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The Major Leagues of baseball consist of 30 teams in two leagues, the American League, which consists of 14 teams, and the National League, which consists of 16 teams. There are 28 teams in the United States and 2 two teams in Canada.
The beginning of the National Leagues started out in 1876 when William A. Hubert, owner of the Chicago White Stockings baseball team, organized the eight teams of National League. Those teams included Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Louisville, Philadelphia, Boston, Hartford, and New York. Of these eight teams, only Cincinnati and Chicago remain in the National League today.
In 1900, Ban Johnson changed the name of his small ‘Western League’ to the ‘American League’ in hope of adding additional cities to his league. While the National League was struggling because of organizational problems, the American League was expanding its teams to the same cities as the National League. It was not long until owners of the teams in the American League were recruiting players from the National League for a higher price. Over 100 players broke their contracts and left the National League in favor of the American League. A strong bitter feud broke out between the two leagues because of the recruitment policy.
In 1903 the two leagues agreed to form a three-man commission that would call an end to the hostility. This commission was the beginning of the structural organization of Major League Baseball. Under the leadership of this commission, the two leagues were considered separate major leagues and were to abide by the commission’s rules. The main sticking point in the agreement was that each league could not recruit players from the other league unless they were eligible according to their contract.
The commission also agreed to allow a series of games at the end of the season to determine who had the best league. At the end of the 1903 season, the Champion of the National League Pennant, the Pittsburgh Pirates, lost to the American League’s Pennant Champion, the Boston Americans. This series of games is still carried on to this day. It is better known as the World Series of Major League Baseball.
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