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106-544: The American League East is one of Major League Baseball 's six divisions. MLB consists of an East, Central, and West division for each of its two 15-team leagues, the American League (AL) and National League (NL). This division was created before the start of the 1969 season along with the American League West . Before that time, each league consisted of 10 teams without any divisions. Four of
212-667: A batter could foul off any number of pitches with no strikes counted against him; this gave an enormous advantage to the batter. After the 1919 World Series between the Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds, baseball was rocked by allegations of a game-fixing scheme known as the Black Sox Scandal . Eight players— "Shoeless" Joe Jackson , Eddie Cicotte , Claude "Lefty" Williams , George "Buck" Weaver , Arnold "Chick" Gandil , Fred McMullin , Charles "Swede" Risberg , and Oscar "Happy" Felsch —intentionally lost
318-406: A chance for recreation and for taking their minds off their work even more than before." With the approval of President Roosevelt, spring training began in 1942 with few repercussions. The war interrupted the careers of stars including Stan Musial , Bob Feller , Ted Williams , and Joe DiMaggio , but baseball clubs continued to field their teams. Branch Rickey, president and general manager of
424-492: A formal classification system for minor leagues, the forerunner of today's system that was refined by Branch Rickey . Several other early defunct baseball leagues are considered major leagues, and their statistics and records are included with those of the two modern major leagues. In 1969, the Special Baseball Records Committee of Major League Baseball officially recognized six major leagues:
530-479: A further review of the school's sports offerings in spring 2021. The most extensive rollback of plans to drop sports came at the College of William & Mary . In early September 2020, W&M announced it would drop seven sports effective in 2021–22—men's and women's gymnastics, men's and women's swimming & diving, men's indoor and outdoor track & field, and women's volleyball. The fallout from this move led
636-506: A grand jury in Pittsburgh related to cocaine trafficking. The 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike from August 12, 1994, to April 25, 1995, caused the cancellation of over 900 games and the forfeit of the entire 1994 postseason. Routinely in the late 1990s and early 2000s, baseball players hit 40 or 50 home runs in a season, a feat that was considered rare even in the 1980s. It later became apparent that at least some of this power surge
742-658: A little better in subsequent campaigns—but in their eighth season (1969) the Mets became the first of the 1960s expansion teams to play in the postseason, culminating in a World Series title over the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles. In 1966, the major leagues moved to the "Deep South" when the Braves moved to Atlanta. In 1968, the Kansas City Athletics moved west to become the Oakland Athletics . In 1969,
848-671: A man for many reasons. Color is not one of them." That year, Robinson won the inaugural Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award (separate NL and AL Rookie of the Year honors were not awarded until 1949). Less than three months later, Larry Doby became the first African-American to break the color barrier in the American League with the Cleveland Indians. The next year, a number of other black players entered
954-431: A one-armed outfielder, got the chance to advance to the major leagues. However, MLB rosters did not include any black players through the end of the war. Black players, many of whom served in the war, were still restricted to playing Negro league baseball . Wartime blackout restrictions , designed to keep outdoor lighting at low levels, caused another problem for baseball. These rules limited traveling and night games to
1060-434: A proposal to have qualification be dependent on performance in the 2021 world championships (whose top teams will automatically qualify) and a final qualification tournament, as opposed to the previous plan of having qualification determined by both the 2020 and 2021 world championships. Qualification for the women's hockey tournament was to be determined by IIHF World Rankings after the 2020 Women's World Championship . As
1166-543: A single-game MLB attendance record in their first home appearance with 78,672 fans. In 1961, the first Washington Senators franchise moved to Minneapolis–St. Paul to become the Minnesota Twins . Two new teams were added to the American League at the same time: the Los Angeles Angels (who soon moved from downtown L.A. to nearby Anaheim ) and a new Washington Senators franchise. The NL added
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#17327721898491272-540: A successful Baltimore chop, the batter hits the ball forcefully into the ground, causing it to bounce so high that the batter reaches first base before the ball can be fielded and thrown to the first baseman. The adoption of the foul strike rule—in the NL in 1901, in the AL two years later—quickly sent baseball from a high-scoring game to one where scoring runs became a struggle. Before this rule, foul balls were not counted as strikes:
1378-408: A week later. Similarly, Bowling Green State University announced that it would drop its baseball team , but also had a successful fundraising effort that led to the team being reinstated. The University of Minnesota, which had announced plans to drop four men's sports effective in 2021–22, announced that one of these sports, namely outdoor track & field, would be spared discontinuation, pending
1484-581: Is a professional baseball league and the highest level of organized baseball in the United States and Canada . One of the "Big Four" major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada , MLB comprises 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. Formed in 1876 and 1901, respectively,
1590-632: Is the toughest division in MLB; during its 50-year existence, an AL East team has gone on to play in the World Series 28 times, and 16 of those teams have been crowned World Series champions. Since the 1995 season , when the wild-card playoff berth was introduced, the AL East has produced 20 of the 32 wild-card teams for the American League, with the AL West sending seven teams, and only five coming from
1696-627: The 2020 Diamond League , scheduled to be held in Qatar in April, followed by two events in China in May, were postponed until later in the year. On 12 May, a revised schedule was issued, but no points will be awarded for the events. The 2020 Boston Marathon , originally scheduled for 20 April, was postponed until 14 September before being canceled completely on 28 May. On 28 October, organisers announced that
1802-486: The 2021 Boston Marathon would not be held on Patriots Day (19 April) as usual, to be rescheduled to sometime in the fall. Organisers cited an ongoing ban on road races in Massachusetts. The race was finally held on 11 October, another fedearal holiday, Columbus Day . The race returned to its original date in 2022. The 2020 London Marathon , scheduled to take place on 26 April, was postponed until 4 October and
1908-899: The Boston Braves became the Milwaukee Braves , the St. Louis Browns became the Baltimore Orioles , and the Philadelphia Athletics became the Kansas City Athletics . The 1958 Major League Baseball season began to turn Major League Baseball into a nationwide league. Walter O'Malley , owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers and "perhaps the most influential owner of baseball's early expansion era," moved his team to Los Angeles, marking
2014-1124: The COVID-19 pandemic , the season was shortened to 60 games. ***** In 2021 , the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees finished the season with the identical records of 92–70. However, the Red Sox won the right to host the Wild Card Game by virtue of their 10–9 regular-season record against the Yankees. Beginning in 2022, the postseason has expanded to three division leaders and three wild cards per league. * – Won division via tiebreaker ^ indicates no longer in division since 1972 † indicates no longer in division since 1994 # indicates no longer in division since 1994, and no longer part of AL since 1998 § indicates no longer in division since 1998 Major League Baseball Major League Baseball ( MLB )
2120-481: The Great Depression and World War II without any of its teams folding. Shortly after the war, Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier . Some teams moved to different cities in the 1950s and 1960s. The AL and NL added eight clubs in the 1960s: two in 1961, two in 1962, and four in 1969. Player discontent with established labor practices, especially the reserve clause, led to the organization of
2226-530: The Great Depression , baseball's popularity had begun a downward turn in the early 1930s. By 1932, only two MLB teams turned a profit. Attendance had fallen, due at least in part to a 10% federal amusement tax added to baseball ticket prices. Baseball owners cut their rosters from 25 men to 23, and even the best players took pay cuts. Team executives were innovative in their attempts to survive, creating night games, broadcasting games live by radio, and rolling out promotions such as free admission for women. Throughout
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#17327721898492332-682: The Houston Astros and the New York Mets in 1962. The Astros (known as the "Colt .45s" during their first three seasons) became the first southern major league franchise since the Louisville Colonels folded in 1899 and the first franchise to be located along the Gulf Coast . The Mets established a reputation for futility by going 40–120 during their first season of play in the nation's media capital—and by playing only
2438-528: The Major League Baseball Players Association to collectively bargain with the owners, which in turn led to the introduction of free agency in baseball. Modern stadiums with artificial turf surfaces began to change the game in the 1970s and 1980s. Home runs dominated the game during the 1990s. In the mid-2000s, media reports disclosed the use of anabolic steroids among MLB players; a 2006–07 investigation produced
2544-563: The Mitchell Report , which found that many players had used steroids and other performance-enhancing substances , including at least one player from each team. Each team plays 162 games per season, with Opening Day traditionally held during the first week of April. Six teams in each league then advance to a four-round postseason tournament in October, culminating in the World Series , a best-of-seven championship series between
2650-701: The Pac-12 Conference doing the same the next day. Both conferences later chose to hold abbreviated conference-only football seasons, with the Big Ten starting play on the weekend of 24 October and the Pac-12 on the weekend of 7 November. In August, the NCAA announced that the Division II and Division III Presidents Councils decided to cancel national championships in all fall sports. In September, it
2756-621: The Texas Rangers . In 1977, baseball expanded again , adding a second Canadian team, the Toronto Blue Jays , as well as the Seattle Mariners . Subsequently, no new teams were added until the 1990s and no teams moved until 2005. By the late 1960s, the balance between pitching and hitting had swung in favor of the pitchers. In 1968—later nicknamed "the year of the pitcher" —Boston Red Sox player Carl Yastrzemski won
2862-555: The Texas Rangers . With the Rangers moving to the AL West, the owners then debated whether the Chicago White Sox or Milwaukee Brewers should move to the AL East for 1972. The White Sox requested they be moved to the East under the argument of being an original AL franchise and playing most of their longtime rival teams, of which five were in the East. The Oakland Athletics (formerly from Kansas City and Philadelphia) objected to moving
2968-759: The University of New Mexico , the football team moved its first two home games to the sites of their opponents and the last two to Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada , in Clark County near Las Vegas ; while the men's basketball team moved to Lubbock, Texas and played home games at Lubbock Christian University . New Mexico State moved its men's basketball program to Phoenix, Arizona and used Arizona Christian University as its home court. San Jose State University 's football team played its regular-season finale and championship game at Sam Boyd, while
3074-679: The World Baseball Softball Confederation jointly manage the international World Baseball Classic tournament. In the 1860s, aided by soldiers playing the game in camp during the Civil War , "New York"-style baseball expanded into a national game and spawned baseball's first governing body, the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP). The NABBP existed as an amateur league for 12 years. By 1867, more than 400 clubs were members. Most of
3180-817: The first and second Negro National Leagues (1920–1931 and 1933–1948), the Eastern Colored League (1923–1928), the American Negro League (1929), the East–West League (1932), the Negro Southern League (1932), and the Negro American League (1937–1948). In 2021, baseball reference website Baseball-Reference.com began to include statistics from those seven leagues into their major-league statistics. In May 2024, Major League Baseball announced that it
3286-701: The men's basketball team played home games at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz . The same venue hosted early-season home games of the Stanford University and Santa Clara University men's basketball teams. The financial fallout from the pandemic was specifically cited by the following schools in their decisions to drop certain sports programs: Additionally, the New York Institute of Technology suspended its entire athletic program for two seasons, after which it will reconsider
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3392-449: The women's basketball tournament , would be conducted behind closed doors with "only essential staff and limited family attendance". The following day, in respect of the suspension of the NBA season and other professional sports leagues, the NCAA announced that all remaining championship events for the 2019–20 academic year would be canceled entirely, resulting in the first cancellation in
3498-557: The 1960s and 1970s, as baseball expanded, NFL football had been surging in popularity, making it economical for many of these cities to build multi-purpose stadiums instead of single-purpose baseball fields. Because of climate and economic issues, many of these facilities had playing surfaces made from artificial turf , as well as the oval designs characteristic of stadiums designed to house both baseball and football. This often resulted in baseball fields with relatively more foul territory than older stadiums. These characteristics changed
3604-463: The 1990s. During the 1980s, baseball experienced a number of significant changes the game had not seen in years. Home runs were on the decline throughout the decade, with players hitting 40 home runs just 13 times and no one hitting more than 50 home runs in a season for the first time since the Dead-ball era (1900–1919). The 1981 Major League Baseball strike from June 12 until July 31 forced
3710-449: The 81-year history of the NCAA basketball tournament. This created a de facto mythical national championship situation. Other American multi-sports organizations—the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), and California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) —also canceled their seasons. Additionally
3816-564: The AL Central. When MLB split into divisions for the 1969 season , the American League, unlike the National League , split its 12 teams strictly on geography. The six teams then located in the Eastern Time Zone were all placed in the AL East, with the other six teams making up the AL West. In September 1971, American League owners approved the move of the second Washington Senators franchise to Arlington, Texas , to become
3922-433: The AL West, were moved to the AL East. * – The Yankees and Red Sox finished with exact records, tied for the division championship; the Yankees won a one-game tie-breaker . † – Due to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike , the season was split. The Yankees won the first half and defeated the second-half champion Brewers (62–45) in the postseason. †† – Due to the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike starting August 12,
4028-537: The AL and NL 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. A new National Association was formed to oversee these minor leagues. After 1902, the NL, AL, and NA signed a new National Agreement which tied independent contracts to the reserve-clause contracts. The agreement also set up
4134-491: The American League batting title with an average of just .301, the lowest in the history of Major League Baseball. Detroit Tigers pitcher Denny McLain won 31 games, making him the only pitcher to win 30 games in a season since Dizzy Dean in 1934. 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
4240-917: The American and National Leagues both added two expansion franchises . The American League added the Seattle Pilots (who became the Milwaukee Brewers after one disastrous season in Seattle) and the Kansas City Royals . The NL added the first Canadian franchise, the Montreal Expos , as well as the San Diego Padres . In 1972, the second Washington Senators moved to the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex to become
4346-476: The Brooklyn Dodgers, began making efforts to introduce a black baseball player to the previously all-white professional baseball leagues in the mid-1940s. He selected Jackie Robinson from a list of promising Negro league players. After obtaining a commitment from Robinson to "turn the other cheek" to any racial antagonism directed at him, Rickey agreed to sign him to a contract for $ 600 a month. In what
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4452-848: The COVID-19 pandemic on sports The COVID-19 pandemic caused the most significant disruption to the worldwide sporting calendar since World War II . Across the world and to varying degrees, sports events were cancelled or postponed. The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo were rescheduled to 2021. At the time, spectators had no games to watch and players no games to play. Only a few countries and territories—such as Hong Kong , Turkmenistan , Belarus , and Nicaragua —continued professional sporting matches as planned. The 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics were scheduled to take place in Tokyo , starting 24 July and 25 August, respectively. Although
4558-830: The Community College level sports governing bodies restored the season of eligibility to athletes who had already participated in the 2020 spring season. On 12 May 2020, because the California State University system announced that in-person classes would remain suspended through the fall 2020 semester, the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA)—a 12-member NCAA Division II conference consisting entirely of CSU campuses —announced that it would also suspend its fall athletics season. The Patriot League , an NCAA Division I conference that competes in
4664-818: The Dodgers when they came to town, abandoning the Negro league teams that they had followed exclusively. Robinson's promotion met a generally positive, although mixed, reception among newspaper writers and white major league players. Manager Leo Durocher informed his team, "I don't care if he is yellow or black or has stripes like a fucking zebra. I'm his manager and I say he plays." After a strike threat by some players, NL President Ford C. Frick and Baseball Commissioner Happy Chandler let it be known that any striking players would be suspended. Robinson received significant encouragement from several major-league players, including Dodgers teammate Pee Wee Reese who said, "You can hate
4770-448: The Games. This included both ticketed spectators and the supporters of athletes. While there were initially plans to allow venues to operate at half capacity (to a maximum of 10,000 spectators), it was ultimately announced that nearly the entirety of the Games would be held behind closed doors . Furthermore, the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics that were held in Paris , France on 26 July and 28 August 2024 respectively as onto
4876-513: The Great Depression, no MLB teams moved or folded. The onset of World War II created a shortage of professional baseball players, as more than 500 men left MLB teams to serve in the military. Many of them played on service baseball teams that entertained military personnel in the US or in the Pacific. MLB teams of this time largely consisted of young men, older players, and those with a military classification of 4F , indicating mental, physical, or moral unsuitability for service. Men like Pete Gray ,
4982-472: The Japanese government had taken extra precautions to help minimize the outbreak's impact in the country , qualifying events were being canceled or postponed almost daily. According to Japanese public broadcaster NHK , Tokyo 2020 organizing-committee chief executive Toshiro Muto voiced concerns on 5 February, that COVID-19 might "throw cold water on the momentum toward the Games." The traditional Olympic flame lighting ceremony in Olympia, Greece , to mark
5088-415: The MLB Playing 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, sought to increase scoring even further by initiating the designated hitter (DH) rule. Throughout
5194-412: The NA proved ineffective. The league placed its emphasis on clubs rather than on players. Clubs could now enforce player contracts, preventing players from jumping to higher-paying clubs. Clubs were required to play the full schedule of games instead of forfeiting scheduled games when the club was no longer in the running for the league championship, which happened frequently under the NA. A concerted effort
5300-489: The NCAA announced that 2021 Division II championship events in winter and spring sports would also have a 25% overall reduction in participants (individual sports varied from 17 to 34% based on logistics) to mitigate costs of testing and health protocols, as well as lost income. Programs located in the state of New Mexico and in Santa Clara County, California had to relocate practices and games because of legislative bans on any competitive sport requiring physical contact. At
5406-460: The NL West) in forming its divisions as a reason why the Rangers should not have been shifted out of the East. The Twins also argued that the National Football League 's Dallas Cowboys played (and still do play) in the NFC East despite being far from the Northeast . The White Sox' pleas notwithstanding, the Brewers, who began as the Seattle Pilots in 1969 and had to endure long divisional road trips to Oakland and Anaheim (and vice-versa) in
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#17327721898495512-406: The NL and AL cemented their cooperation with the National Agreement in 1903, making MLB the oldest major professional sports league in the world. They remained legally separate entities until 2000, when they merged into a single organization led by the commissioner of baseball . MLB is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan . Baseball's first all-professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings ,
5618-438: The NL and American Association champions met in a postseason championship series—the first attempt at a World Series . The two leagues merged in 1892 as a single 12-team NL, but the NL dropped four teams after the 1899 season. This led to the formation of the American League in 1901 under AL president Ban Johnson , and the resulting bidding war for players led to widespread contract-breaking and legal disputes. The war between
5724-404: The National Association (NA), was formed in 1871. Its amateur counterpart disappeared after only a few years. The modern Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves franchises trace their histories back to the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players in the 1870s. In 1876, the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs (later known as the National League or NL) was established after
5830-502: The National League, American League, American Association, Union Association (1884), Players' League (1890), and Federal League (1914–1915). The status of the National Association as a major league has been a point of dispute among baseball researchers; while its statistics are not recognized by Major League Baseball, its statistics are included with those of other major leagues by some baseball reference websites, such as Retrosheet . Some researchers, including Nate Silver , dispute
5936-475: The UK organisation for university sport, announced that all fixtures from 17 March to 1 April would not take place. Some individual events, like the orienteering and windsurfing championships were canceled entirely, while others were postponed indefinitely. On 6 March 2020, in the first round of the NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament , a game played at Johns Hopkins University between Yeshiva University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute became
6042-422: The White Sox to the East; owner Charlie Finley was a Chicago native who wanted to continue to make three trips per season with his club to the Second City. The Minnesota Twins went a step further and objected to switching either the White Sox or Brewers out of fear of losing their closest geographic rivals and the Twins, citing the National League's lack of geographic accuracy (which placed the Atlanta Braves in
6148-486: The World Series in exchange for a ring worth $ 100,000 ($ 1,712,780.35 in 2022 dollars). Despite being acquitted, all were permanently banned from Major League Baseball. Baseball's popularity increased in the 1920s and 1930s. The 1920 season was notable for the death of Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians . Chapman, who was struck in the head by a pitch and died a few hours later, became the only MLB player to die of an on-field injury. Both leagues quickly began to require
6254-429: The academies are full members of the Patriot League, their football teams play outside the conference in the top-level Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The days following the Ivy League's cancellation of fall sports saw two of the major "Power Five" conferences of FBS announce that if fall sports were played, only in-conference matchups would take place. The Big Ten Conference made this announcement on 9 July, with
6360-474: The cancellation of 713 total games and resulted in a split-season format. In 1985, Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb 's all-time hits record with his 4,192nd hit, and in 1989 Rose received a lifetime ban from baseball as a result of betting on baseball games while manager of the Cincinnati Reds . Rose was the first person to receive a lifetime ban from baseball since 1943. 1985 also saw the Pittsburgh drug trials which involved players who were called to testify before
6466-403: The center field fence, and the Huntington Avenue Grounds of the Boston Red Sox , which was 635 feet (194 m) to the center field fence, thus home runs were rare, and "small ball" tactics such as singles , bunts , stolen bases , and the hit-and-run play dominated the strategies of the time. Hitting methods like the Baltimore chop were used to increase the number of infield singles. On
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#17327721898496572-573: The condition of the baseball itself. The baseball used American rather than the modern Australian wool yarn and was not wound as tightly, affecting the distance that it would travel. More significantly, balls were kept in play until they were mangled, soft and sometimes lopsided. During this era, a baseball cost three dollars, equal to $ 52.72 today (in inflation-adjusted USD ), and owners were reluctant to purchase new balls. Fans were expected to throw back fouls and (rare) home runs. Baseballs also became stained with tobacco juice, grass, and mud, and sometimes
6678-458: The cost of maintaining the unused venues. The organizing committee published various planned safety protocols for athletes, spectators, and members of the press. It was recommended that athletes be vaccinated , but they were not required to do so. On 20 March 2021, citing international travel restrictions and the need to ensure the safety of athletes, it was announced that no spectators or guests from outside of Japan would be allowed to attend
6784-421: The decision. Similarly, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff announced that it was "suspending" its men's and women's tennis teams for the 2020–21 school year, citing the pandemic, but did not officially eliminate the tennis program. UAH initially dropped men's ice hockey alongside both of its tennis teams, but a successful fundraising drive by alumni and team supporters led the school to reinstate hockey
6890-446: The division runner-up Yankees also qualified for the playoffs. Since the advent of the Wild Card, AL East teams have faced each other in the ALCS 5 times, the ALDS 4 times, and the Wild Card twice. * – From 2012 to 2019, and in 2021, the Wild Card was expanded to two teams. Those teams faced each other in the Wild Card Game to determine the final participant in the American League Division Series . In 2020 only, eight teams, including
6996-409: The division's five teams are located in the Eastern United States , with the other team, the Toronto Blue Jays , in Eastern Canada . It is currently the only division that contains a non-American team. At the end of the Major League Baseball season, the team with the best record in the division earns one of the AL's six playoff spots. Baseball writers have long posited that the American League East
7102-554: The earliest. In the Philippines, NCAA Season 95 and UAAP Season 82 were both indefinitely suspended. NCAA Season 95 was terminated on 19 March after the then community quarantine in Luzon was upgraded to an "enhanced community quarantine", in effect a lockdown. UAAP Season 82 was canceled on 7 April, after the enhanced community quarantine was extended to 30 April. On 1 May, the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) have decided to cancel their 2020 season. On 16 March 2020, British Universities and Colleges Sport ,
7208-409: The fall academic term) would not begin play until after the end of the fall term. It left open the possibility of shifting its fall sports, including football, to the spring. The Patriot League would later cancel its fall sports season entirely on 13 July, but gave the two federally operated service academies among its membership, Army and Navy , the option to play fall sports as they saw fit. While
7314-566: The fall semester of the 2020–21 academic year, including Canadian football (the first time the Vanier Cup was not contested since its inception), cross-country , field hockey, women's rugby, and soccer. On 15 October 2020, U Sports announced it would do the same thing for the winter 2021 portion of the 2020–21, once again cancelling all winter national championships as well. Atlantic University Sport , Canada West , and Ontario University Athletics followed suit, suspending all university athletics programs initially through to 31 December 2020, but
7420-422: The first U.S. sporting event to be played without fans in attendance, after a student at Yeshiva University tested positive for COVID-19. On 11 March 2020, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) — the main U.S.A. sanctioning body for college athletics — initially announced that its winter-semester championships and tournaments, including its popular "March Madness" men's basketball tournament and
7526-404: The first major league franchise on the West Coast. O'Malley also helped persuade the rival New York Giants to move west to become the San Francisco Giants. Giants owner Horace Stoneham had been contemplating a move to Minnesota amid slumping attendance at the aging Polo Grounds ballpark when O'Malley invited him to meet San Francisco Mayor George Christopher in New York. After Stoneham
7632-561: The first time in the history of the modern Olympics that an Olympiad has been postponed. The opening ceremonies of the Games were officially rescheduled to 23 July 2021, 4 years, 11 months and 2 days or 1,797 days from the most recent Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil. The cost of postponing the Olympics to 2021 was estimated to be US$ 5.8 billion, which included
7738-429: The hole " between the corner and middle infielders. Starting pitchers were no longer expected to throw complete games ; it was enough for a starter to pitch 6–7 innings and turn the game over to the team's closer , a position which grew in importance over these decades. As stolen bases increased, home run totals dropped. After Willie Mays hit 52 home runs in 1965, only one player ( George Foster ) reached that mark until
7844-471: The internet throughout North America and in several other countries. MLB has the highest total season attendance of any sports league in the world; in 2023, it drew more than 70.75 million spectators. MLB also oversees Minor League Baseball , which comprises lower-tier teams affiliated with the major league clubs, and the MLB Draft League , a hybrid amateur-professional showcase league. MLB and
7950-529: The juice of licorice, which some players would chew for the purpose of discoloring the ball. Also, pitchers could manipulate the ball through the use of the spitball (In 1921, use of this pitch was restricted to a few pitchers with a grandfather clause ). Additionally, many ballparks had large dimensions, such as the West Side Grounds of the Chicago Cubs, which was 560 feet (170 m) to
8056-603: The major leagues. Satchel Paige was signed by the Indians and the Dodgers added star catcher Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe , who was later the first winner of the Cy Young Award for his outstanding pitching. MLB banned the signing of women to contracts in 1952, but that ban was lifted in 1992. There have been no female MLB players since then. From 1903 to 1952, the major leagues consisted of two eight-team leagues whose 16 teams were located in ten cities, all in
8162-572: The major-league status of the Union Association by pointing out that franchises came and went and that the St. Louis club was deliberately "stacked"; the St. Louis club was owned by the league's president and it was the only club that was close to major-league caliber. In December 2020, Major League Baseball announced its recognition of seven leagues within Negro league baseball as major leagues:
8268-471: The nature of professional baseball, putting a higher premium on speed and defense over home-run hitting power since the fields were often too big for teams to expect to hit many home runs and foul balls hit in the air could more easily be caught for outs. Teams began to be built around pitching—particularly their bullpens—and speed on the basepaths. Artificial surfaces meant balls traveled quicker and bounced higher, so it became easier to hit ground balls " in
8374-515: The normal 4-year Olympiad schedule, were also impacted due to shorter duration (2 years, 11 months and 18 days or 1,083 days) between the last Olympics. Although the 2022 Winter Olympics hosted by Beijing, China kept their original start date of 4 February 2022 and went ahead as scheduled, the pandemic has already impacted qualifying in specific sports such as curling —where the World Curling Federation announced
8480-527: The northeastern and mid-western United States: New York City had three teams and Boston , Chicago, Philadelphia , and St. Louis each had two teams. St. Louis was the southernmost and westernmost city with a major league team. The longest possible road trip, from Boston to St. Louis, took about 24 hours by railroad. After a half-century of stability, starting in the 1950s, teams began to move out of cities with multiple teams into cities that had not had them before. From 1953 to 1955, three teams moved to new cities:
8586-415: The organisation announced on 28 October. On 12 January 2021, it was announced that the 2021 Games would scheduled for 13–29 May 2022. It was postponed to 2026. X Games Chongli 2020 was postponed. X Games Minneapolis 2020 was cancelled. U Sports curtailed its men's and women's ice hockey championships on 12 March 2020. On 8 June, U Sports announced that it had cancelled all national championships for
8692-649: The pandemic—effectively ending the entirety of their athletics programs. In August 2020, officials at the University of California, Riverside , a Division I member, publicly announced that shutting down the school's entire athletic program was one possible option to address pandemic-related financial challenges. As of mid-October, no decision on the program's future had yet been reached. The 2019–20 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup ended two weeks earlier after World Cup races in Sweden , Slovenia , and Italy scheduled for March were canceled. An earlier February World Cup race
8798-519: The point that the 1942 season was nearly canceled. On January 14, 1942, MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis wrote to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt , pleading for the continuation of baseball during the war. Roosevelt responded, "I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going. There will be fewer people unemployed and everybody will work longer hours and harder than ever before. And that means that they ought to have
8904-477: The school's athletic director to resign a month after this announcement. W&M eventually reversed course completely, restoring the three women's sports on 19 October and announcing on 5 November that the four men's sports would continue to be sponsored through at least 2021–22. MacMurray College , Notre Dame de Namur University , and Urbana University announced that they would wind down operations and close due to economic issues brought upon or exacerbated by
9010-461: The season was not played to completion. The Yankees were leading at the time of the strike. + – The Red Sox and Yankees finished tied for first place with identical records. The Yankees were declared division winners, due to having won the season series against the Red Sox, and the Red Sox received the wild card berth. ††† – Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the 2020 season was shortened to 60 games. By virtue of an expanded eight-team postseason format,
9116-724: The season with the identical records of 91–71. A one-game playoff was held and the Rays won it 5–2 over the Rangers to capture the second Wild Card berth. *** In 2016 , the Toronto Blue Jays and the Baltimore Orioles finished the season with the identical records of 89–73. However, the Blue Jays won the right to host the Wild Card Game by virtue of their 10–9 regular-season record against the Orioles. **** Due to
9222-581: The second level of D1 Football, the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), initially announced on 22 June that while it would hold its fall sports seasons, its teams would not fly to any competitions, and overnight travel would only be allowed on a case-by-case basis. Another FCS conference, the Ivy League , announced on 8 July that it was canceling all fall sports, and that winter sports (whose seasons normally begin during
9328-476: The start of the 2020 Summer Olympics torch relay was held on 12 March without spectators. On 23 March, Canada, Australia, and Great Britain announced that they would withdraw from the Games unless they are postponed to 2021. On 24 March 2020, the IOC and Tokyo Organizing Committee announced that the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics would be "rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021", marking
9434-706: The strongest clubs remained those based in the Northeastern United States. For professional baseball 's founding year, MLB uses the year 1869—when the first professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings , was established. A schism developed between professional and amateur ballplayers after the founding of the Cincinnati club. The NABBP split into an amateur organization and a professional organization. The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players , often known as
9540-605: The three division winners, played in a best-of-three Wild Card Series, with the winners advancing to the Division Series. Starting in 2022, the Wild Card field was increased to three teams, and along with the lowest-ranked division winner, qualified for the best-of-three Wild Card Series to determine the remaining two slots in the Division Series. ** In 2013 , the Texas Rangers and the Tampa Bay Rays finished
9646-1376: The tournament was cancelled, the existing rankings going into the tournament were used instead. The World Games in Birmingham , Alabama , were scheduled for July 2021, but because of the rescheduling of the 2020 Summer Olympics , the eleventh World Games went ahead in July 2022 instead. The 2020 Arctic Winter Games were cancelled. Additionally, the 2022 Arctic Winter Games was postponed to 2023. The 2020 ASEAN Para Games were cancelled and 2021 SEA Games in Hanoi were postponed. The 2021 ASEAN Para Games in Hanoi were postponed to 2022 and moved to Surakarta mid-preparation. The 2021 Summer World University Games in Chengdu, China were postponed to 2023. The 2021 Winter Universiade in Lucerne , Switzerland were first moved from 21 to 31 January to 11–21 December, then on 29 November, this event were cancelled. The 2021 World Masters Games , originally scheduled to be held in Japan on between May 14–30, were indefinitely postponed after 2022,
9752-757: The two league champions first played in 1903. The New York Yankees have the most championships with 27. The reigning champions are the Los Angeles Dodgers , who defeated the New York Yankees in the 2024 World Series . MLB is the third-wealthiest professional sports league by revenue in the world after the National Football League (NFL) and the National Basketball Association (NBA). Baseball games are broadcast on television, radio, and
9858-454: The use of new, white baseballs whenever a ball became scuffed or dirty, helping bring the "dead-ball" era to an end. The following year, the New York Yankees made their first World Series appearance. By the end of the 1930s, the team had appeared in 11 World Series, winning eight of them. Yankees slugger Babe Ruth had set the single-season home run record in 1927, hitting 60 home runs; breaking his own record of 29 home runs. Afflicted by
9964-399: Was "absorbing the available Negro Leagues numbers into the official historical record." The period between 1900 and 1919 is commonly referred to as the "dead-ball era". Games of this era tended to be low-scoring and were often dominated by pitchers, such as Walter Johnson , Cy Young , Christy Mathewson , Mordecai Brown , and Grover Cleveland Alexander . The term also accurately describes
10070-894: Was a result of players using steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs . In 1993, the National League added the Florida Marlins in Miami and the Colorado Rockies in Denver . In 1998, the Brewers switched leagues by joining the National League, and two new teams were added: the National League's Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix and the American League's Tampa Bay Devil Rays in Tampa Bay . Impact of
10176-452: Was announced that 2020 Division I championships administered by NCAA in fall sports (cross country, field hockey, football soccer, women's volleyball and men's water polo) would be rescheduled to spring 2021, and conducted with a 25% reduction in championship participants. Matches played in fall or spring would count toward qualification. The Football Bowl Subdivision was not included as it is not an NCAA-administered championship. In December,
10282-510: Was announced that the 2020 Archery World Cup would be cancelled. The 2020 World Athletics Indoor Championships were scheduled to be held from 13 to 15 March in Nanjing , China, but were postponed until March 2021. The 2020 World Athletics Half Marathon Championships was scheduled to be held on 29 March in Gdynia , Poland, but was postponed until October 2020. The first three events of
10388-520: Was founded in 1869. The first few decades of professional baseball saw rivalries between leagues, and players often jumped from one team or league to another. These practices were essentially ended by the National Agreement of 1903, in which AL and NL agreed to respect each other's player contracts, including the contentious reserve clause . The period before 1920 was the dead-ball era , when home runs were rarely hit. Professional baseball
10494-671: Was later extended through to 31 March 2021, as announced on 15 October 2020. The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland had a significant impact on the conduct of sports , affecting both competitive sports leagues and tournaments and recreational sports. The Gaelic games of football , hurling , camogie , and ladies' football saw all competitions suspended from 12 March 2020. The National Hurling League , National Football League , National Camogie League and Ladies' National Football League were suspended, with competitions not intended to resume until 29 March at
10600-619: Was later referred to as "The Noble Experiment", Robinson was the first black baseball player in the International League since the 1880s, joining the Dodgers' farm club, the Montreal Royals , for the 1946 season. The following year, the Dodgers called up Robinson to the major leagues. On April 15, 1947, Robinson made his major league debut at Ebbets Field before a crowd of 26,623 spectators, including more than 14,000 black patrons. Black baseball fans began flocking to see
10706-580: Was made to curb gambling on games, which was leaving the validity of results in doubt. The first game in the NL—on Saturday, April 22, 1876 (at Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia )—is often pointed to as the beginning of MLB. The early years of the NL 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. Teams came and went; 1882
10812-867: Was moved from China to Austria . The 2020–21 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup also saw a number of races in January rescheduled from Wengen to Kitzbühel to Flachau. The opening three stages of the 2020 Archery World Cup were postponed. Other events postponed include the Pan American Archery Championships , which were scheduled to be held in Monterrey , Mexico, from 23 to 29 March, and the European Para-Archery Championships , which were scheduled to be held in Olbia , Italy, from 18 to 26 April. On 15 July it
10918-449: Was persuaded to move to California, Time magazine put O'Malley on its cover. MLB Commissioner Ford C. Frick had opposed the meeting, but the dual moves proved successful for both franchises—and for MLB. Had the Dodgers moved out west alone, the St. Louis Cardinals —1,600 mi (2,575 km) away —would have been the closest NL team. Instead, the joint move made West Coast road trips economical for visiting teams. The Dodgers set
11024-519: Was restricted to elites only. The 2021 and 2022 editions of the London Marathon were also held in October to maximise the chances of a mass participation event. The 2023 edition of the race returned to its normal spring date. The 2020 Berlin Marathon was prohibited from being held on its originally scheduled dates. It would be cancelled on 24 June. The 2020 New York City Marathon
11130-495: Was rocked by the Black Sox Scandal , a conspiracy to fix the 1919 World Series . Baseball survived the scandal, albeit with major changes in its governance as the relatively weak National Commission was replaced with a powerful commissioner of baseball with near-unlimited authority over the sport. MLB rose in popularity in the decade following the Black Sox Scandal, and unlike major leagues in other sports it endured
11236-472: Was the first season where the league's membership was the same as the preceding season's, and only four franchises survived to see 1900. Competitor leagues formed regularly and also disbanded regularly. The most successful was the American Association (1882–1891), sometimes called the "beer and whiskey league" for its tolerance of the sale of alcoholic beverages to spectators. For several years,
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