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Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in American professional baseball. Specifically, Major League Baseball refers to the organization that operates the National League and the American League, by means of a joint organizational structure that has developed gradually between them since 1903 (the National League having been in existence since 1876). In 2000, the two leagues were officially disbanded as separate legal entities with all rights and functions consolidated in the commissioner's office.
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Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in American professional baseball. Specifically, Major League Baseball refers to the organization that operates the National League and the American League, by means of a joint organizational structure that has developed gradually between them since 1903 (the National League having been in existence since 1876). In 2000, the two leagues were officially disbanded as separate legal entities with all rights and functions consolidated in the commissioner's office. MLB effectively operates as a single league and as such it constitutes one of the major professional sports leagues of North America. It is currently composed of 30 teams—29 in the United States and one in Canada.
Each season consists of 162 games (or 163 in the event of a tie breaker) which generally begins on the first Sunday in April and ends on the first Sunday in October, with the playoffs played in October and sometimes in early November. The same rules and regulations are played between the two leagues with one exception: the American League operates under the Designated Hitter Rule, while the National League does not. Utilization of the DH Rule in interleague play, the All-Star and World Series games is determined by the home team's league rules.
MLB is controlled by the Major League Baseball Constitution that has undergone several incarnations since 1876 with the most recent revisions being made in 2005. Under the direction of Commissioner of Baseball (currently Bud Selig), Major League Baseball hires and maintains the sport's umpiring crews, and negotiates marketing, labor, and television contracts. As is the case for most of the sports leagues in the United States and Canada, the "closed shop" aspect of MLB effectively prevents the yearly promotion and relegation of teams into and out of the Major League by virtue of their performance. Major League Baseball maintains a unique, controlling relationship over the sport, including most aspects of minor league baseball. This is due in large part to a 1922 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Federal Baseball Club v. National League, which held that baseball is not interstate commerce and therefore not subject to federal antitrust law. This ruling has been weakened only slightly in subsequent years.
The production/multimedia wing of MLB is New York-based MLB Advanced Media, which oversees MLB.com and all 30 of the individual teams' websites. Its charter states that MLB Advanced Media holds editorial independence from the League itself, but it is indeed under the same ownership group and revenue-sharing plan. MLB Productions is a similarly-structured wing of the league, focusing on video and traditional broadcast media.
League organization
Major League Baseball is divided into two leagues, the American League, with fourteen teams, and the National League, with sixteen teams. Each league is further subdivided into three divisions, labeled East, Central, and West. The unequal balance of teams, into even-sized leagues, prevents the need for interleague games (which two odd-sized fifteen-team leagues would have) to fill schedules.
Though historically separate leagues, distinction has all but disappeared over time. In 1903, the two leagues began to meet in an end-of-year championship series called the World Series. In 1920, the formerly weak National Commission, which was created to manage relationships between the two leagues, was replaced with an all powerful Commissioner of Baseball, who had the power to make decisions for all professional baseball unilaterally. The two leagues remained distinct, in as far as playing schedule, except for the annual All-Star Game and the World Series, until 1997 when regular season Interleague play began. In 2000, the American and National Leagues were dissolved as legal entities, and Major League Baseball became a singular league de jure, though it had operated as a de facto single entity for many years.
History of Major League Baseball
Differing definitions of MLB's founding year
Major League Baseball (the current official organization) has used 1869, the date of the first professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, and has had official celebrations for its 100th anniversary in 1969 and 125th anniversary in 1994, which were both commemorated with league-wide shoulder patches. The present-day Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves franchises can both trace their histories back to the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players in the early 1870s. Many believe that the formation of the National League in 1876 is the beginning of Major League Baseball. Some also believe the signing of the National Agreement in 1903 (two seasons after the American League's break in 1901) is the true beginning of Major League Baseball.
Rise of Major League Baseball
In 1870, a schism developed between professional and amateur ballplayers following the 1869 founding of the first professional baseball team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings. The NABBP split into two groups. The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players was formed in 1871. It is considered by some to have been the first major league. Its amateur counterpart disappeared after only a few years.
The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, which still exists, was established in 1876 after the National Association proved ineffective. The emphasis was now on "clubs" rather than "players". Clubs now had the ability to enforce player contracts, preventing players from jumping to higher-paying clubs. Clubs in turn were required to play their full schedule of games, rather than forfeiting scheduled games once out of the running for the league championship, as happened frequently under the National Association. A concerted effort was made to reduce the amount of gambling on games which was leaving the validity of results in doubt.
The early years of the National League were tumultuous, with threats from rival leagues and a rebellion by players against the hated "reserve clause", which restricted the free movement of players between clubs. Competitive leagues formed regularly, and also disbanded regularly. The most successful was the American Association (1881–1891), sometimes called the "beer and whiskey league" for its tolerance of the sale of alcoholic beverages to spectators. For several years, the National League and American Association champions met in a postseason championship series—the first attempt at a World Series.
The Union Association survived for only one season (1884), as did the Players League (1890). Both leagues are considered major leagues by many baseball researchers because of the perceived high caliber of play (for a brief time anyway) and the number of star players featured. However, some researchers have disputed the major league status of the Union Association, pointing out that franchises came and went and contending that the St. Louis club, which was deliberately "stacked" by the league's president (who owned that club), was the only club that was anywhere close to major league caliber.
In fact, there were dozens of leagues, large and small, at this time. What made the National League "major" was its dominant position in the major cities, particularly New York City. The large cities offered baseball teams national media distribution systems and fan bases that could generate revenues enabling teams to hire the best players in the country.
The resulting bidding war for players led to widespread contract-breaking and legal disputes. One of the most famous involved star second baseman Napoleon Lajoie, who in 1901 went across town in Philadelphia from the National League Phillies to the American League Athletics. Barred by a court injunction from playing baseball in the state of Pennsylvania the next year, Lajoie was traded to the Cleveland team, where he played and managed for many years.
The war between the American and National caused shock waves throughout the baseball world. At a meeting at the Leland Hotel in Chicago in 1901, the other baseball leagues negotiated a plan to maintain their independence. On September 5, 1901 Patrick T. Powers, president of the Eastern League announced the formation of the second National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, the NABPL or "NA" for short.
Ban Johnson had other designs for the NA. While the NA continues to this day, he saw it as a tool to end threats from smaller rivals who might some day want to expand in other territories and threaten his league's dominance.
After 1902 both leagues and the NABPL signed a new National Agreement. The new agreement tied independent contracts to the reserve-clause national league contracts. Baseball players became a commodity. The agreement also set up an official classification system for independent minor leagues that regulated the dollar value of contracts, the forerunner of the system refined by Branch Rickey that is still used today.
It also gave the NA great power. Many independents walked away from the 1901 meeting. The deal with the NA punished those other indies who had not joined the NA and submitted to the will of the 'majors.' The NA also agreed to the deal to prevent more pilfering of players with little or no compensation for the players' development. Several leagues, seeing the writing on the wall, eventually joined the NA, which grew in size over the next several years.
Dead ball era
At this time the games tended to be low scoring, dominated by such pitchers as Walter Johnson, Cy Young, Christy Mathewson, Mordecai "Three-Finger" Brown, and Grover Cleveland Alexander to the extent that the period 1900–1919 is commonly called the "dead ball era". The term also accurately describes the condition of the baseball itself. Baseballs cost three dollars apiece, a hefty sum at the time, equaling approximately $65 inflation adjusted US dollars as of 2005; club owners were therefore reluctant to spend much money on new balls if not necessary. It was not unusual for a single baseball to last an entire game. By the end of the game, the ball would be dark with grass, mud, and tobacco juice, and it would be misshapen and lumpy from contact with the bat. Balls were only replaced if they were hit into the crowd and lost, and many clubs employed security guards expressly for the purpose of retrieving balls hit into the stands—a practice unthinkable today.
As a consequence, home runs were rare, and the "inside game" dominated—singles, bunts, stolen bases, the hit-and-run play, and other tactics dominated the strategies of the time. Hitting methods like the Baltimore Chop were put into use to increase the number of infield singles.
The foul strike rule was a major rule change that, in just a few years, sent baseball from a high-scoring game to one where scoring any runs became a struggle. Prior to this rule, foul balls were not counted as strikes: thus a batter could foul off a countless number of pitches with no strikes counted against him. This gave an enormous advantage to the batter. In 1901, the National League adopted the foul strike rule, and the American League followed suit in 1903.
Major leagues move west
Walter O'Malley is considered by baseball experts to be "perhaps the most influential owner of baseball's early expansion era." Following the 1957 Major League Baseball season, he moved the Dodgers to Los Angeles, and New York's Brooklyn Dodgers fans felt betrayed. O'Malley was also influential in getting the rival New York Giants to move west to become the San Francisco Giants. He needed another team to go with him, for had he moved out west alone, the St. Louis Cardinals— away— would have been the closest National League team. The joint move would make West Coast road trips more economical for visiting teams. O'Malley invited San Francisco Mayor George Christopher to New York to meet with Giants owner Horace Stoneham. Stoneham was considering moving the Giants to Minnesota, but he was convinced to join O'Malley on the West Coast at the end of the 1957 campaign. Since the meetings occurred during the 1957 season and against the wishes of Commissioner of Baseball Ford Frick, there was media gamesmanship. When O'Malley moved the Dodgers from Brooklyn the story transcended the world of sport and he found himself on the cover of Time. The cover art for the issue was created by sports cartoonist Willard Mullin, long noted for his caricature of the "Brooklyn Bum" that personified the team. The dual moves broke the hearts of New York's National League fans but ultimately were successful for both franchises—and for Major League Baseball as a whole. In fact, the move was an immediate success as well since the Dodgers set a major league single-game attendance record in their first home appearance with 78,672 fans. In the years following the move of the New York clubs, Major League Baseball expanded to include three other California based teams, as well as two in Texas and one each in Minnesota, Seattle, Colorado, and Arizona. In addition, the Philadelphia Athletics moved to and eventually to .
Pitching dominance and rules changes
By the late 1960s, the balance between pitching and hitting had swung in favor of the pitchers. In 1968 Carl Yastrzemski won the American League batting title with an average of just .301, the lowest in history.
That same year, Detroit Tigers pitcher Denny McLain won 30 games — making him the first pitcher to win 30 games in a season since Dizzy Dean. St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Bob Gibson achieved an equally remarkable feat by allowing an ERA of just 1.12.
Following these pitching performances, in December 1968 the rules committee voted to reduce the strike zone from knees to shoulders to top of knees to armpits and lower the pitcher's mound from 15 to 10 inches beginning in the 1969 season.
In 1973 the American League, which had been suffering from much lower attendance than the National League, made a move to increase scoring even further by initiating the designated hitter rule.
Power Age
Routinely in the late 1990s and early 2000s, baseball players reach 40 and 50 home runs in a season, a feat that was considered rare even in the 1980s.
Many modern baseball theorists believe that the need of pitchers to combat the rise in power could lead to a pitching revolution at some point in the future. New pitches, such as the infamous gyroball, could swing the balance of power back to the defensive side. However, the gyroball is still something of a phantom pitch—the only pitchers allegedly able to throw it are Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Boston Red Sox and a college pitcher named Joey Niezer including others. However, during the 2006 World Baseball Classic, Matsuzaka admitted that though he has tried to throw the gyroball, he cannot do so on a consistent basis. A pitching revolution would not be unprecedented—several pitches have changed the game of baseball in the past, including the slider in the '50s and '60s and the split-fingered fastball in the '70s to '90s. Since the 1990s, the changeup has made a resurgence, being thrown masterfully by pitchers such as Trevor Hoffman, Greg Maddux, Johan Santana, and Cole Hamels.
Major League Baseball uniforms
A baseball uniform is a type of uniform worn by baseball players, and sometimes by non-playing personnel, such as managers and coaches. It is worn to indicate the person's role in the game and, through use of logos and colors, to identify the two teams and officials.
The New York Knickerbockers were the first baseball team to use uniforms, taking the field on April 4, 1849 in pants made of blue wool, white flannel shirts and straw hats. The practice of wearing a uniform soon spread, and by 1900, all Major League teams had adopted them. By 1882, most uniforms included stockings, which covered the leg, from foot to knee and had different colors that reflected the different baseball positions. In the late 1880s, the Detroit Wolverines and Washington Nationals of the National League and the Brooklyn Bridegrooms of the American Association were the first to utilize striped uniforms.
Caps, or other types of headgear with eyeshades, have been a part of baseball uniforms from the beginning. Baseball teams often wore full-brimmed straw hats or no cap at all since there was no official rule regarding headgear. Completing the baseball uniform are cleats and stockings, both of which have also been around for a long time.
By the end of the 19th century, teams began the practice of wearing one of two different uniforms, one when they played in their own baseball stadium and a different one when they played on the road. It became common to wear white at home and one of gray, solid dark blue, or black on the road. An early examples of this is the Brooklyn Superbas, who started to use a blue pattern for their road uniforms in 1907.
Season structure
Spring training
In Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to audition for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play. Spring training has always attracted fan attention, drawing crowds who travel to the warmer climates to enjoy the weather and watch their favorite teams play, and spring training usually coincides with spring break for many college students.
Spring training typically lasts almost two months, starting in mid February and running until just before the season opening day (and often right at the end of spring training, some teams will play spring training games on the same day other teams have opening day of the season), traditionally the first week of April. Pitchers and catchers report to spring training first because pitchers benefit from a longer training period due to the exhaustive nature of the position. A week or two later, the position players arrive and team practice begins.
All-Star Game
Early July marks the midway point of the season, during which a three day break is taken when the Major League Baseball All-Star Game is staged. The All-Star game pits players from the National League (NL), headed up by the manager of the previous NL World Series team, against players from the American League (AL), similarly managed, in an exhibition game. Since 1989, the designated hitter rule is used when the game is played in an AL ballpark; formerly no designated hitters played in the All-Star game. The 2002 contest ended in an 11-inning tie because both teams were out of pitchers, a result which proved highly unpopular with the fans. As a result, for a two-year trial in 2003 and 2004, the league which won the game received the benefit of home-field advantage in the World Series (starting the first two games at one's own ballpark, and playing no more than three games out of a possible seven away). That practice has since been extended indefinitely. The practice has upset purists over the previous format of the two leagues alternating home-field advantage for the World Series (especially considering that the NL has not won since 1995, thus they have not had home-field advantage in the World Series since 2001). The Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox (both AL) took some advantage of the rule in 2004 and 2005 respectively, as each team started the Series with two home victories, giving them good momentum for a 4-game sweep (the Red Sox doing it again in 2007). However the American League's winning of home field advantage was not enough to save the New York Yankees in 2003 (when they lost to the Florida Marlins, NL, in six games), the Detroit Tigers in 2006 (when they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, NL, in five games) or the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008 (when they lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, NL, in five).
The first All-Star Game was held as part of the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago, Illinois, and was the brainchild of Arch Ward, then sports editor for The Chicago Tribune. Initially intended to be a one-time event, its great success resulted in making the game an annual one. Ward's contribution was recognized by Major League Baseball in 1962 with the creation of the "Arch Ward Trophy", given to the All-Star Game's most valuable player each year. (This eventually became the Ted Williams Award).
Since 1970, the eight position players for each team who take the field initially have been voted into the game by fans. The fan voting had been cancelled since 1957 as a result of the Cincinnati ballot-box-stuffing scandal (a local newspaper had printed pre-voted ballots for fans to send in, resulting in seven of the eight positions going to Cincinnati players). The league overruled the vote, adding St. Louis' Stan Musial and Milwaukee's Henry Aaron to the team, and fan voting was eliminated until the 1970 season. In more recent years, internet voting has been allowed.
From the first All-Star Game, players have worn their respective team uniforms rather than wearing uniforms made specifically for the game, with one exception: In the first game, the National League players wore uniforms made for the game, with the lettering "National League" across the front of the shirt.
Post-season
When the regular season ends after the first Sunday in October (or the last Sunday in September), eight teams enter the post-season playoffs. Six teams are division champions; the remaining two "wild-card" spots are filled by the team in each league that has the best record but is not a division champion (best second-place team). Three rounds of series of games are played to determine the champion:
- American League Division Series and National League Division Series, each a best-of-five game series;
- American League Championship Series and National League Championship Series, each a best-of-seven game series played between the surviving teams from the ALDS and NLDS; and
- World Series, a best-of-seven game series played between the champions of each league.
The division winners are seeded 1-3 based on record. The wild-card team is the 4 seed, regardless of its record. The matchup for the first round of the playoffs is usually 1 seed vs. 4 seed and 2 seed vs. 3 seed, unless the wild-card team is from the same division as the 1 seed, in which case the matchup is 1 seed vs. 3 seed and 2 seed vs. 4 seed, as teams from the same division cannot meet in the 1st round. In the first and second round of the playoffs, the better seeded team has home-field advantage, regardless of record.
The team belonging to the league that won the mid-season All-Star Game receives home-field advantage in the World Series.
As all playoff series are split between the two teams' home fields, "home field advantage" does not play a significant role unless the series goes to its maximum number of games, in which case the final game takes place at the field of the team holding the advantage.
MLB steroid policy
Over most of the course of Major League Baseball, steroid testing was never a major issue. However, after the BALCO steroid scandal, which involved allegations that top baseball players had used illegal performance-enhancing drugs, Major League Baseball finally decided to issue harsher penalties for steroid users. The policy, which was accepted by Major League Baseball players and owners, was issued at the start of the 2005 season and went as follows:
A first positive test resulted in a suspension of 10 games, a second positive test resulted in a suspension of 30 games, the third positive test resulted in a suspension of 60 games, the fourth positive test resulted in a suspension of one full year, and a fifth positive test resulted in a penalty at the commissioner’s discretion. Players were tested at least once per year, with the chance that several players could be tested many times per year.
A former Senate Majority Leader, federal prosecutor, and ex-chairman of The Walt Disney Company, George Mitchell was appointed by Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig on March 30, 2006 to investigate the use of performance-enhancing drugs in MLB. Mitchell was appointed during a time of controversy over the 2006 book Game of Shadows by San Francisco Chronicle investigative reporters Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada, which chronicles alleged extensive use of performance enhancers, including several different types of steroids and growth hormone by baseball superstars Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield and Jason Giambi. The appointment was made after several influential members of the U.S. Congress made negative comments about both the effectiveness and honesty of MLB's drug policies and Commissioner Selig.
According to the report, after mandatory random testing began in 2004, HGH became the substance of choice among players, as it is not detectable in tests. Also, it was noted that at least one player from each of the thirty Major League Baseball teams was involved in the alleged violations.
On December 12, 2007, the day before the report was to be released, Bud Selig said, regarding his decision to commission the report, "I haven't seen the report yet, but I'm proud I did it."
According to ESPN, some people questioned whether Mitchell being a director of the Boston Red Sox created a conflict of interest, especially because no "prime [Sox] players were in the report." Mitchell described his role with the team as that of a "consultant". Despite the lack of "prime" Boston players, the report had named several prominent Yankees who were parts of World Series clubs. This made some people feel that there was a conflict of interest on Mitchell's part, due to the fierce rivalry between the two teams. Cleveland Indians pitcher Paul Byrd, along with his teammates, felt the timing of publicizing Byrd's alleged use was suspicious, as the information was leaked prior to the deciding Game 7 of the 2007 American League Championship Series between the Indians and the Red Sox. Former U.S. prosecutor John M. Dowd also brought up allegations of Mitchell's conflict of interest. Dowd, who had defended Senator John McCain of Arizona during the Keating Five investigation in the late 1980s, cited how he took exception to Mitchell's scolding of McCain and others for having a conflict of interest with their actions in the case and how the baseball investigation would be a "burden" for him when Mitchell was named to lead it. After the investigation, Dowd later told the Baltimore Sun that he was convinced the former Senator has done a good job. The Los Angeles Times reported that Mitchell acknowledged that his "tight relationship with Major League Baseball left him open to criticism". Mitchell responded to the concerns by stating that readers who examined the report closely "will not find any evidence of bias, of special treatment of the Red Sox".
Major League Baseball in media
Blackout policy
Major League Baseball has several blackout rules.
A local broadcaster has priority to televise games of the team in their market over national broadcasters. For example, at one time TBS showed many Atlanta Braves games nationally and internationally in Canada. Fox Sports Net (FSN) also shows many games in other areas. If the Braves played a team that FSN or another local broadcaster showed, the local station will have the broadcast rights for its own local market, while TBS would have been blacked out in the same market for the duration of the game. A market that has a local team playing in a weekday ESPN or ESPN2 game and is shown on a local station will see ESPNEWS, or, in the past, another game scheduled on ESPN or ESPN2 at the same time (if ESPN or ESPN2 operates a regional coverage broadcasting and operates a game choice), or will be subject to an alternative programming feed. MLB's streaming Internet video service is also subject to the same blackout rules.
Major League Baseball on television
Major League Baseball is in the transition to a new set of television contracts. The league has three current broadcast partners: FOX, ESPN and TBS.
It was announced on July 11, 2006 that FOX Sports will remain with MLB through 2013 and broadcast FOX Saturday Baseball throughout the entire season, rather than the previous May to September format. FOX will also hold rights to the All-Star Game each season. FOX will also alternate League Championship Series broadcasts, broadcasting the American League Championship Series in odd-numbered years and the National League Championship Series in even-numbered years as part of the new contract. FOX will continue to broadcast all games of the World Series, which will begin on a Wednesday evening rather than the current Saturday evening format.
ESPN will continue to broadcast Major League Baseball through 2013 as well, beginning with national Opening Day coverage. ESPN will continue to broadcast Sunday Night Baseball, Monday Night Baseball, Wednesday Night Baseball, and Baseball Tonight. ESPN also has rights to the Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game each July.
TBS will air Sunday afternoon regular season games (non-exclusive) nationally from 2008 to 2013. In 2007, TBS began its exclusive rights to any tiebreaker games that determine division or wild card champions at the end of each regular season in the event of a tie with one playoff spot remaining, as well as exclusive coverage of the Division Series round of the playoffs. TBS carries the League Championship Series that are not included under FOX's television agreement; TBS shows the National League Championship Series in odd-numbered years and the American League Championship Series in even-numbered years as part of the new contract through 2013.
In January 2009, MLB launched MLB Network, which will air 26 live games that year.
Major League Baseball on radio
ESPN Radio holds national broadcast rights and broadcasts Sunday Night Baseball weekly throughout the season in addition to all playoff games. The rights to the World Series are exclusive to ESPN.
In addition, each team employs its own announcers, who broadcast during the regular season. Most teams operate regional networks to cover their fan base; some of these supposedly regional networks (such as the New York Yankees Radio Network) in reality have a national reach with affiliates located across the United States.
Major League Baseball has an exclusive rights deal with XM Satellite Radio, which includes the channel MLB Home Plate and live play-by-play of all games.
International broadcasting
- ESPN Deportes televises a large number of Major League Baseball games in Spanish and Portuguese, which air throughout Latin America.
- Five shows MLB on Sunday and Wednesday in the United Kingdom, (including the All-Star Game and the Post Season Games, but not including Spring Training) usually starting at 1 a.m. BST. It is currently presented by Johnny Gould and Josh Chetwynd as "MLB on Five".
- NASN show live and recorded games several times a week—it is available with the Setanta sports package in the UK.
- CBC, Rogers Sportsnet, and TSN televise Toronto Blue Jays games in Canada.
- Rogers Sportsnet also carries ESPN Sunday Night Baseball, FOX Saturday games, the All-Star Game, most playoff games, and the World Series.
- MLB Network
- One HD, part of the Ten Network in Australia is set to televise five live games per week as well as prime time coverage of the World Series and playoffs
Current Major League franchises
| Division | Team | Founded | City | Stadium | Notes |
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| American League |
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| East | Baltimore Orioles 1 | 1894 | Baltimore, MD 1 | Oriole Park at Camden Yards | |
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| Boston Red Sox 2 | 1901 | Boston, MA | Fenway Park | | | New York Yankees 3 | 1901 | Bronx, NY 3 | Yankee Stadium | | | Tampa Bay Rays 4 | 1998 | St. Petersburg, FL | Tropicana Field | | | Toronto Blue Jays | 1977 | Toronto, ON | Rogers Centre | | | Central | Chicago White Sox 5 | 1894 | Chicago, IL | U.S. Cellular Field | |
|---|
| Cleveland Indians 6 | 1894 | Cleveland, OH | Progressive Field | | | Detroit Tigers | 1894 | Detroit, MI | Comerica Park | | | Kansas City Royals | 1969 | Kansas City, MO | Kauffman Stadium | | | Minnesota Twins 7 | 1894 | Minneapolis, MN 7 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 18 | | | West | Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 8 | 1961 | Anaheim, CA | Angel Stadium of Anaheim ‡ | |
|---|
| Oakland Athletics | 1901 | Oakland, CA 9 | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum | | | Seattle Mariners | 1977 | Seattle, WA | Safeco Field | | | Texas Rangers 10 | 1961 | Arlington, TX 10 | Rangers Ballpark in Arlington | | | National League |
|---|
| East | Atlanta Braves 11 | 1871 | Atlanta, GA 11 | Turner Field | |
|---|
| Florida Marlins 12 | 1993 | Miami Gardens, FL | Dolphin Stadium 19 | | | New York Mets | 1962 | Queens, NY | Citi Field | | | Philadelphia Phillies | 1883 | Philadelphia, PA | Citizens Bank Park | | | Washington Nationals 13 | 1969 | Washington, D.C. 13 | Nationals Park | | | Central | Chicago Cubs | 1870 | Chicago, IL | Wrigley Field | |
|---|
| Cincinnati Reds | 1882 | Cincinnati, OH | Great American Ball Park | | | Houston Astros 14 | 1962 | Houston, TX | Minute Maid Park | | | Milwaukee Brewers 15 | 1969 | Milwaukee, WI 15 | Miller Park | | | Pittsburgh Pirates | 1882 | Pittsburgh, PA | PNC Park | | | St. Louis Cardinals | 1882 | St. Louis, MO | Busch Stadium † | | | West | Arizona Diamondbacks | 1998 | Phoenix, AZ | Chase Field | |
|---|
| Colorado Rockies | 1993 | Denver, CO | Coors Field | | | Los Angeles Dodgers 16 | 1883 | Los Angeles, CA 16 | Dodger Stadium | | | San Diego Padres | 1969 | San Diego, CA | Petco Park | | | San Francisco Giants | 1883 | San Francisco, CA 17 | AT&T Park | |
- [Orioles] Milwaukee Brewers (Western League 1894–1899) 1900–1901; St. Louis Browns 1902–1953
- [Red Sox] Boston Americans, 1901–1907
- [Yankees] Baltimore Orioles 1901–1902; New York Highlanders 1902–1912
- [Rays] Tampa Bay Devil Rays 1998–2007
- [White Sox] Sioux City Cornhuskers (Western League) 1894; St. Paul Saints (WL) 1895–1899
- [Indians] Grand Rapids Rustlers (Western League) 1894–1899; Cleveland Blues 1900–1902; Cleveland Naps 1903–1914
- [Twins] Kansas City Blues (Western League) 1894–1900; Washington Senators 1901–1960
- [Angels] Los Angeles Angels 1961–1965; California Angels 1965–1996; Anaheim Angels 1997–2004
- [Athletics] located in Philadelphia 1901–1954, located in Kansas City 1955–1967
- [Rangers] Washington Senators 1961–1971
- [Braves] located in Milwaukee 1953–1965, located in Boston 1871–1952 (where they were called the Braves 1912–35 & 1941–52 and the Bees 1936–40; before 1912 known successively as the Red Stockings, Red Caps, Beaneaters, Doves, and Rustlers)
- [Marlins] name will change to "Miami Marlins" upon moving into their new stadium
- [Nationals] Montreal Expos 1969–2004
- [Astros] Houston Colt .45's 1962–1965
- [Brewers] Seattle Pilots (AL) 1969; played in American League until 1998
- [Dodgers] located in Brooklyn 1883–1957 (where before 1931 they were called successively the Atlantics, Grays, Bridegrooms, Grooms, Superbas, Trolley Dodgers, Dodgers, and Robins)
- [Giants] located in New York 1883–1957
- [HHH Metrodome] To be replaced in 2010 by a new stadium named "Target Field"
- [Dolphin Stadium] To be replaced in 2012 by a new stadium currently named "New Marlins Stadium"
Further reading
External links
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