Baseball leagues in the United States date back to 1876, when the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs was Founded. When the league began in the late nineteenth century it had only eight teams, those teams were; the Cincinnati Reds, Boston Red Caps, the New York Mutuals, St. Louis Brown, Louisville Grays, Hartford Dark Blues, Chicago White Stockings and the St. Louis Brown Stockings. Of all the mentioned clubs, six moved from the defunct National Association and only two baseball teams are still playing until today, the Boston Red Caps (Atlanta Braves) and the Chicago White Stockings (Chicago Cubs). The National League as it generally referred to as is the longest running league in Baseball, as it is older than the other MLB league, the American League by twenty five years. One team in the National League has been with the league since it's inception in 1876 and is regarded as the longest running sports franchise in North America, the Atlanta Braves. Several other leagues came up late in the nineteenth century and early in the twentieth. The American Association was founded in 1882 and only survived for nine years. In between those nine years, The Union Association was founded in 1884 and the Players league In 1890, both of which survived only their year of induction.
During the first year of the twentieth century, the American league was formed. The American League had the same number of teams when it started as the National League, eight. They were; Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Blues, Washington Senators, Detroit Tigers, Boston Americans, Milwaukee Brewers and the Philadelphia Athletics. Four of this teams play today in the same cities that they started with in 1901, Cleveland, Boston, Detroit and Chicago. Only two teams, Chicago Whitesox and the Detroit Tigers have kept their name through the years. The rest made changes, Boston American (Boston red Sox), Cleveland Blues ( Cleveland Indians), Baltimore Orioles (New York Yankees), Philadelphia Athletics (Oakland Athletics), Washington Senators (Minnesota Twins) and the Milwaukee Brewers were known as the Saint Louis Browns and today are the Baltimore Orioles.
During the National and American Leagues Continuous stint in Major League Baseball (MLB), one more league came up in 1914, the Federal League, it only lasted one year and is now defunct. Expansion to include more teams has occurred four time in the American league since it's inception, in 1961, 1969, 1977 and 1998. In 1902, both major league signed a new National Agreement, which in turn led to the most coveted title in Major League Baseball (MLB), the famous World Series championship title. The championship is played between both the leagues Pennant winners. The game has been an annual event since 1903, except in 1904 and 1994. One team has dominated the World Series, capturing 26 titles in 39 appearances, the New York Yankees.
Read more about the baseball teams at www.mlb.com. The latest MLB scandal is related to steriod. All baseball teams are working towards combating this scandal. Already few baseball players have been suspended this year due to steriod use. |