According to Google Maps, the Philadelphia Phillies will have traveled 108 miles to play the New York Yankees as play opens up this week for the 2009 World Series. Traveling by car, the drive from Citizen’s Bank Park to Yankees Stadium takes 1 hour and 45 minutes, a stone’s throw away considering these are professional baseball teams.

One question that comes to mind however, is whether the home team in this championship series will benefit from home field advantage given the proximity of their respective ballparks and fan base. In the real estate business, being local is usually considered a competitive advantage. But what happens when your competitors are local as well?

It turns out that professional baseball has quite a colorful history, and there have been instances of greater closeness in the World Series. Baseball purists will happily tell you that 16 World Series featured competing teams from the same city. Of these, 15 were played entirely on the same field!

Here is a brief rundown (pun intended):

1906 World Series in Chicago, IL
Chicago is the only other city besides New York and St. Louis to host an entire World Series. In 1906, the Chicago White Sox defeated the Chicago Cubs in six games.

1944 World Series in St. Louis, MS
Held at a time when many teams lost their best players to wartime duties, the 1944 World Series featured the St. Louis Cardinals and the St. Louis Browns (now the Baltimore Orioles). The Cardinals won in six games, with this series holding the distinction of all games being played on one field.

Subway Series in New York, NY
Fourteen World Series have been played solely within New York. Dubbed the “Subway Series,” the first 13 series featured matchups between the New York Yankees and either the New York Giants or the Brooklyn Dodgers before the latter two moved to California. In 2000, the 14th “Subway Series” featured the Yankees and the New York Mets. Interestingly, no subway was ever needed to travel between the teams as they all shared the same stadium.

Statistics Supporting Home Field Advantage
1. Game 7 has been won by the home team since 1982.
2. No team has won the World Series after losing the first two games on the road since the 1981 Dodgers.

Check out this video for more World Series fun:

Click here to view the embedded video.