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83-538: The Branch Rickey Award was given annually to an individual in Major League Baseball (MLB) in recognition of his exceptional community service from 1992 to 2014. The award was named in honor of former player and executive Branch Rickey , who broke the major league color barrier by signing Jackie Robinson , while president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers . Rickey also created
166-667: 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
249-406: 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
332-492: 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:
415-523: A full season regularly. Andy Leonard rejoined Gould, the Wrights, and McVey in Boston for 1872, the first of four consecutive championship seasons there. After one miss Harry won his last two championships as a non-playing manager in 1877–1878 with Leonard and brother George still among his regulars. Gould and McVey left in 1873, although McVey returned for 1874–75 only. Before Cincinnati hired its team for
498-401: A fully professional team: ten men on salary for eight months, March 15 to November 15. Wright played center field and coordinated the team defense, a novelty from any position. Younger brother and shortstop George Wright , new to the team in 1869, was its best player, maybe the best of his time. The professional Cincinnati Red Stockings played their first game May 4, 1869, with a 45–9 win over
581-506: 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
664-469: A job as "club pro" at the Union Cricket Club. Next year he picked up similar baseball duties, but the lingo is commonly stretched to call him a baseball "manager" from that time. His first team may have been local to a man, but he both developed and imported players to represent the club in competitive play for the 1868 season. The first team won 16 matches with regional opponents, losing only to
747-658: 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,
830-671: 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
913-431: 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
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#1732791608469996-543: 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
1079-621: A specific illness, such as Curt Schilling , who raised money for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , and Trevor Hoffman , who lost a kidney as an infant and devoted himself to working with individuals with nephropathy . Also, some winners devoted themselves to work with major disasters and tragedies. Bobby Valentine donated money to charities benefiting victims of the September 11 attacks , while Luis Gonzalez worked with survivors of Hurricane Katrina . General Specific Major League Baseball Major League Baseball ( MLB )
1162-595: A substitute. Among them only Gould was a Cincinnati native; the others were from the East, presumably compensated somehow by club members if not by the clubs. (The Association first permitted professional clubs for 1869.) Meanwhile, George Wright and McVey played in New York and Indianapolis, primarily at shortstop and pitcher. For 1871 the Nine split between two teams in the new all-professional National Association : Gould,
1245-540: 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:
1328-645: 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,
1411-833: 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
1494-481: 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
1577-530: 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
1660-682: 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
1743-583: The Knothole Gang , a charity that allowed children to attend MLB games. The award, created by the Rotary Club of Denver in 1991, was first awarded to Dave Winfield in 1992 at their annual banquet. Each MLB team nominates one individual who best exemplifies the Rotary Club motto: "Service Above Self". A vote is then conducted by the national selection committee, which consists of members of
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#17327916084691826-528: 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
1909-623: 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
1992-628: The National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) 1867–1870, a time of a transition that ambitious Cincinnati businessmen and ballplayer Harry Wright shaped as much as anyone. Major League Baseball recognized those events officially by sponsoring a centennial of professional baseball in 1969. Thanks partly to their on-field success and the continental scope of their tours, the Red Stockings established styles in team uniforms and team nicknames that have some currency even in
2075-651: The New York Mutuals , one of the strongest teams anywhere and another team pushing the bounds of the amateur code. Asa Brainard had been the Brooklyn Excelsiors ' regular pitcher for four seasons, succeeded in 1867 by Candy Cummings . Catcher Doug Allison was from the Geary club of Philadelphia, one of the stronger clubs in that city. There was one local recruit, too, from the rival Buckeye club: Charlie Gould at first base. Harry Wright remained
2158-621: 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
2241-608: 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
2324-817: 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
2407-452: The sports media , previous winners of the award, and Rotary district governors in major league cities. Proceeds of the banquet benefit Denver Kids, Inc., a charity for at-risk students who attend Denver Public Schools . Each winner receives a bronze sculpture of a baseball player measuring 24 inches (610 mm), named "The Player", designed by sculptor George Lundeen . A larger version of "The Player", standing 13 feet (4.0 m) tall,
2490-562: The (U.S.) Centennial Exposition held 1876 in Philadelphia. Founding member George B. Ellard also led the Union Cricket Club, and the relationship between them proved decisive for the baseball club's success. The ball club's first home field was at a location stated as "the foot of Ninth Street, in the Mill Creek bottoms."[Cincinnati Enquirer , October 4, 1939, p.32] After playing four matches that first summer, Cincinnati joined
2573-657: The 1869–1870 Red Stockings. On June 14, 1870, after 81 consecutive wins since assembling as the first openly professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings lost 8–7 to the Brooklyn Atlantics before a crowd of 20,000 at the Capitoline Grounds . Bob Ferguson scored the winning run in the 11th inning on a hit by pitcher George Zettlein . The Executive Board now led by President A.P.C. Bonte recommended on November 21, 1870, that
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2656-557: 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
2739-463: 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
2822-550: The 21st century. They also established the color red as the color of Cincinnati (continuing with the modern Cincinnati Reds ), and they were the origin of the "Red Sox" in Boston Red Sox . The Cincinnati Base Ball Club, or simply Cincinnati Club, was established July 23, 1866, at a downtown law office, drawing up a constitution and by-laws and electing officers including Alfred T. Goshorn as president. A few years later Goshorn earned international fame as Director-General of
2905-537: 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
2988-491: 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
3071-917: 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
3154-476: 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
3237-643: The Cincinnati Red Stockings, despite reorganization and defections in the early years. The distinct Boston Red Stockings, beginning business with half of the Cincinnati team, both followed the young tradition and spread it to Boston. Eventually, the Boston Red Stockings evolved into the Boston Braves ; the club is now based in Atlanta, and retain red as one of their uniform colors. The Boston Red Sox , established in 1901, adopted their version of
3320-818: 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
3403-683: 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 ,
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3486-596: The Great Westerns of Cincinnati. The team won 57 games and lost zero, counting only matches with Association clubs. They played over 60 games counting outside teams. Their commercial tour of continental scope, visiting both Boston and San Francisco, was unprecedented and may be essentially unrepeated. The first season ended November 6 at home with the Cincinnatis beating the Mutuals of New York 17–8. With
3569-561: 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
3652-460: 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
3735-607: The NABBP for 1867 and concluded an agreement to play at the Union Cricket Club grounds (just west of Lincoln Park, a site now occupied by Cincinnati Union Terminal ). George Ellard's son says that "a great number of the cricket club members" joined and so "the team was greatly strengthened and interest in baseball gained a new impetus." Plans for a new clubhouse and "more substantical" enclosing fence were approved in April and
3818-618: 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 ,
3901-438: 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
3984-404: 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
4067-502: 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
4150-486: 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
4233-439: The Wright brothers, and McVey with the Boston Red Stockings ; Brainard, Allison, Sweasy, Waterman, and Leonard with the Washington Olympics . Substitute Hurley is also a "major leaguer" for his brief play with the Olympics in 1872, although that club went out of business midseason and he did not return to the league. The leading substitute in the second season, Harry Deane joined the Fort Wayne Kekiongas in 1871 and later played
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#17327916084694316-474: 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
4399-403: 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
4482-399: The club not employ a nine for 1871, for that had become too expensive. The spokesmen anticipated "a development of the amateur talent of our club, such as has not been displayed since we employed professionals." The officers subsequently decided to disband the company (the players having disbanded via the market) and a public meeting of the members put that decision into effect. Harry Wright
4565-431: The commercial basis was approved in June: members of both clubs admitted free to all matches; otherwise "ten cents for home matches and twenty-five cents for foreign matches. Ladies free." (Ellard 23–27). The team was soon nicknamed "Red Stockings" in reference to the main feature of the uniforms designed by Ellard; long stockings were then a novelty in team uniforms. Harry Wright had migrated from New York in 1866 for
4648-573: 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
4731-404: 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
4814-401: The first pitcher, sharing that position and second base with Brainard, and three other incumbents remained in the outfield and at shortstop. The 1868 team played a heavy schedule including a late eastern tour, once again dominating the western teams but losing seven of 43 matches in all. When the NABBP permitted professional members for 1869, Harry Wright and probably George Ellard organized
4897-429: 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
4980-405: 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
5063-401: 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
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#17327916084695146-485: 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
5229-405: 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:
5312-471: 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
5395-527: 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:
5478-460: The old nickname in 1908. Ten men composed the 1869 team and the First Nine returned for 1870 in the same roles. From 1867 Harry Wright fulfilled the duties of modern field managers, general managers, and traveling secretaries. In 1868 he and Brainard shared the pitcher and second base positions with Allison, Gould, and Waterman already manning the other bases. For the crosstown rival Buckeye club, Sweasy and Leonard played second and third with Hurley
5561-466: 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
5644-443: The same regular nine, the 1870 team continued to win regularly, perhaps 24 games before losing 8–7 in eleven innings to the Brooklyn Atlantics in Brooklyn , June 14. The Red Stockings remained one of the few strongest teams on the field, losing only six games, but attendance declined badly, especially at home. In 1869, the Red Stockings posted a perfect 57–0 record, the only perfect season in professional baseball history . This
5727-491: 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
5810-506: The touring Nationals from Washington. As for most hosts on that tour, it was a "bad loss" on the scorecard but an instructive one for Cincinnati: the players, the club, the fans, and perhaps the local newspapers. Everyone learned advanced points of play and, from their different perspectives, witnessed the gulf in playing strength. About half of the 1868 Red Stockings were eastern imports, presumably compensated somehow. The two leading batsmen, John Hatfield and Fred Waterman , arrived from
5893-459: 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
5976-520: 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
6059-399: 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
6142-1042: 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 . Cincinnati Red Stockings The Cincinnati Red Stockings of 1869 were baseball 's first all-professional team, with ten salaried players. The Cincinnati Base Ball Club formed in 1866 and fielded competitive teams in
6225-682: Was erected at Coors Field in Denver. Winners of the Branch Rickey Award have undertaken different causes. Many winners, including Todd Stottlemyre , Jamie Moyer , John Smoltz , Torii Hunter , Vernon Wells , and Shane Victorino , worked with children in need. Stottlemyre visited and raised money for a nine-year-old girl who suffered from aplastic anemia and required a bone marrow transplant , while Moyer's foundation raised US$ 6 million to support underprivileged children. Other winners devoted their work to aiding individuals who had
6308-451: 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
6391-462: Was hired by Boston businessman Ivers Whitney Adams to organize a new pro club in Boston. Wright persuaded three Cincinnati teammates to join the 1871 Boston Red Stockings in the first professional league, as it turned out. Ex-Cincinnati Red Stockings moved around some (see the note on Team members) but Boston retained both Wright brothers throughout the five years of the National Association . The current Cincinnati Reds club identifies itself with
6474-619: 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
6557-580: 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
6640-449: 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
6723-495: 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
6806-472: 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,
6889-492: Was the first team to play on the East and West coasts in the same season. More than 2,000 people greeted the team when it arrived in San Francisco at 10:00 p.m. "They really helped nationalize the game and put Cincinnati on the map as a baseball town," said Greg Rhodes, a Reds historian who wrote The First Boys of Summer (Road West Publishing Company, 1994), along with Cincinnati Enquirer reporter John Erardi, about
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