Modern baseball evolved form different English bat-and-ball games. One of these was Cricket. Baseball games were amateur contests in the beginning. By the late 1950s, however, commercialism crept in. By the late 1860s an all-professional team emerged, the Cincinnati Red Stockings.
In 1876 the National League was formed. The National League replaced the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players. The new National League fought off competing major leagues throughout the 1880s and early 1890s. It operated shortly as a monopoly at the end of the century. This period saw the dominance of teams from three cities: Boston, Baltimore and Brooklyn.
In 1901 the American League, which had begun as the Western League, a minor league circuit, proclaimed its major league status. At first the National League protested but in the end was forced to accept the two-league structure of major league baseball. The first World Series was played in 1903 between Pittsburgh of the National League and Boston of the American League.
For 60 years the two leagues remained eight-team circuits. Five cities were represented for many decades in both leagues: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and St. Louis. Two of the greatest teams in the early days were Frank Chance's Chicago Cubs and John McGraw's New York Giants, both of which were in the National League. Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics were usually strong contenders in the American League.
This was the so-called "deadball" era, in which a dozen home runs were almost always enough for a player to lead the league. The throwing of the 1919 World Series by the Chicago White Sox was known as the Black Sox scandal. This led to the appointment of the first commissioner of baseball, Kenesaw Mountain Landis.
In the early 1920s the New York Yankees and Giants dominated their respective leagues. The Yankees, in 1927, assembled what is regarded as the greatest team of all time.
When the nation went to war from 1942 through 1945, President Roosevelt gave professional baseball "green light" to continue.
Postwar Yankees were still winning regularly, except in 1948 and 1954 when the Cleveland Indians stopped them. In the National League the Brooklyn Dodgers finally won some pennants, only to be moved to Los Angeles in 1958.
The same year the New York Giants decamped for San Francisco. National League moves was Boston Braves to Milwaukee. American League moves were St. Louis Browns to Baltimore, Washington Senators to Minnesota and Philadelphia Athletics to Kansas City.
Major League expansion began in 1961. Los Angeles (now California) Angels and the replacement Washington Senators were two new clubs added to the American League. In 1962 the National League expanded to ten teams. The Houston Astros and the New York Mets were introduced. Future expansion in 1969 included the creation of two divisions in each league: East and West. From then on there would be not just a World Series to determine the major league championship, but before the World Series a League Championship Series in both the National League and the American League to decide the pennant winners.
The first World Series was in 1969. The New York Mets (East) defeated the Atlanta Braves (West) for the National League title. The Baltimore Orioles (East) defeated the Minnesota Twins (West) for the American League title. The "Amazin" Mets defeated the Orioles in the World Series. The franchise instability was evident due to the fact that none of those four teams were an "original" from the old 16-team major league regulars. The New York Mets were a new ball club entirely. The Atlanta Braves were based in Milwaukee and before in Boston. The Baltimore Orioles replaced the old St. Louis Browns. The Minnesota Twins were the Washington Senators.
Franchise transfers and expansion has not ended. Milwaukee, having lost the National League Braves, established the American League Brewers in 1970 by picking up the failed Seattle Pilots' franchise. The Pilots were a one-year phenomenon in 1969. Seattle came back by introducing an expansion Mariners team to the American League West in 1977.
The Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres, both 1969 National League expansion teams, finished last in their divisions. This loss was attributed to being new entrants. The second-try Washington Senators folded in 1971 and was replaced by the Texas Rangers. The Toronto Blue Jays entered the American League East and the Mariners the American League West in 1977. In 1993 two more expansion clubs joined the National League. These teams are the Florida Marlins (East) and the Colorado Rockies (West). This brought the total number of major league teams to 28.
