How baseball has changed since 1908

Each of the final three franchises still alive this postseason has waited a long time to bring home another championship. But while their World Series trophy collections have remained stagnant, the game itself has changed considerably.

Long ago October triumphs tie the Cubs to 1908, the Indians to 1948 and the Dodgers to 1988. And those years, so conveniently spaced out, provide useful checkpoints to trace the ever-shifting environment of Major League Baseball.

• World Series Game 1: Tuesday 7:30 p.m. ET air time/8 p.m. game time on FOX

Over the past 108 years, MLB has expanded from 16 to 30 teams, moved westward from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, integrated and grown more international, broken into four and then six divisions, pushed the regular-season schedule to 162 games, adopted the designated hitter and video reviews, altered the postseason system and much more.

All the while, the product on the field has been transformed. Here is a look at some of the ways in which today’s game looks far different from when the Cubs, Indians and Dodgers each won their most recent championship.

Game Date Time (air time/game time) Matchup TV Gm 1 Oct. 25 7:30 p.m./8 p.m. LAD/CHC @ CLE FOX Gm 2 Oct. 26 7:30 p.m./8 p.m. LAD/CHC @ CLE FOX Gm 3 Oct. 28 7:30 p.m./8 p.m. CLE @ LAD/CHC FOX Gm 4 Oct. 29 7:30 p.m./8 p.m. CLE @ LAD/CHC FOX *Gm 5 Oct. 30 8 p.m. CLE @ LAD/CHC FOX *Gm 6 Nov. 1 7:30 p.m./8 p.m. LAD/CHC @ CLE FOX *Gm 7 Nov. 2 7:30 p.m./8 p.m. LAD/CHC @ CLE FOX * If necessary | All times listed ET • World Series coverageShop for postseason gear: Indians

Home runs The last Cubs team to go all the way did so firmly in the middle of the Deadball Era, when the spitball was legal, much to the chagrin of hitters. The league as a whole batted .239/.297/.305 in 1908, producing an OPS a bit below the career mark of Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard (.613).

Offense has increased dramatically since then, but by far the biggest difference is the prevalence of the home run. In 2016, there were fewer singles hit per team game (5.7) than in …

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