The 1994 World Series was the scheduled championship series of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

's (MLB) 1994 season. It was canceled due to a strike by the MLB Players Association. The cancelation marked the second time a World Series was not played in a given season and the first since

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library syst ...

Canceled playoffs

This was to have been the first year of an expanded eight-team playoff system, with the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league b ...

(AL) and

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

(NL) realigning into three divisions each (East, Central, and West) at the start of the 1994 season, and the addition of a wild card spot in each league. The NL champion was then supposed to be assigned

home-field advantage In team sports, the term home advantage – also called home ground, home field, home-field advantage, home court, home-court advantage, defender's advantage or home-ice advantage – describes the benefit that the home team is said to g ...

in 1994 World Series, based on an annual rotation dating back to the mid-1930s in which the World Series opened in the NL city in even-numbered years and opened in the AL city in odd-numbered years. With the postseason canceled, the new playoff system did not go into effect until the 1995 postseason, and the annual World Series rotation was then reversed so that home-field advantage for the 1995 World Series was assigned to the NL champion.

Atlanta Braves' run of division titles

At the time that the strike began, the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in ...

had a six game lead in the

NL East The National League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. Along with the American League Central it is one of two divisions to have every member win at least one World Series title. The division was created when the National Leag ...

over the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in ...

, while the Braves had a 2 game lead over the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after s ...

for the

NL wild card The wild card was established for Major League Baseball's playoffs in with the intention of helping the best teams that did not win their division to still have a chance to win the World Series. The restructuring of both the American League an ...

. As there were no division champions in 1994, the Braves are officially credited with winning 14 consecutive division titles from 1991 to 2005, winning the

NL West The National League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was formed for the 1969 season when the National League expanded to 12 teams by adding the San Diego Padres and the Montreal Expos. For purpose of keeping a re ...

in the final three years of the two–division system and then winning 11 consecutive NL East titles from 1995 to 2005.

Individual awards

Although the season ended abruptly, individual awards were still given, with Frank Thomas and Jeff Bagwell as league MVPs;

David Cone David Brian Cone (born January 2, 1963) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher, and current color commentator for the New York Yankees on the YES Network and WPIX as well as for ESPN on Sunday Night Baseball.Greg Maddux Gregory Alan Maddux (born April 14, 1966) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for four teams. Maddux is best known for his accomplishments while playing for the Atlanta Braves ...

as league

Cy Young Award The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL). The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Ha ...

winners; and

Bob Hamelin Robert James Hamelin (; born November 29, 1967) is a former first baseman and designated hitter in Major League Baseball. From 1993 through 1998, Hamelin played for the Kansas City Royals (1993–96), Detroit Tigers (1997) and Milwaukee Brewers (1 ...

and Raúl Mondesí as league Rookie of the Year winners, each in the American League and National League, respectively. The

Baseball Writers' Association of America The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) is a professional association for journalists writing about Major League Baseball for daily newspapers, magazines and qualifying websites. The organization was founded in 1908, and is known ...

named managers of the year, which went to

Buck Showalter William Nathaniel "Buck" Showalter III (born May 23, 1956) is an American professional baseball manager for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). Previously, he served as manager of the New York Yankees (1992–1995), Arizona Diam ...

of the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

and

Felipe Alou Felipe Rojas Alou (born May 12, 1935) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder, first baseman, and manager. He managed the Montreal Expos (1992–2001) and the San Francisco Giants (2003–2006). The first Dominican to play regularly in th ...

of the

, whose teams had the best record in each league when the season ended. Alou was additionally selected as manager of the year by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...

, with Showalter finishing second. As

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or d ...

managers are, by tradition, the managers of the previous year's league champions, Alou and Showalter were given the honor of managing in the 1995 All-Star Game.

Television coverage

1994 was the first season that national telecasts were produced by '' The Baseball Network'', a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

between MLB, ABC, and

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

. Under the original arrangement, ABC would have broadcast the World Series in even-numbered years (included 1994) and NBC would have televised the series in odd-numbered years. Because this 1994 series was cancelled, ABC and NBC shared broadcast rights to the 1995 World Series, after which the joint venture was ended.

Canceled playoffs

Atlanta Braves' run of division titles

Individual awards

Television coverage

See also

References

Further reading