Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in professional baseball in the world. More specifically, Major League Baseball ("MLB") refers to the entity that operates North America's two top leagues, the National League and the American League, by means of a joint organizational structure which has existed between them since 1920. MLB is one of the major professional sports leagues of North America.

Historical Major Leagues

In 1969, the centennial of professional baseball, a commission chartered by Major League Baseball identified the following leagues as "major leagues". The list is sometimes disputed by baseball researchers. The MLB list included the following:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• 1876-present: National League of Professional Baseball Clubs
• 1882-1891: American Association
• 1884: Union Association
• 1890: Players League
• 1901-present: American League
• 1914-1915: Federal League

Some researchers contend that the following leagues deserve consideration as major leagues due to the caliber of player and the level of play exhibited:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• The National Association (1871-1875)
• The first year of the American League (1900)
• The Negro Leagues (primarily during the years from 1921-1946)

In general, the official stance is that game and statistical records for these particular leagues were not kept in a consistent manner and/or those leagues did not have a significant direct impact on the major leagues.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Specifically, the following can be said of these leagues:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• The NA is unquestionably recognized as the first professional league, and is the direct precursor to the NL, most of whose original eight teams came from the NA. The standard position is that the NA was a "transitional" league that was not quite up to major league standards. The NL was a wholly new entity that took the best remnants of the NA and imposed a discipline that was lacking in the failed NA.
• The AL itself asserted that it was a minor league in 1900, although it was already located in most of the cities it would be operating in the following year. However, in 1900 it operated independently and did not conduct raids on major league rosters. That changed in 1901.
• The Negro Leagues are the toughest call. Some historians have labeled their time the era of "shadow ball", a segregated parallel to the (all-white) major leagues. The fact that many young players were able to come into the majors in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and have immediate impact, possibly argues for major status. It could also be argued that the Negro Leagues were more properly equated to the highest levels of minor league ball, such as the Pacific Coast League. It is a debate that has no clear resolution, which is why most historians are content to simply regard them as a category unto themselves.

Conversely, some historians question whether the Union Association really qualifies as "major", because it really only had one major-league calliber team (St. Louis) and its membership was a revolving door. The Union's chief claim to major status would rest on having had some direct impact on the other majors, due to roster-raiding. None of the three "non-major" groups listed above could make that claim.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~