比赛，这两个队都是在1960年赛季以后成立的队。纽约大都会队是在1962年才上场的，而堪萨斯皇家对甚至晚了七年以后才成立的。大都会队在1969年就进入世界大赛、皇家队在1980年也进入世界大赛，他们不仅是各自联盟首先进入世界大赛新秀，而且大都会队在1969年就夺了大赛的冠军，皇家队也在1985年夺冠。皇家队的最近一次夺冠是在1985，而大都会队最近的一次夺冠就在皇家队夺冠的第二年1986.
这次世界大赛皇家队将有主场的优势，因为在今年七月十四日，美国职业大联盟全明星赛在俄亥俄州辛辛那提市的美国大棒球场比赛时，美国联盟队以6：3战胜了国家联盟队的一个因素就是赛场是在美国联盟的地域。而这次世界大赛的赛场是采用2-3-2的方式：在皇家队的赛场将举行第一和第二场比赛，然后转到大都会队的赛场进行第三、四、五场比赛，而最后的第六和第七场比赛又回到皇家队的赛场进行。
在美国，这次的世界大赛将有福斯广播公司电视直播和ESPN无线电台广播。
纽约大都会队
这是大都会队第五次参加世界大赛，但这是他们在2000年后的第一次参赛。在他们的前四次比赛中胜负均等：在1969年战胜了巴尔的摩的摩金莺队，也在1986年战胜波士顿的红袜子队，但是 在1973年没有战胜奥克兰的运动家队，在2000年也没能战胜纽约的洋基队。
在赢得了国家联盟的冠军，大都会队确保了他们作为新秀参加世界大赛次数最高的地位，第五次参赛，虽然这次的世界大赛是在两个新秀中进行。另外，在大都会队的六十年生涯中，除了上个世纪的九十年代，每十年都进入世界大赛的比赛。
堪萨斯市的皇家队
今年是皇家队连续两年参加世界大赛，也是他们第四次参赛。他们在1985年战胜了圣路易红雀队获得冠军，但是在另两次中，在1980年他们未能战胜费城的费城人队，在2014年也没能够战胜旧金山的巨人队。当他们获得美国联盟冠军以后，他们就有资格参加赛季后的比赛。他们曾七次获得联盟内的冠军称号，一次美国联盟西区外的冠军。今年，在他们赢得美国联盟赛冠军之后，他们成为继德克萨斯游骑兵棒球队之后的第一个连续两次参加世界大赛的球队。德克萨斯游骑兵棒球队在2010年和2011年连续参加了世界大赛。
讨论问题：
在这一篇有关世界大赛的文章里，你觉得有哪些新鲜和有趣的东西？
你对哪一些运动项目感兴趣以至于不断地关心？为什么？
你觉得为什么人们会对职业运动感兴趣？
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in North America, contested since 1903 between the American League (AL) champion team and the National League (NL) champion. Prior to 1969, the team with the best win-loss record in each league automatically advanced to the World Series; since then each league has conducted a championship series (ALCS and NLCS) preceding the World Series to determine which teams will advance. As of 2015, the World Series has been contested 111 times, with the AL winning 63 and the NL winning 47. 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, during the autumn season in North America, it is often referred to as the Fall Classic.
The 2014 World Series was won by the San Francisco Giants, who defeated the Kansas City Royals four games to three. In the American League, the New York Yankees have played in 40 World Series and won 27, the Philadelphia/Kansas City/Oakland Athletics have played in 14 and won 9, and the Boston Red Sox have played in 12 and won 8, including the first World Series. In the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals have appeared in 19 and won 11, the New York/San Francisco Giants have played in 20 and won 8, the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers have appeared in 18 and won 6, and the Cincinnati Reds have appeared in 9 and won 5.
No team has won consecutive World Series titles since the 2000 New York Yankees, a duration of 15 years and the longest such occurrence in Major League Baseball history.
World Series 2015
The 2015 World Series will be the 111th edition of Major League Baseball's championship series, a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champions New York Mets and the American League (AL) champions Kansas City Royals. The start date is October 27, with Game 7 (if necessary) scheduled for November 4. If Game 5 is necessary, since it is played on November 1, it will be the first time since 2010 that a game of the World Series is played in November. This will be the first ever World Series in which both teams will be expansion teams, which are teams that were formed after the 1960 season. The New York Mets began play in 1962, while the Kansas City Royals did in 1969 (seven years later). The Mets and the Royals were the first expansion teams in each of their respective leagues to not only reach the World Series (1969 for the Mets and 1980 for the Royals) but win it as well (the Mets won in 1969 and the Royals did in 1985). The Royals' last championship was in 1985, and the Mets' last one was in 1986, one year later.
The Royals will have home field advantage for the series because of the AL's 6–3 victory in the All-Star Game at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio, on July 14. This is the 14th World Series in which home field advantage was awarded to the league that won the All-Star Game. The series will be played in a 2-3-2 format: the Royals will host games 1, 2, 6, and 7 while the Mets will host games 3, 4, and 5.
In the United States, the series will be televised on Fox and broadcast by ESPN Radio.
New York Mets
The Mets will be making their fifth appearance in the World Series, and their first since 2000. They have split their four previous appearances, winning in 1969 (against the Baltimore Orioles) and 1986 (against the Boston Red Sox) while losing in 1973 (against the Oakland Athletics) and 2000 (against the New York Yankees, their cross-town rivals).
By winning the NLCS, the Mets ensured that they have the most World Series appearances by an expansion franchise with five, and that this Series would be the first between two expansion franchises. In addition, the Mets have made World Series appearances in all but one of their six decades of existence (winning in 1969 and 1986, losing in 1973 and 2000, and not appearing in any that were played during the 1990s).
Kansas City Royals
The Royals will be making their second consecutive appearance in the World Series, and fourth overall. They won the World Series in 1985 (against the St. Louis Cardinals), and lost two other appearances in 1980 (against the Philadelphia Phillies) and 2014 (against the San Francisco Giants). The Royals qualified for the postseason by winning the American League Central, their seventh division title and their first outside of the American League West. By winning the ALCS, the Royals became the first team since the Texas Rangers in 2010 and 2011 to play in consecutive World Series.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_World_Series
Discussion Questions
What is something new or interesting that you learned from this article about the World Series?
What type of sports are you interested in following? Why?
What makes people have such great interest in professional sports?
