Major League Baseball – A Primer

 

MRP, 7/18/15

 

Because I am wont to quickly correct sportswriters or others who should know better when they make an error in commenting on the history of a major leage franchise, and because friends have occasionally asked me a related question, I decided to compose a brief synopsis of the history of major league baseball, concentrating on the geneaology of the current 30 clubs.

 

1857

The National Association of Baseball Players (NABP) is founded.  It was the first significant association of amatuer clubs representing multiple cities. 

 

1866

The Cincinnati Red Stockings form and join the NABP.

 

1869

Recognizing the futility of trying to ensure the full amatuer status of all its clubs, the NABP permits teams to compete professionally if they choose.  The Red Stockings chose to do so, making them the first openly professional club in the history of baseball.

 

1870

The Chicago White Stockings form and join the NABP, competing as a professional club.

 

1871

The National Association of Professional Baseball Players (NA) is founded.  The White Stockings jumped from the NABP to join.  Several Red Stockings players were lured away to Boston to form a new club (also called the Red Stockings) there to compete in the NA.  This is an important point - the Boston club in the NA was a new team; it was not simply the relocation of the Cincinnati club.  

 

1876

Owing to the weak and ineffectual organizational management of the NA, William Hulburt, an officer of the White Stockings, forms the new National League of Professional Baseball Clubs (today’s National League) and begins play with 8 clubs, including the White Stockings and Red Stockings.  Team nicknames at this time were not official and depended upon the whim of ownership, sportswriters or even fans. Accordingly, over the next few decades, each club is known by other names.  The White Stockings go through periods known as the Colts and Orphans before settling on Cubs around the turn of the century.  The Red Stockings are known successively as the Beaneaters, Doves and Rustlers before adopting the name Braves in about 1911. 

 

1882

St. Louis-based entrepreneur Chris van der Ahe forms the American Association, to compete against the dominance of the National League.  The AA is a hit, owing in large part to its less stuffy habits, such as allowing Sunday games and permitting the sale of alcohol at parks.  Three inaugural AA teams were the Cincinnati Red Stockings (named in honor of the first professional club from that city), the St. Louis Brown Stockings and the Pittsburgh Alleghenys.

 

1883 

The NL adds two new franchises - the Philadelphia Quakers and the New York Gothams.  Within a few years, the Quakers are known as the Phillies and the Gothams adopt the name Giants. 

 

1884

The AA adds its own New York-based club, the Brooklyn Atlantics.

 

1887

The Pittsburgh Alleghenys defect from the AA and join the NL.  Within a few years, owing to the team’s luring of a couple key players away from other teams for better pay, they become known universally as the Pirates.

 

1890

The AA’s Cincinnati and Brooklyn clubs bolt for the NL.  The Cincinnati club immediately modifies its name from Red Stockings to the more basic Reds.  Brooklyn goes through a more wide-ranging assortment of nicknames.  When they join the NL, they are known as the Bridegrooms because a number of players had tied the knot during the off-season.  Thereafter they are known for periods as the Grooms and the Superbas before taking the name Robins in 1914 after the name of their manager, Wilbert Robinson.  Once Robinson left after 1931, the team became known as the Dodgers, in honor of the archetypical Brooklyn trolley-dodger. 

 

1892

The AA folds, and the St. Louis club, now known as the Browns, moves to the NL.  About 10 years later, the team adopts bright red colors, leading them to be called the Cardinals. 

 

1900

The NL contracts from 12 to 8 clubs.  Accounting for future name changes, It now consists of:

 

Boston Braves

Chicago Cubs

Cincinnati Reds

Pittsburgh Pirates

St. Louis Cardinals

Philadelphia Phillies

New York Giants

Brooklyn Dodgers

 

1901

Stepping back a bit, in 1894 Cincinnati newspaper man Ban Johnson purchased the minor Western League.  His stewardship brought sound financial and organizational footings to the circuit, which had wanted for both for more than a decade.  In 1900, he re-christened the league as the American League of Professional Baseball Clubs (today's American League).  In 1901, he declared the AL a major league, and started to attract players from the NL and plant franchises in NL cities.  In making this move, he dropped 3 franchises and created 3 new ones in their place - Baltimore, Philadelphia and Boston.  His other clubs (Milwaukee, Detroit, Chicago, Washington and Cleveland) had all played for years in the Western League, frequently in other cities.  All 5 came along with the new 3 as the AL took shape for 1901:

 

Milwaukee Brewers

Baltimore Orioles

Boston Americans (soon to be known as the Red Sox)

Chicago White Sox

Washington Senators

Philadelphia Athletics

Detroit Tigers

Cleveland Blues (known successively as the Bronchos, Naps and, finally, the  Indians).

 

1902

Seeking to increase direct competition against NL teams, Johnson relocates the Brewers to St. Louis where they play as the Browns.

 

1903

After a disastrous 1902, which saw half the club (including future hall of famer John McGraw) desert for the New York Giants, leading to an emergency re-stocking draft from the other AL clubs, the Baltimore franchise is relocated to New York where they play as the Highlanders.  In 1913, they become known as the Yankees.   

 

 

From 1904 through 1952, the were no franchise relocations – each league had the same 8 teams, in the same 8 cities, each year for 49 years. 

 

 

1953

The Boston Braves move to become the Milwaukee Braves. 

 

1954

The St. Louis Browns, after winning only a single pennant in 53 years of play, head east to become the Baltimore Orioles.

 

1955

The Athletics, just 4 years after parting ways with 50-year manager Connie Mack, head west to be come the Kansas City Athletics, or A’s, for short.

 

1958

In the sports equivalent of the apocalypse, Horace Stoneham moves the Giants to San Francisco and Walter O’Malley takes his Dodgers to Los Angeles.

 

1961

The Griffith family moves the Washington Senators to Minneapolis where they become the Minnesota Twins.

 

Also, the American League undergoes the first expansion of the modern era.  Without skipping a season in the nation’s capital, they add a brand new Washington Senators club, and they follow the NL to the west coast by adding the Los Angeles Angels.

 

1962

Lacking a presence in NYC for 4 seasons, the NL expands adding the New York Mets and, looking to tap into a new market, the Houston Colt .45s.

 

1965

To counter management dissatisfaction with the current name, and possibly  to avoid legal issues with the Colt Manufacturing company, Houston renames its team the Astros, in recognition of the burgeoning space program there.

 

With their move from L.A. proper to suburban Anaheim, the Angels adopt the more regional moniker California Angels.

 

1966

The Milwaukee Braves relocate to Atlanta.

 

1968

The A’s move west to Oakland.  

 

1969

Each league expands by two teams.  The AL adds the Seattle Pilots and, to stem potential legal action in Kansas City, the Kansas City Royals.  The NL adds the San Diego Padres and the Montreal Expos.  Faced with unwieldly 12-team leagues, the NL and AL decide to the split into eastern and western divisions:

 

AL East                                  AL West:

Baltimore Orioles                  California Angels

Boston Red Sox                   Chicago White Sox

Cleveland Indians                 Kansas City Royals

Detroit Tigers                        Minnesota Twins

New York Yankees               Oakland A’s

Washington Senators           Seattle Pilots

 

NL East:                                 NL West:

Chicago Cubs                       Atlanta Braves

Montreal Expos                     Cincinnati Reds

New York Mets                      Houston Astros

Philadelphia Phillies              Los Angeles Dodgers

Pittsburgh Pirates                 San Diego Padres

St. Louis Cardinals                San Francisco Giants

 

1970

Mere days before they’re scheduled to head north to Seattle to start the season, the Pilots are purchased by a Milwaukee car dealer, Bud Selig, and fly to Milwaukee instead to become the Brewers.  For the time being, the team remains in the western division.

 

1972

Just over a decade after the Griffith family abandoned Washington, Bob Short moves the new Senators to Arlington, Texas to become the Texas Rangers.  The Rangers begin play in the western division, allowing the Brewers to move to the eastern division.

 

1977

The AL expands.  They chase the NL north of the border and plant the Toronto Blue Jays in the eastern division, and they settle pending litigation with King County for having let the Pilots go by adding the Seattle Mariners to the western division.

 

1993

The NL expands.  The Colorado Rockies are added to the NL’s western division, and the Florida Marlins go into the east.

 

1994

The NL and AL each realign into 3 divisions:

 

AL East:                      AL Central                         AL West

Baltimore Orioles       Chicago White Sox           California Angels

Boston Red Sox         Cleveland Indians             Oakland A’s

Detroit Tigers              Kansas City Royals          Seattle Mariners

New York Yankees      Milwaukee Brewers          Texas Rangers

Toronto Blue Jays       Minnesota Twins

 

NL East:                       NL Central:                      NL West:

Atlanta Braves             Chicago Cubs                  Colorado Rockies

Florida Marlins             Cincinnati Reds                Los Angeles Dodgers

Montreal Expos            Houston Astros                San Diego Padres

New York Mets             Pittsburgh Pirates            San Francisco Giants

Philadelphia Phillies     St. Louis Cardinals

 

1997

The Angels change their designation to the Anaheim Angels.

 

1998

Each league expands by one team.  The NL adds the Arizona Diamondbacks to its western division, and the AL adds the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to the east.  This gives each league 15 teams, which puts the schedule out of balance.  To compensate, the Milwaukee Brewers are moved to the NL central division, and the Tigers move over from the AL east to the AL central.

 

2005

The Montreal Expos move to become the Washington Nationals.

 

Also, because of legal concerns, the Angels change their designation yet again to the wordy Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

 

2008

The Devil Rays officially shorten their name to simply the Rays. 

 

2012

The Marlins change their designation from Florida to Miami.

 

2013

With MLB wanting to go to everyday inter-league play, an odd number of teams is needed in each league.  The Houston Astros leave the NL central for the AL west to accommodate this.