Major League Baseball (MLB)

Formed in 1903, Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional North American baseball organization merging the National League (NL) and the American League (AL). Originally their own legal entities, the AL and the NL officially combined under the governance of the Commissioner of Baseball in 2000. MLB's structure has varied over the decades, but in the early 2020s the two leagues each included fifteen teams, divided into East, West, and Central Divisions. Teams play 162 regular-season games, with division winners and wild card teams in each league advancing to the postseason. The playoffs culminate in the World Series, a best-of-seven championship series between the winning NL and AL teams. The MLB All-Star Game is held mid-season where select players from each league face off for one exhibition game. MLB is also in charge of Minor League Baseball (MiLB), the network of affiliated teams that help prepare players for the major-league level.

MLB is a major player in the sports, entertainment, and media markets. Thanks in part to its high number of games, it boasts the highest season attendance of sports leagues worldwide. Games are aired on TV, radio, and the internet. In January 2009, MLB launched the MLB Network, airing live regular season and postseason games as well as news, highlights, insights, and analysis. Though the league has faced numerous controversies and scandals, it remains hugely popular as the main body of the sport popularly considered "America's Pastime."

Brief History

Professional baseball began with the formation of the Cincinnati Red Stockings in 1869. This was followed by the establishment of the National League in 1876 and its rival the American Association (1882–91), which later became the American League in 1901. MLB was initially governed by the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP). Since 1920, it has been led by the Commissioner of Baseball.

MLB's early years, dubbed "the baseball wars," were rife with bidding wars for players, threats from rival leagues, legal disputes, and broken contracts. The pre-1920 period was also known as "the dead-ball era" as players rarely hit home runs and the baseballs were kept in play until they were worn, soft, or mangled. The governing body has evolved alongside the game itself.

In the first half of the twentieth century, the NL and AL each comprised eight teams split into an East and West Division. League expansion occurred throughout the 1960s and 1970s with the addition of more teams and the introduction of MLB's first non-US teams: the Montreal Expos and the Toronto Blue Jays. More teams were added in the 1990s. In 1994, a Central Division was added to each league.

Originally, the two leagues did not meet during the regular season but faced off for the World Series and the All-Star Game. In 1997 interleague play was added to the regular season. In 1998 the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays (later the Tampa Bay Rays) played for the first time, bringing the MLB to thirty teams. For a time the NL had sixteen teams while the AL had fourteen, but in 2013 the Houston Astros moved to the AL, giving both leagues fifteen teams.

Another major milestone in MLB history came in 1947 when Jackie Robinson became the first Black player in modern professional baseball. Previously, Black players were confined to the separate Negro Leagues. Only in December 2020 were the Negro Leagues formally recognized as major-league level. Then, in 2024, the MLB incorporated Negro League statistics into its records. The merging of Negro League statistics with MLB statistics resulted in several records changing hands, such as Josh Gibson, a Negro League player and National Baseball Hall of Famer, becoming the MLB’s all-time batting leader.

Labor issues have also been prominent in MLB history. The organization has been recognized with an exemption to federal antitrust laws. Teams originally held much power over individual players under a contract system known as the reserve clause. After St. Louis Cardinals player Curt Flood rejected the team's attempt to trade him in 1969, the lawsuit Flood v. Kuhn reached the US Supreme Court in 1972. In 1975 the reserve clause was abolished and the new system of free agency adopted, in which players gain the right to sign with any team after a certain period. Athletes continued to push for greater autonomy through their labor union and collective bargaining agreements. Player strikes were held in 1972, 1981, and 1994–95, the latter of which resulted in the cancellation of much of the 1994 season, including the entire postseason. Additionally, team owners initiated lockouts in 1973, 1976, 1990, and 2021–22 as the two sides continued to frequently disagree on various issues. At times, resolution of such work stoppages resulted in on-field rule changes as well as behind-the-scenes procedural or financial developments.

Teams

By the 2020s, Major League Baseball was composed of the following thirty teams:

NL East: Atlanta Braves, Miami Marlins, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Nationals

NL West: Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants

NL Central: Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals

AL East: Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays

AL West: Houston Astros, Los Angeles Angels, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers

AL Central: Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins

MLB Season Overview

Spring training: The MLB season kicks off with spring training, which precedes the start of the regular season and consists of practice and exhibition games. Spring training typically starts mid-February and lasts until Opening Day during the first week of April.

Regular season: The regular MLB season typically consists of 162 games played at home and on the road, usually organized into two, three, or four-game series against a rival team. Most games are played in the evening, with day games scheduled for Opening Day, holidays, and long weekends. The team winning its division advances to the postseason. Also eligible for the postseason are wild card spots for teams who are not division champs but hold the best regular season win-loss records among remaining teams.

Postseason playoffs and World Series: MLB's playoff format has varied over the years; through 1968 the top team in each league advanced directly to the World Series. This was followed by playoffs between division winners. Wild cards were first introduced in 1994, and expanded to two per league in 2012 and three per league in 2022. This means twelve teams enter the MLB postseason playoffs, which take place during October. In each league, two best-of-three games series are held among the division winner with the worst regular-season record and the three wild card teams. Winners of that round advance to the best-of-five American League Division Series (ALDS) or National League Division Series (NLDS) against the top two division winners. This is followed by the American League Championship Series (ALCS) and National League Championship Series (NLCS), a best-of-seven series to determine the pennant winner for each league. Finally, the ALCS and NLCS champions compete in the best-of-seven World Series.

All-Star game: The All-Star game is held annually in July during a four-day break from the regular season schedule. Select players from the AL face select players from the NL for one exhibition game. The first All-Star game, the brainchild of sports editor Arch Ward of the Chicago Tribune, was played in 1933 at the World's Fair. Since 1947, All-Star game starting lineups have been voted in by the fans. Due to a ballot-box stuffing scandal, fan voting was discontinued between 1957 and 1970, however.

Rules and Regulations

The same set of rules and regulations are followed by the National League and the American League. Traditionally, the designated hitter (DH) rule (in which one player is allowed to bat in place of the pitcher) was in place only in the AL (including any interleague games played at AL ballparks). Beginning in 2010, the DH rule was also included in all All-Star games, even in NL ballparks. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, the NL used the DH rule for the first time. The DH was then permanently expanded to the NL beginning in the 2022 season.

A few other special rules were also implemented during the 2020 and 2021 seasons due to the unusual circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of these were designed to speed up the pace of play or otherwise prevent games from taking too long, which was often discussed a serious concern for baseball in the 2010s and early 2020s. For example, extra innings were begun with a runner already on second base. The extra-innings runner rule was also extended to the 2022 season after it was condensed due to the 2021–22 MLB lockout.

Further rule changes impacted the pace of MLB play in the early 2020s. Perhaps most notable was the introduction of a pitch clock starting with the 2023 season; this pitch clock allowed pitchers fifteen seconds per pitch. Largely as a result of this change, the first 400 games of the 2023 MLB season were, on average, thirty minutes shorter than games played before the introduction of the pitch clock.

The foul strike rule, wherein the first two foul balls are counted as strikes, has been in effect since 1901 in the NL and since 1903 in the AL. Prior to this, batters could foul off multiple pitches without a strike being called, which gave rise to very high-scoring ballgames.

MLB Uniforms

MLB uniforms feature numbers, logos, and colors identifying the team. Field managers and coaches wear the same uniform. Each team has a "home" uniform and an "away" uniform, typically distinguished by primary/secondary colors.

Starting in 2021 and continuing through 2023 a number of teams also introduced new City Connect uniforms, designed in collaboration with apparel company Nike. By 2023 twenty MLB teams had adopted City Connect uniforms, which featured designs intended to express unique features of the team's home city and were typically worn during some home games.

Steroid Use in MLB

Beginning in the late 1990s and escalating in the early twenty-first century, MLB was embroiled in several scandals over banned substances, particularly anabolic steroids. Home run record-holders Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Barry Bonds were all linked to performance-enhancing drugs. Many observers suggested MLB officials had intentionally overlooked a widespread problem due to the popularity of increased scoring and record-setting performances. In 2006, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig commissioned the Mitchell Report to investigate the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PED) in MLB and the effectiveness of MLB's drug policy. The report concluded that officials and players all shared "to some extent in the responsibility for the steroid era." Selig retired as MLB Commissioner at the end of the 2014 season. On January 25, 2015, he was replaced by baseball's tenth commissioner, Rob Manfred.

Later superstar players such as Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez faced suspensions for involvement with banned substances. In January 2013, in-season random human growth hormone (HGH) testing and a new test for testosterone were instituted in MLB, along with a 50-game suspension for testing positive once, a 100-game suspension for testing positive twice, and a lifetime suspension for testing positive a third time. In MLB's original steroid testing policy (2002 to 2005), players were tested randomly at least once annually with a ten-game suspension for a first positive test and ranging up to a one-year suspension for testing positive four times.

In addition to motivating MLB policy changes, the steroid scandal and subsequent results of the Mitchell Report had a long-term impact on the reputations of many players accused of PED and steroid use. A number of these players, including Bonds and famed pitcher Roger Clemens, were rejected from induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022, the final year of their ballot eligibility, which is the most common way for players to enter the Hall of Fame.

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