Best historical rivalry

[ItsOnlyGil]

In the late 40s thru the 50s NYC teams so dominated the World Series that no one outside of New York won a WS game for 47 consecutive games.

[Paul Wendt]

baseball cities?
St Louis and Chicago
Already they were intense rival cities in the 1860s, before the dawn of baseball rivalry

ballclubs?
maybe the Cardinals and Cubs. They met in the world series 1885 and 1886. A different St Louis Brown Stockings ballclub was in business 1875-77, much the same story. Already in the winter of '75 baseball's biggest rivalry may have been Brown Stockings vs White Stockings rather than Mutuals-Atlantics or Boston Red Stockings vs everyone else. Then again it may have been West v East, only by immersion in the newspapers I could make that judgment.

Of course Dodgers-Giants may be the greatest rivalry between ballclubs per se, as opposed to fans of ballclubs, as opposed to cities. But the Dodgers-Giants ballclub rivalry "cheats" by counting Brooklyn-New York and LA-SF together. So long as Willie Mays played for the Giants, many old New York Giants were still intense Giants ballclub fans, and they hurt with the San Francisco Giants when the Dodgers won in '65 and '66. Did it continue beyond and beside that? Did Brooklyn Dodgers fans and New York Giants fans much care when Juan Marichal crowned Johnny Roseboro with a baseball bat?

[Centreville82]

I'm surprised no one mentioned the Cardinals/Mets rivalry of the 1980's.

[EdTarbusz]

Historically it's Brooklyn Dodgers/New York Giants.

[yankillaz]

Like the one Gee posted, and it is not neccesary to have won a Pennant. Has a lot to do with geographic position:

2000's: Yankees vs. Red Sox
1990's: Cardinals vs. Cubs
1980's: Yankees vs. Royals
1970's: Reds vs. Pirates
1960's: Dodgers vs. Giants
1950's: Dodgers vs. Giants
1940's: Cardinals vs. Cubs
1930's: Yankees vs. Tigers
1920's: Yankees vs. Athletics
1910's: Red Sox vs. Athletics
1900's: Giants vs. Cubs

[EdTarbusz]

1940's: Cardinals vs. Cubs
1

In the 1940s, I think Dodgers/Cardinals was a better rivalry.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Someone once told me--not joking--there was a time when he thought the "World Series" meant the time in the fall when the Dodgers played the Yankees.

Along those lines as a young boy me and my father would sit and watch the World Series every year, especially the old Dodger Yanks WS. My mother knew not a thing about baseball, only what she overheard from me and my dad, sitting there watching games,in particular the WS.

She walked through the living room one day, WS time and asked..."Did the Yankees win." I answered, no the Yankees are not plying in this WS, she was surprised. That year was 1959 when the White Sox took the AL pennent.

I guess after me and my dad watched the 1950-51-52-53-55-56-57-58 WS, her not following the game, she thought they were in the WS every year..... almost.

[Victory Faust]

Historically it's Brooklyn Dodgers/New York Giants.

Giants/Cubs was even before that, as killaz points out.

Also, in the 1970s, I remember a pretty intense Reds/Dodgers rivalry.