World Series ballparks, by the numbers

As we all eagerly await tomorrow’s World Series opener from Minute Maid Park, we’ve compiled some numbers on the ballparks hosting the most–and fewest–World Series games since the initial event in 1903.

That initial World’s Series between the Boston Americans (now the Red Sox) and the Pittsburgh Pirates was played at two long-gone ballparks, Boston’s Huntington Avenue Grounds and Pittsburgh’s Exposition Park III. Technically, Exposition Park was located in Allegheny City, adjacent to Pittsburgh and later annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907, though the first two versions were just a few blocks from the present-day PNC Park. The Pirates played there until 1909, when owner Barney Dreyfuss opened Forbes Field. Huntington Avenue Grounds would last through the 1911 season until Fenway Park opened in 1912.

Including that auspicious nine-game World’s Series–won by Boston five games to three–58 ballparks have hosted the most World Series games. Some, such as Philadelphia’s Columbia Park and Atlanta’s Turner Field, only hosted a few games, while others had multiple teams playing with home-field advantage during the World Series. Ebbets Field hosted both New York Giants and New York Yankees home games, Fenway Park and Braves Field hosted both Boston Red Sox and Boston Braves home games, Milwaukee County Stadium hosted both Braves and Brewers home games, and the Cardinals and Browns both called Sportsman’s Park home during the 1944 World Series. In this regard, the most notable occurrence of a ballpark hosting an entire Series came in COVID-impacted 2020, when Globe Life Field hosted all six games, with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays each hosting three home games.

Here is a list of the ballpark hosting the most World Series game, listed first by ballpark and then by home team. Some teams, such as the New York Yankees, show up multiple times on this list, reflecting the team’s World Series appearances in four different ballparks: the Polo Grounds and the three iterations of Yankee Stadium. That Yankee Stadium I hosted the most World Series games certainly isn’t a surprise when you trace the Yankees’ records over the years; the surprising thing is that the number could have been much larger. At their peak the Yankees had a history of pure dominance, and several World Series ended up in four-game Yankees sweeps.

Ballpark names listed here refer to usage during the World Series. Hence the use of Edison International Field of Anaheim to refer to the former Anaheim Stadium and the future Angel Stadium: this was the official name during the Angels’ only World Series appearance in 2002.

Here are the ballparks never hosting a World Series game: American Family Field, Great American Ball Park, loanDepot Park, Oriole Park, Petco Park, PNC Park, T-Mobile Park, Target Field and Truist Park. You can cross Truist Park off the list this week.

We’ll have plenty more World Series ballpark trivia during the course of the week.

Photo of 1912 World Series game at Polo Grounds courtesy Library of Congress.