Take a look at the MLB standings this morning and you’ll see that a pair of California teams have the best records in the American and National leagues. The San Francisco Giants have the majors best record while the Oakland A’s top the American League.

It got me thinking about two teams from the same state that faced off against each other in the World Series. The last such series was in 2002 when the Giants and Anaheim Angles played seven games with the Angles winning the Fall Classic that year. Teams from the same state facing each other has happened 21 times in World Series history. The first time was in 1906 when the two teams from Illinois, the Cubs and White Sox squared off; the White Sox won the series in six games.

There have been nine different in-state rivalries that have met in the World Series:

Illinois
Chicago Cubs vs. Chicago White Sox (1906)

New York
New York Giants vs. New York Yankees (1921, 1922, 1923, 1936, 1937, 1951)
New York Yankees vs. Brooklyn Dodgers (1941, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956)
New York Yankees vs. New York Mets (2000)

California
Oakland A’s vs. Los Angles Dodgers (1974, 1988)
Oakland A’s vs. San Francisco Giants (1989)
Anaheim Angels vs. San Francisco Giants (2002)

Missouri
St. Louis Cardinals vs. St. Louis Browns (1944)
Kansas City Royals vs. St. Louis Cardinals (1985)

Note: Of these 21 in-state World Series, the American League team has won the title 16 times.

Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp