Citizendia

American League
Current season or competition:
2008 Major League Baseball season
American League
SportBaseball
Founded1901
No. The 2008 Major League Baseball season began on March 25 2008 in Tokyo Japan with the 2007 World Series champion Boston Red Sox defeating Baseball is a Bat-and-ball Sport played between two teams of nine players each Baseball The "American League War" The AL leaves the National Agreement and competes with the National League of teams14
Country(ies)Flag of the United States United States
Flag of Canada Canada
Most recent
champion(s)		Boston Red Sox

The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page The Boston Red Sox are a Professional baseball team based in Boston Massachusetts, and are the reigning (2007 World Series Champions. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, that eventually aspired to major league status. The Western League of Professional Baseball Clubs, simply called the Western League, was a Minor league baseball league founded in 1893 and focused in the The league is often called the Junior Circuit because it was elevated to Major League status in 1901, 25 years after the formation of the National League (the "Senior Circuit"). The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the National League ( NL) is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball The American League champion plays in the World Series against the National League champion after the end of every season. For other events named "World Series" see World Series (disambiguation. Through the 2007 season, American League teams have won 61 of the 103 World Series played since 1903. Champions Major League Baseball Regular Season Champions Other champions Minor League Baseball

Contents

Early League History

With the disappearance of the American Association after the 1891 baseball season, the National League expanded to become a twelve-team league. The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the National League ( NL) is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball The National League remained the sole monopoly of major professional baseball for the remainder of the century. In 1894, Bancroft "Ban" Johnson became the president of the minor Western League. Byron Bancroft "Ban" Johnson ( January 5, 1864 &ndash March 28, 1931) was an American executive in Professional baseball In 1896, he formulated the plan that would eventually see the Western League become the American League. Throughout the latter half of the 1890's, the National League considered contracting from twelve teams to eight. Johnson was determined that if this should happen, then he would be set to place new teams into the abandoned cities and thus take on the established league.

In 1900 the NL finally went through with its planned contraction, eliminating its teams in Baltimore, Cleveland, Louisville, and Washington, D.C.. Cleveland is a City in the US state of Ohio and the County seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D Johnson thus felt the time was right to take on the established league.

The Western League renamed itself the American League on October 11, 1899, and placed teams in Cleveland and Chicago. Events 1138 - A massive earthquake struck Aleppo, Syria. 1531 - Huldrych Zwingli is killed Year 1899 ( MDCCCXCIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. This was done with the approval of the National League, which did not recognize the threat such a move would pose. The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the National League ( NL) is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball

Despite these moves, the American League remained a minor league during the 1900 season. The league did not renew its National Agreement membership when it expired in October 1900, and on January 28, 1901, officially declared itself a major league. Events 1077 - Walk to Canossa: The Excommunication of Henry IV Holy Roman Emperor is lifted Year 1901 ( MCMI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting It placed new teams in Baltimore and Boston. The manager and several players from the Kansas City team were transferred to Washington.

The National League early on attempted to destroy the upstart league, even sabotaging the Baltimore franchise in 1902 after then manager John McGraw jumped the team and signed with the NL's New York Giants, bringing several of his star players with him. The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in, that currently play in the National League West Division. Despite this setback, the AL managed to survive the season intact and the NL sued for peace in 1903. After relocating the Baltimore franchise to New York for 1903, the two leagues settled into fifty years of peace and prosperity, with each league holding steady at eight teams.

The advent of television and other economic forces broke the half-century status quo in the 1950s, as some teams from both leagues began to transfer to other cities, and also led to the first major league expansion since the short-lived Federal League experiment of 1914-1915. The Federal League was the last major attempt to establish an independent major Professional baseball league in the United States

The Expansion Era

In 1961, the league expanded to ten teams, adding a franchise in Los Angeles and Washington, DC, the latter replacing the departing Washington Senators franchise that had relocated to Minneapolis, MN to become the Minnesota Twins. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are a professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California. The Texas Rangers are an American professional baseball team based in Arlington Texas, United States, representing the Dallas-Ft The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

In 1969 the league expanded again, adding the Kansas City Royals and the Seattle Pilots, the former replacing the departed Athletics franchise in Kansas City. The Kansas City Royals are a Major League Baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Milwaukee Brewers are a Major League Baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which plays in the Central Division of the National League The Oakland Athletics are a professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Pilots only managed to survive one season before transferring to Milwaukee (just four days before the 1970 season started) where they became known as the Milwaukee Brewers. The Milwaukee Brewers are a Major League Baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which plays in the Central Division of the National League Also in 1969, the league, along with the National League, reorganized into two divisions of six teams (East and West, falling more along geographical lines than the NL's own realignment that year) and added a League Championship Series to determine the league participant in the World Series. For other events named "World Series" see World Series (disambiguation.

In 1973, the American League adopted the designated hitter rule, whereby a team may designate a tenth player to bat in place of the pitcher. In Baseball, the designated hitter rule is the common name for Major League Baseball Rule 6 This rule change parted ways with the National League, which continued to require pitchers to bat for themselves, and led to special rules governing its use during interleague play such as the World Series. The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the National League ( NL) is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball

In 1977, the league expanded to fourteen teams, when the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays were enfranchised. The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Toronto franchise was the AL's attempt to compete with the National League's Montreal Expos while the Mariners were added in an attempt to settle a pending $90 million lawsuit against the league by the city of Seattle over the quick departure of the Pilots in 1970. The Washington Nationals is an American professional baseball team based in Washington D

In 1994, the league, along with the National League, reorganized into three divisions (East, Central and West) and added a second round to the playoffs in the form of the League Divisional Series, with the best second-place team advancing to the playoffs as a wild card team, in addition to the three divisional champions. Originally, the Milwaukee Brewers were in the Central division, but they left to join the National League in 1998, and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays joined the Eastern division, which kept the league's membership at 14 teams. The Milwaukee Brewers are a Major League Baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which plays in the Central Division of the National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the National League ( NL) is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball The Tampa Bay Rays are a Major League Baseball franchise based in St

For the first 96 years, American League teams faced their National League opponents only in exhibition games or in the World Series. Beginning in 1997, interleague games have been played during the regular season and count in the standings. Interleague play is the term used to describe regular season Major League Baseball games played between teams in different leagues introduced in. As part of the agreement instituting interleague play, the designated hitter is used only in games where the American League team is the home team.

Through the 2007 season, the Yankees have won the most American League pennants (39), followed by the Athletics (14), Red Sox (12), and Tigers (10). Likewise, the Yankees have also won the most World Series (26), with the Athletics second with nine, the Red Sox third with seven and the Tigers fourth with four.

For more details on this topic, see 2007 American League Championship Series. The American League Championship Series ( ALCS) the second round of the 2007 American League playoffs began on October 12 and ended on

Teams

Charter franchises

Starting in 1901, the eight charter teams were the following:

Expansion, renaming and relocation summary

Current teams

American League East

American League Central

American League West

(*)See commentary on Western League page. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are a professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California. The Oakland Athletics are a professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The Texas Rangers are an American professional baseball team based in Arlington Texas, United States, representing the Dallas-Ft The Western League of Professional Baseball Clubs, simply called the Western League, was a Minor league baseball league founded in 1893 and focused in the The Buffalo, Indianapolis, Kansas City and Minneapolis teams were replaced by teams in Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington in 1901, but it is unclear and disputed as to which team went where. It is generally believed, however, that the Minneapolis Millers of 1900 became the Baltimore Orioles of 1901 and that the Kansas City Blues of 1900 became the Washington Senators of 1901.

AL presidents 1901-1999

Other leagues

Several other sports have had leagues called "American League", usually with the sport name as a qualifier, such as the "American Football League" (which eventually merged with the National Football League, adopting the latter's name for the combination). Byron Bancroft "Ban" Johnson ( January 5, 1864 &ndash March 28, 1931) was an American executive in Professional baseball Ernest Sargent Barnard ( July 17 1874 - March 27 1931) was the President of the American League from 1927 until his death William Harridge ( October 16, 1883 - April 9, 1971) was an American executive in Professional baseball whose most significant Joseph Edward Cronin ( October 12, 1906 – September 7, 1984) was a Major League Baseball player from to and manager Leland Stanford MacPhail Jr (born October 25, 1917 in Nashville, Tennessee) is a former administrator in Major League Baseball For other uses see Bobby Brown Robert William Brown, MD (born October 25 1924 Gene Budig (born May 11 1939 in McCook, Nebraska) was the president of Major League Baseball 's American League from to Jackie Autry, (born Jacqueline Ellam) the former owner of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and widow of singer actor and businessman Gene Autry Note There were three earlier and unrelated major American professional football leagues of the same name One in 1926, one in 1936-1937 and one in 1940-1941 The National Football League ( NFL) is the largest professional American football league. The American Hockey League is the top minor league in North American professional ice hockey. American Hockey Association (1926–1942The American Hockey League (AHL is a Professional Ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary Ice hockey, often referred to simply as hockey, is a team Sport played on Ice.

Sources

See also

External links

Dictionary

American League

-proper noun

  1. (baseball) The younger of the two professional baseball leagues within Major League Baseball.
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