World Series Trophy

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The World Series Trophy is awarded each year by Major League Baseball to the team winning the World Series. Recent trophy designs consist of 30 flags representing the 30 teams in North America's two top leagues, the National League and the American League. The two participating teams in that year's World Series generally are represented by the two flags at the front of the base of the trophy.

The trophy, which is technically known as the Commissioner's Trophy, is presented to the ownership of the World Series-winning team by the commissioner.

Unlike the Stanley Cup, which is passed down, year by year, to the champions of the National Hockey League, a new World Series Trophy is created each year, much like the Vince Lombardi Trophy of the National Football League and the Larry O'Brien Trophy of the National Basketball Association.

The current trophy, which was redesigned slightly in 1999, is 24 inches tall, excluding the base, and 11 inches around. It weighs approximately 30 pounds and is made of sterling silver. The trophy features 30 gold-plated, hand-furled flags, one for each of the Major League teams, which rise above an arched silver ox baseball with latitude and longitude lines that symbolize the world. The baseball also contains 24-karat vermeil baseball stitches. The baseball itself weighs over 10 pounds. The base contains an inscription and the signature of the commissioner. It has an estimated value of $15,000 dollars. It was presented for the first time at the conclusion of the 2000 World Series, which was won by the New York Yankees.

The trophy was first awarded in 1967, when the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Boston Red Sox.

The latest trophy, in 2006, has been awarded to the St. Louis Cardinals of the National League. The front design has been changed slightly from the last modification in 1999, now having two different size bases.

It is the only "major" American sport in which the championship trophy is not named after someone (contrasting with the Stanley Cup (NHL), Vince Lombardi Trophy (NFL), and Larry O'Brien Trophy (NBA).)