| 2020 World Series | ||||||||||
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| Dates | October 20–27 | |||||||||
| Venue(s) | Globe Life Field | |||||||||
| MVP | Corey Seager (Los Angeles) | |||||||||
| Umpires | Bill Miller (crew chief), Jerry Meals, Mark Carlson, Laz Díaz, Chris Guccione, Marvin Hudson, Todd Tichenor[1] | |||||||||
| Broadcast | ||||||||||
| Television | Fox (United States – English) Fox Deportes (United States – Spanish) MLB International (International) | |||||||||
| TV announcers | Joe Buck, John Smoltz, Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci (Fox) Adrian Garcia Marquez, Rolando Nichols, Edgar Gonzalez, Carlos Álvarez and Jaime Motta (Fox Deportes) Matt Vasgersian and Buck Martinez (MLB International) | |||||||||
| Radio | ESPN (United States – English) WDAE (TB – English) WGES (TB – Spanish) KLAC (LAD – English) KTNQ (LAD – Spanish) KMPC (LAD – Korean) | |||||||||
| Radio announcers | Dan Shulman, Chris Singleton, Jessica Mendoza and Buster Olney (ESPN) Andy Freed and Dave Wills (WDAE) Ricardo Taveras and Enrique Oliu (WGES) Charley Steiner and Rick Monday (KLAC) Jaime Jarrín and Jorge Jarrín (KTNQ) Richard Choi and Chong Ho Yim (KMPC) | |||||||||
| Streaming | ||||||||||
| ALCS | Tampa Bay Rays over Houston Astros (4–3) | |||||||||
| NLCS | Los Angeles Dodgers over Atlanta Braves (4–3) | |||||||||
| World Series program | ||||||||||
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The 2020 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's 2020 season. The 116th World Series was a best-of-seven-playoff between the American League (AL) champion Tampa Bay Rays and the National League (NL) champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers defeated the Rays to win the series in six games for their first championship since 1988.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire series was played at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, from October 20 to October 27 with the ballpark's seating capacity limited to 25 percent (11,500 fans). The pandemic resulted in the regular season being reduced to 60 games, and the postseason being held at neutral sites instead of at teams' home stadiums. Thus, it was the first World Series to be played at a neutral site, as well as the first since 1944 to be held at only one ballpark. Additionally, this was the first World Series since 1993 to be played entirely on artificial turf and the 5th all-artificial turf World Series. Further, it was the first ever World Series to be played entirely on second generation artificial turf. It was also the first World Series since 1984 to use the designated hitter for all games.[2][3] With 2020 being the inaugural season for Globe Life Field, it became the first ballpark to host the World Series in its first year since Yankee Stadium in 2009.
Despite not playing on their home field, the Dodgers were still designated as having home-field advantage in the series with the better regular season record. Los Angeles and Tampa Bay alternated victories during the first four games of the series before the Dodgers won both Game 5 and 6, becoming the first designated home team to win the World Series since the 2013 edition. Los Angeles shortstop Corey Seager was named the World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) after batting 8-for-20 (.400) with two home runs, five runs batted in, and an on-base percentage of .556.[4]
- ^ "World Series umpires announced". MLB.com (Press release). MLB Advanced Media. October 19, 2020. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
- ^ Feinsand, Mark (September 15, 2020). "MLB 2020 Postseason schedule announced". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
- ^ "A strange World Series begins: artificial turf, one stadium, tiny crowd". The Mercury News. Associated Press. October 20, 2020.
- ^ Justice, Richard (October 28, 2020). "World Series MVP Seager 8th in special club". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved October 28, 2020.