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The World Series happens every year in the fall and baseball fans revel in the ultimate test of two of Major League Baseball's best teams. The National League champion faces the American League champion in a best-of-seven series to take home the coveted golden plated trophy.
The New York Yankees and some of their World Series trophies.Wikimedia Commons
If you have friends who love baseball or your kids play baseball, hosting a World Series watch party is a perfect way to have a fun gathering on a weeknight or weekend with some of your friends and neighbors.
Food
Traditional ballpark food is essential for bringing a baseball theme into your house for the World Series. Ideas for relevant foods include hot dogs, peanuts, and Cracker Jack popcorn. Many of these foods you would buy at the store of course. Preparation of the dishes is also fairly simple.
Hot dogs you can grill outside if it's warm enough. If not, prepare them by boiling them in a huge pot of water on your stove until they are thick and juicy. Peanuts are usually served in the shell whether salted or unsalted. Heat up peanuts by preheating your oven to 350 degrees and then placing peanuts in a layer or two in a shallow baking pan. Stir them occasionally to ensure both sides are done and roast the peanuts for 25 to 30 minutes. Salt is optional.
If you have chips to serve in a huge serving bowl you can place the bowl in a baseball glove that has been stretched out. One easy way to do this is to buy an old glove and remove the stitching that holds the fingers of the glove together to make it more pliable. You can then easily place a bowl inside the glove and it will be stable enough to keep the bowl upright.
Drinks
Beer is traditional ballpark food for adults and is usually served in plastic cups. If you want to go all-out you can have a keg in the kitchen or on the porch and serve beer to your adult guests in clear plastic cups just as they do in ballparks.
For children you will have to try a different approach. They can drink soda, of course. You can also have a dugout feel for the kids by having a large cooler full of Gatorade or other sports drink you can serve directly from the jug. Buying some powdered version of the drink and then mixing it in your house is the most convenient way to serve it in a large cooler form.
Decorations
Decor for your World Series party can mimic ballparks during playoff time. Traditional decorations in stadiums include red, white, and blue banners draped over the railings of the stadium. You can do this by hanging wide ribbons on your stairwell, on the backs of chairs, and across your mantel and entertainment center.
Many party stores have pennant-style decorations you can hang across doorways. A pennant is a triangular flag that can have many colors on it. Finding a baseball-themed pennant shouldn't be a problem.
Games
There are many games you can play both indoors and out, especially for children. Outdoors you can have target practice where kids can throw a real baseball towards a target such as a tire or large can. Giving small prizes for all of the throwers is a good idea.
You can do the same thing indoors with soft plushy baseballs and a smaller target since your indoor throwing range will have a shorter length. For smaller kids you can shorten the throwing distance even further.
Adults love trivia. Having a trivia contest about all things baseball, especially relevant to the World Series or the two teams playing, can liven up those watching the game. Get a good prize such as an autographed baseball for the one who answers the most correct questions. Searching the Internet for all kinds of trivia on the two competing teams or the World Series in general should be fairly straightforward as long as your source is legitimate such as the Major League Baseball website or The Baseball Reference.
Baseball-reference.com provided information for this article.
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