World Series Trophy: History, Weight & More

When either the Los Angeles Dodgers or New York Yankees win the 2024 World Series, they will be awarded the Commissioner’s Trophy, MLB’s iconic reward for earning a championship. What follows is a look at the history of the trophy, how it got its name and much more.

The Commissioner’s Trophy is awarded to the winner of the World Series annually. Unlike the Stanley Cup, a new trophy is created each year. Originally, it was always presented in the winner’s locker room, but since 1997 the trophy presentation has happened on the field, whether the home team wins or not.

The trophy in its current form was first handed out in 1967, when the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Boston Red Sox in seven games. The trophy did not receive its name until 1985, so the Kansas City Royals were the first team to receive the award when it was named the Commissioner’s Trophy.

The current Commissioner’s Trophy was designed by Tiffany & Co. and released in 2000. It has a diameter of 11 inches, is 24 inches tall, is made of sterling silver and weighs 30 pounds. It features 30 gold-plated flags representing each MLB team.

The original 1967 design was modeled after Wrigley Field and featured 20 gold-plated flags representing the 20 MLB teams at the time.

The Commissioner’s Trophy has been awarded each year since 1967, except for 1994 when a players’ strike led to the World Series being cancelled. In that time, one team stands above the rest in terms of the number of times winning the trophy.

The Yankees have won it seven times, in 1977, ’78, ’96, ’98, ’99, 2000 and ’09. The Boston Red Sox, Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals have all won it four times. After that, the Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants have taken home three.

The Dodgers will look to make it four this year.

Back in 2020, current MLB commissioner Rob Manfred was asked why he didn’t strip the Houston Astros of the 2017 Commissioner’s Trophy after their sign-stealing scandal. He replied saying, “The idea of an asterisk or asking for a piece of metal back seems like a futile act.”

Calling the trophy all baseball players strive to win “a piece of metal” did not sit well when the general public and Manfred was forced to apologize.