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93-561: The National Baseball Commission was the governing body of Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball from 1903 to 1920. It consisted of a chairman, the presidents of the National League (NL) and American League (AL), and a secretary . The commission was formed as part of the peace agreement between the AL and NL and abolished following the Black Sox Scandal . It was replaced with

186-641: A bat , hitting five home runs , recording 110  runs batted in , and sporting a lifetime .268 batting average —an unusually high mark for a pitcher. Mays is the only Red Sox pitcher to toss two nine-inning complete game victories on the same day, as he beat the Philadelphia Athletics 12–0 and 4–1 on August 30, 1918. Those wins put the Red Sox one step from clinching the league championship, as they led Cleveland by 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 games with four remaining to play. After his playing career, Mays

279-522: A "no good son of a bitch". Mays responded by calling Cobb a "yellow dog". After order was restored, Mays hit Cobb directly on the wrist. The Tigers won the game 6–1 and the incident cemented Mays' reputation as a head hunter. The Red Sox won that year's World Series by defeating the Philadelphia Phillies in five games, but Mays did not play. In 1916, Mays appeared in 44 games, and started 24. 18 of his starts were complete games, and he posted

372-518: A 2006–07 investigation produced the Mitchell Report , which found that many players had used steroids and other performance-enhancing substances , including at least one player from each team. Each team plays 162 games per season, with Opening Day traditionally held during the first week of April. Six teams in each league then advance to a four-round postseason tournament in October, culminating in

465-592: A batter could foul off any number of pitches with no strikes counted against him; this gave an enormous advantage to the batter. After the 1919 World Series between the Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds, baseball was rocked by allegations of a game-fixing scheme known as the Black Sox Scandal . Eight players— "Shoeless" Joe Jackson , Eddie Cicotte , Claude "Lefty" Williams , George "Buck" Weaver , Arnold "Chick" Gandil , Fred McMullin , Charles "Swede" Risberg , and Oscar "Happy" Felsch —intentionally lost

558-406: A chance for recreation and for taking their minds off their work even more than before." With the approval of President Roosevelt, spring training began in 1942 with few repercussions. The war interrupted the careers of stars including Stan Musial , Bob Feller , Ted Williams , and Joe DiMaggio , but baseball clubs continued to field their teams. Branch Rickey, president and general manager of

651-500: A grand jury in Pittsburgh related to cocaine trafficking. The 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike from August 12, 1994, to April 25, 1995, caused the cancellation of over 900 games and the forfeit of the entire 1994 postseason. Routinely in the late 1990s and early 2000s, baseball players hit 40 or 50 home runs in a season, a feat that was considered rare even in the 1980s. It later became apparent that at least some of this power surge

744-633: A little better in subsequent campaigns—but in their eighth season (1969) the Mets became the first of the 1960s expansion teams to play in the postseason, culminating in a World Series title over the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles. In 1966, the major leagues moved to the "Deep South" when the Braves moved to Atlanta. In 1968, the Kansas City Athletics moved west to become the Oakland Athletics . In 1969,

837-646: A man for many reasons. Color is not one of them." That year, Robinson won the inaugural Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award (separate NL and AL Rookie of the Year honors were not awarded until 1949). Less than three months later, Larry Doby became the first African-American to break the color barrier in the American League with the Cleveland Indians. The next year, a number of other black players entered

930-413: A new National Agreement which tied independent contracts to the reserve-clause contracts. The agreement also set up a formal classification system for minor leagues, the forerunner of today's system that was refined by Branch Rickey . Several other early defunct baseball leagues are considered major leagues, and their statistics and records are included with those of the two modern major leagues. In 1969,

1023-431: A one-armed outfielder, got the chance to advance to the major leagues. However, MLB rosters did not include any black players through the end of the war. Black players, many of whom served in the war, were still restricted to playing Negro league baseball . Wartime blackout restrictions , designed to keep outdoor lighting at low levels, caused another problem for baseball. These rules limited traveling and night games to

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1116-492: A rebellion by players against the hated "reserve clause", which restricted the free movement of players between clubs. Teams came and went; 1882 was the first season where the league's membership was the same as the preceding season's, and only four franchises survived to see 1900. Competitor leagues formed regularly and also disbanded regularly. The most successful was the American Association (1882–1891), sometimes called

1209-527: A record of 18 wins and 13 losses, with an earned run average of 2.39. In the 1916 World Series , Mays was the losing pitcher in Game 3, but the Red Sox defeated the Brooklyn Robins 4 games to 1. In 1917, The Red Sox posted a second-place finish. Mays pitched in 35 games, and his record was 22 wins and 9 losses, with an ERA of 1.74. Mays went 22–13 in the 1918 season, with an ERA of 2.21. The Red Sox returned to

1302-528: A single-game MLB attendance record in their first home appearance with 78,672 fans. In 1961, the first Washington Senators franchise moved to Minneapolis–St. Paul to become the Minnesota Twins . Two new teams were added to the American League at the same time: the Los Angeles Angels (who soon moved from downtown L.A. to nearby Anaheim ) and a new Washington Senators franchise. The NL added

1395-489: A successful Baltimore chop, the batter hits the ball forcefully into the ground, causing it to bounce so high that the batter reaches first base before the ball can be fielded and thrown to the first baseman. The adoption of the foul strike rule—in the NL in 1901, in the AL two years later—quickly sent baseball from a high-scoring game to one where scoring runs became a struggle. Before this rule, foul balls were not counted as strikes:

1488-613: Is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan . Baseball's first all-professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings , was founded in 1869. The first few decades of professional baseball saw rivalries between leagues, and players often jumped from one team or league to another. These practices were essentially ended by the National Agreement of 1903, in which AL and NL agreed to respect each other's player contracts, including

1581-614: The Armistice that ended that war. Influenza broke out while Mays was stationed at Washington University in St. Louis as a member of the Student Army Training Corps 's vocational training unit, and several individuals from his train trip died during the outbreak. The Armistice ended the need to expand the Army, and Mays was discharged in time to begin the 1919 baseball season. Though he

1674-543: The Baseball Hall of Fame despite having lifetime statistics comparable to some other pitchers who were. In a 15-year career with the Boston Red Sox , New York Yankees , Cincinnati Reds , and New York Giants , Mays compiled a 207–126 record with 29 shutouts , 862 strikeouts and a 2.92 earned run average when the league average was 3.48. He won twenty or more games five times. He was also noted for his skills with

1767-782: The Boston Braves became the Milwaukee Braves , the St. Louis Browns became the Baltimore Orioles , and the Philadelphia Athletics became the Kansas City Athletics . The 1958 Major League Baseball season began to turn Major League Baseball into a nationwide league. Walter O'Malley , owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers and "perhaps the most influential owner of baseball's early expansion era," moved his team to Los Angeles, marking

1860-589: The Boston Red Sox without permission. Johnson demanded that the Red Sox suspend him, but instead, the Red Sox traded Mays to the New York Yankees . Johnson suspended Mays for deserting the Red Sox. Yankees owner Tillinghast Huston accused Johnson of having a financial interest in the Cleveland Indians , Huston and co-owner Jacob Ruppert obtained a temporary injunction allowing Mays to play. New York Supreme Court Justice Robert F. Wagner ruled in favor of

1953-515: The Boston Red Sox . In one version of the story, Mays learned his underhand style of pitching from Dizzy Dismukes , a pitcher in Negro league baseball . In another, he was taught the technique by Joe McGinnity when McGinnity coached the Tacoma team during Mays's stint with Portland. Mays was nicknamed "Sub", a reference to his submarine pitching motion, and he was known to throw a spitball . The pitch

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2046-653: The Commissioner of Baseball . Prior to the 1900 season, the Western League , which had been a minor league located in the Midwestern United States , changed its name to the American League (AL) and moved several of its franchises to larger, strategic locations, including cities abandoned by the National League (NL). In 1901, the American League declared its intent to operate as a major league, challenging

2139-588: The Great Depression , baseball's popularity had begun a downward turn in the early 1930s. By 1932, only two MLB teams turned a profit. Attendance had fallen, due at least in part to a 10% federal amusement tax added to baseball ticket prices. Baseball owners cut their rosters from 25 men to 23, and even the best players took pay cuts. Team executives were innovative in their attempts to survive, creating night games, broadcasting games live by radio, and rolling out promotions such as free admission for women. Throughout

2232-653: The Houston Astros and the New York Mets in 1962. The Astros (known as the "Colt .45s" during their first three seasons) became the first southern major league franchise since the Louisville Colonels folded in 1899 and the first franchise to be located along the Gulf Coast . The Mets established a reputation for futility by going 40–120 during their first season of play in the nation's media capital—and by playing only

2325-591: The National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP). The NABBP existed as an amateur league for 12 years. By 1867, more than 400 clubs were members. Most of the strongest clubs remained those based in the Northeastern United States. For professional baseball 's founding year, MLB uses the year 1869—when the first professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings , was established. A schism developed between professional and amateur ballplayers after

2418-474: The National Basketball Association (NBA). Baseball games are broadcast on television, radio, and the internet throughout North America and in several other countries. MLB has the highest total season attendance of any sports league in the world; in 2023, it drew more than 70.75 million spectators. MLB also oversees Minor League Baseball , which comprises lower-tier teams affiliated with

2511-539: The National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. Formed in 1876 and 1901, respectively, the NL and AL cemented their cooperation with the National Agreement in 1903, making MLB the oldest major professional sports league in the world. They remained legally separate entities until 2000, when they merged into a single organization led by the commissioner of baseball . MLB

2604-639: The Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Browns both had claims for George Sisler . Sisler had signed a minor league contract before deciding to attend the University of Michigan , and the Pirates had acquired the contractual rights while Sisler had successful college baseball career. Sisler signed a contract with the Browns after leaving college. In 1912, the commission declared the original contract void because Sisler

2697-598: The Texas Rangers . In 1977, baseball expanded again , adding a second Canadian team, the Toronto Blue Jays , as well as the Seattle Mariners . Subsequently, no new teams were added until the 1990s and no teams moved until 2005. By the late 1960s, the balance between pitching and hitting had swung in favor of the pitchers. In 1968—later nicknamed "the year of the pitcher" —Boston Red Sox player Carl Yastrzemski won

2790-603: The World Series , a best-of-seven championship series between the two league champions first played in 1903. The New York Yankees have the most championships with 27. The reigning champions are the Los Angeles Dodgers , who defeated the New York Yankees in the 2024 World Series . MLB is the third-wealthiest professional sports league by revenue in the world after the National Football League (NFL) and

2883-682: The World Series , and defeated the Chicago Cubs in 6 games. Mays was the winning pitcher in games 3 and 6, both by scores of 2–1. Mays married for the first time shortly after the end of the 1918 season. After a brief honeymoon in Missouri, he departed by train from his home in Mansfield for St. Louis as the leader of a group of 18 men who had enlisted in the United States Army for World War I . They were sworn in on November 6, five days before

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2976-564: The Yankees , played in a World Series that others later accused him of helping to throw, bringing back memories of the Black Sox scandal from just two years prior. These rumors were never proven, but they persisted long enough that, combined with an already negative reputation among other players both from the Chapman incident and from having a personality that few found agreeable, he was never elected to

3069-780: The first and second Negro National Leagues (1920–1931 and 1933–1948), the Eastern Colored League (1923–1928), the American Negro League (1929), the East–West League (1932), the Negro Southern League (1932), and the Negro American League (1937–1948). In 2021, baseball reference website Baseball-Reference.com began to include statistics from those seven leagues into their major-league statistics. In May 2024, Major League Baseball announced that it

3162-442: The "beer and whiskey league" for its tolerance of the sale of alcoholic beverages to spectators. For several years, the NL and American Association champions met in a postseason championship series—the first attempt at a World Series . The two leagues merged in 1892 as a single 12-team NL, but the NL dropped four teams after the 1899 season. This led to the formation of the American League in 1901 under AL president Ban Johnson , and

3255-531: The 1870s. In 1876, the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs (later known as the National League or NL) was established after the NA proved ineffective. The league placed its emphasis on clubs rather than on players. Clubs could now enforce player contracts, preventing players from jumping to higher-paying clubs. Clubs were required to play the full schedule of games instead of forfeiting scheduled games when

3348-557: The 1960s and 1970s, as baseball expanded, NFL football had been surging in popularity, making it economical for many of these cities to build multi-purpose stadiums instead of single-purpose baseball fields. Because of climate and economic issues, many of these facilities had playing surfaces made from artificial turf , as well as the oval designs characteristic of stadiums designed to house both baseball and football. This often resulted in baseball fields with relatively more foul territory than older stadiums. These characteristics changed

3441-458: The 1990s. During the 1980s, baseball experienced a number of significant changes the game had not seen in years. Home runs were on the decline throughout the decade, with players hitting 40 home runs just 13 times and no one hitting more than 50 home runs in a season for the first time since the Dead-ball era (1900–1919). The 1981 Major League Baseball strike from June 12 until July 31 forced

3534-486: The American League batting title with an average of just .301, the lowest in the history of Major League Baseball. Detroit Tigers pitcher Denny McLain won 31 games, making him the only pitcher to win 30 games in a season since Dizzy Dean in 1934. St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Bob Gibson achieved an equally remarkable feat by allowing an ERA of just 1.12. Following these pitching performances, in December 1968

3627-869: The American and National Leagues both added two expansion franchises . The American League added the Seattle Pilots (who became the Milwaukee Brewers after one disastrous season in Seattle) and the Kansas City Royals . The NL added the first Canadian franchise, the Montreal Expos , as well as the San Diego Padres . In 1972, the second Washington Senators moved to the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex to become

3720-468: The Brooklyn Dodgers, began making efforts to introduce a black baseball player to the previously all-white professional baseball leagues in the mid-1940s. He selected Jackie Robinson from a list of promising Negro league players. After obtaining a commitment from Robinson to "turn the other cheek" to any racial antagonism directed at him, Rickey agreed to sign him to a contract for $ 600 a month. In what

3813-809: The Dodgers when they came to town, abandoning the Negro league teams that they had followed exclusively. Robinson's promotion met a generally positive, although mixed, reception among newspaper writers and white major league players. Manager Leo Durocher informed his team, "I don't care if he is yellow or black or has stripes like a fucking zebra. I'm his manager and I say he plays." After a strike threat by some players, NL President Ford C. Frick and Baseball Commissioner Happy Chandler let it be known that any striking players would be suspended. Robinson received significant encouragement from several major-league players, including Dodgers teammate Pee Wee Reese who said, "You can hate

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3906-667: The Great Depression, no MLB teams moved or folded. The onset of World War II created a shortage of professional baseball players, as more than 500 men left MLB teams to serve in the military. Many of them played on service baseball teams that entertained military personnel in the US or in the Pacific. MLB teams of this time largely consisted of young men, older players, and those with a military classification of 4F , indicating mental, physical, or moral unsuitability for service. Men like Pete Gray ,

3999-469: The Indians and Yankees. Mays, however, never left the mound. Chapman was taken to a hospital, where surgeons operated and discovered a skull fracture . He initially seemed to rally after the surgery but died early in the morning on the following day. Mays stayed in the game and continued to pitch until being replaced in the ninth inning. Cleveland won the game 4–3. The New York District Attorney determined that

4092-425: The Indians when Ray Chapman came to the plate in the fifth inning on August 16, 1920. Mays was pursuing his 100th career win that day. Chapman had a sacrifice bunt in the first inning and popped up to Yankee first baseman Wally Pipp in the third. Angered that Chapman was crowding the plate, Mays let loose with a high fastball that he claimed was in the strike zone but that Chapman apparently never saw. The impact of

4185-485: The MLB Playing Rules Committee voted to reduce the strike zone from knees to shoulders to top of knees to armpits and lower the pitcher's mound from 15 to 10 inches, beginning in the 1969 season. In 1973, the American League, which had been suffering from much lower attendance than the National League, sought to increase scoring even further by initiating the designated hitter (DH) rule. Throughout

4278-625: The National League. A peace agreement between the NL and AL was ratified in January 1903. The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues , the organization of minor baseball leagues, did not agree to the terms of the arrangement. In August 1903, the NL, AL, and minor leagues reached an agreement which established the National Baseball Commission as the governing body for Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball, commonly referred to as "Organized Baseball". August Herrmann ,

4371-404: The Northern District of Illinois . Landis opted not to rule on the case, and the Federal League collapsed after the 1915 season. When the two sides returned to his court in February 1916 to have the suit dismissed, Landis said that he waited to see if they could forge a settlement, because he had feared that issuing an injunction would have been harmful to baseball. In July 1919, Carl Mays left

4464-607: The Special Baseball Records Committee of Major League Baseball officially recognized six major leagues: the National League, American League, American Association, Union Association (1884), Players' League (1890), and Federal League (1914–1915). The status of the National Association as a major league has been a point of dispute among baseball researchers; while its statistics are not recognized by Major League Baseball, its statistics are included with those of other major leagues by some baseball reference websites, such as Retrosheet . Some researchers, including Nate Silver , dispute

4557-486: The World Series in exchange for a ring worth $ 100,000 ($ 1,712,780.35 in 2022 dollars). Despite being acquitted, all were permanently banned from Major League Baseball. Baseball's popularity increased in the 1920s and 1930s. The 1920 season was notable for the death of Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians . Chapman, who was struck in the head by a pitch and died a few hours later, became the only MLB player to die of an on-field injury. Both leagues quickly began to require

4650-422: The Yankees, granting a permanent injunction. The owners of the Yankees, Red Sox, and Chicago White Sox began to collectively oppose Johnson, becoming known as the "Insurrectos". Though the Insurrectos were outnumbered by the five teams loyal to Johnson, they held three out of the four seats on the league's board of directors . After the 1918 season, Harry Frazee , the owner of the Red Sox, and Harry Hempstead ,

4743-427: The ball striking Chapman in the head was so loud that Mays, thinking it had hit Chapman's bat and was in play, caught the ball as it bounced onto the field and threw it to Pipp at first base. Chapman, trying to take his base after the hit by pitch , fell to the ground twice and was unable to get up. Cleveland teammate Tris Speaker raced from the on-deck circle to check on Chapman. He was joined by several players from

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4836-474: The cancellation of 713 total games and resulted in a split-season format. In 1985, Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb 's all-time hits record with his 4,192nd hit, and in 1989 Rose received a lifetime ban from baseball as a result of betting on baseball games while manager of the Cincinnati Reds . Rose was the first person to receive a lifetime ban from baseball since 1943. 1985 also saw the Pittsburgh drug trials which involved players who were called to testify before

4929-403: The center field fence, and the Huntington Avenue Grounds of the Boston Red Sox , which was 635 feet (194 m) to the center field fence, thus home runs were rare, and "small ball" tactics such as singles , bunts , stolen bases , and the hit-and-run play dominated the strategies of the time. Hitting methods like the Baltimore chop were used to increase the number of infield singles. On

5022-443: The club was no longer in the running for the league championship, which happened frequently under the NA. A concerted effort was made to curb gambling on games, which was leaving the validity of results in doubt. The first game in the NL—on Saturday, April 22, 1876 (at Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia )—is often pointed to as the beginning of MLB. The early years of the NL were tumultuous, with threats from rival leagues and

5115-573: The condition of the baseball itself. The baseball used American rather than the modern Australian wool yarn and was not wound as tightly, affecting the distance that it would travel. More significantly, balls were kept in play until they were mangled, soft and sometimes lopsided. During this era, a baseball cost three dollars, equal to $ 52.72 today (in inflation-adjusted USD ), and owners were reluctant to purchase new balls. Fans were expected to throw back fouls and (rare) home runs. Baseballs also became stained with tobacco juice, grass, and mud, and sometimes

5208-432: The contentious reserve clause . The period before 1920 was the dead-ball era , when home runs were rarely hit. Professional baseball was rocked by the Black Sox Scandal , a conspiracy to fix the 1919 World Series . Baseball survived the scandal, albeit with major changes in its governance as the relatively weak National Commission was replaced with a powerful commissioner of baseball with near-unlimited authority over

5301-459: The few players that Ty Cobb was on friendly terms with, so Cobb was the most vocal critic, suggesting that someone should give Mays a taste of his own medicine by hitting Mays with a pitch the same way Mays hit Chapman. Mays enjoyed his best season in 1921 , when he led the American League in wins (27), innings pitched ( 336 + 2 ⁄ 3 ), games pitched (49), and winning percentage (.750). However, that same season Mays, pitching for

5394-404: The first major league franchise on the West Coast. O'Malley also helped persuade the rival New York Giants to move west to become the San Francisco Giants. Giants owner Horace Stoneham had been contemplating a move to Minnesota amid slumping attendance at the aging Polo Grounds ballpark when O'Malley invited him to meet San Francisco Mayor George Christopher in New York. After Stoneham

5487-454: The founding of the Cincinnati club. The NABBP split into an amateur organization and a professional organization. The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players , often known as the National Association (NA), was formed in 1871. Its amateur counterpart disappeared after only a few years. The modern Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves franchises trace their histories back to the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players in

5580-666: The grand jury indicted eight members of the White Sox for conspiring to throw the 1919 World Series , known as the Black Sox Scandal . By October 1920, Heydler called for the end of the commission. Albert Lasker proposed the idea of having three individuals with no financial ties to baseball serving on the commission. All eight teams in the National League, along with the Insurrectos in the American League, threatened to break away from Organized Baseball to form their own 12-team league. They turned to Landis as their preferred choice for commissioner. Landis agreed to serve as Commissioner of Baseball , if he could have sole authority and not share

5673-429: The hole " between the corner and middle infielders. Starting pitchers were no longer expected to throw complete games ; it was enough for a starter to pitch 6–7 innings and turn the game over to the team's closer , a position which grew in importance over these decades. As stolen bases increased, home run totals dropped. After Willie Mays hit 52 home runs in 1965, only one player ( George Foster ) reached that mark until

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5766-465: The incident was an accident, and no charges were filed. In an interview three months after Chapman's death, Mays expressed regret for the outcome, but he stated that he did not feel any guilt, as he had not hit Chapman on purpose; indeed, one of Chapman's last words before losing consciousness was "I'm all right; tell Mays not to worry". Mays received the wrath of many opposing players, who believed he beaned Chapman deliberately. Chapman had been one of

5859-401: The juice of licorice, which some players would chew for the purpose of discoloring the ball. Also, pitchers could manipulate the ball through the use of the spitball (In 1921, use of this pitch was restricted to a few pitchers with a grandfather clause ). Additionally, many ballparks had large dimensions, such as the West Side Grounds of the Chicago Cubs, which was 560 feet (170 m) to

5952-404: The league that hurt the Giants. In January 1920, Herrmann resigned from the commission. Johnson and John Heydler , the NL president, were unable to agree on a new chairman. In September 1920, a grand jury was called in Cook County, Illinois , to address an allegation of match fixing of a game between the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies . After investigating corruption in baseball,

6045-404: The major league clubs, and the MLB Draft League , a hybrid amateur-professional showcase league. MLB and the World Baseball Softball Confederation jointly manage the international World Baseball Classic tournament. In the 1860s, aided by soldiers playing the game in camp during the Civil War , "New York"-style baseball expanded into a national game and spawned baseball's first governing body,

6138-485: The major leagues. Satchel Paige was signed by the Indians and the Dodgers added star catcher Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe , who was later the first winner of the Cy Young Award for his outstanding pitching. MLB banned the signing of women to contracts in 1952, but that ban was lifted in 1992. There have been no female MLB players since then. From 1903 to 1952, the major leagues consisted of two eight-team leagues whose 16 teams were located in ten cities, all in

6231-405: The major-league status of the Union Association by pointing out that franchises came and went and that the St. Louis club was deliberately "stacked"; the St. Louis club was owned by the league's president and it was the only club that was close to major-league caliber. In December 2020, Major League Baseball announced its recognition of seven leagues within Negro league baseball as major leagues:

6324-402: The minor leagues as a member of the Boise, Idaho , team in the Class D Western Tri-State League . After a season in Boise, in 1913 Mays played one season for the Portland, Oregon , team in the Class A Northwest League . In 1914, Mays was drafted by the Triple-A International League 's Providence Grays . The Grays were an affiliate of the Detroit Tigers , and the Tigers sold his contract to

6417-471: The nature of professional baseball, putting a higher premium on speed and defense over home-run hitting power since the fields were often too big for teams to expect to hit many home runs and foul balls hit in the air could more easily be caught for outs. Teams began to be built around pitching—particularly their bullpens—and speed on the basepaths. Artificial surfaces meant balls traveled quicker and bounced higher, so it became easier to hit ground balls " in

6510-527: The northeastern and mid-western United States: New York City had three teams and Boston , Chicago, Philadelphia , and St. Louis each had two teams. St. Louis was the southernmost and westernmost city with a major league team. The longest possible road trip, from Boston to St. Louis, took about 24 hours by railroad. After a half-century of stability, starting in the 1950s, teams began to move out of cities with multiple teams into cities that had not had them before. From 1953 to 1955, three teams moved to new cities:

6603-428: The owner of the Cincinnati Reds of the NL, served as chairman of the commission, while the presidents of the AL, Ban Johnson , and NL, Harry Pulliam , also had seats on the commission. John E. Bruce , Johnson's personal attorney, was elected secretary and treasurer of the National Commission. The National Commission dealt with conflicts between teams and leagues. One of the most significant conflicts came in when

6696-511: The owner of the New York Giants , approached William Howard Taft , the former president of the United States , with an offer to make him baseball's sole commissioner. With other NL owners looking to replace Herrmann as chair of the commission, the new owners of the Giants switched course, supporting Herrmann's reelection to the chairmanship for the 1919 season as revenge for various rules passed by

6789-495: The parents of two children, Carl Jr. (1925–2017) and Elizabeth (Betty). His second wife was Esther Ugstead (1907–1990). All-Star pitcher Joe Mays , who played for the Minnesota Twins , Kansas City Royals , and Cincinnati Reds from 1999 to 2006, is a distant cousin of Mays. In August 2008, Mays was one of the 10 former players who began their careers before 1943 to be considered by the Veterans Committee for induction into

6882-591: The players from the National Commission before the 1914 season. The Federal League declared itself to be a major league in 1914, challenging Organized Baseball. In January 1915, the league filed suit against the National Commission, accusing it and the National Agreement of violating federal antitrust law. The case was assigned to Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis of the United States District Court for

6975-466: The point that the 1942 season was nearly canceled. On January 14, 1942, MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis wrote to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt , pleading for the continuation of baseball during the war. Roosevelt responded, "I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going. There will be fewer people unemployed and everybody will work longer hours and harder than ever before. And that means that they ought to have

7068-526: The reserve clause, led to the organization of the Major League Baseball Players Association to collectively bargain with the owners, which in turn led to the introduction of free agency in baseball. Modern stadiums with artificial turf surfaces began to change the game in the 1970s and 1980s. Home runs dominated the game during the 1990s. In the mid-2000s, media reports disclosed the use of anabolic steroids among MLB players;

7161-522: The resulting bidding war for players led to widespread contract-breaking and legal disputes. The war between the AL and NL caused shock waves throughout the baseball world. At a meeting at the Leland Hotel in Chicago in 1901, the other baseball leagues negotiated a plan to maintain their independence. A new National Association was formed to oversee these minor leagues. After 1902, the NL, AL, and NA signed

7254-457: The role with other commissioners. The owners agreed and Landis accepted the position on November 12, 1920, ending the commission. Major League Baseball Major League Baseball ( MLB ) is a professional baseball league and the highest level of organized baseball in the United States and Canada . One of the "Big Four" major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada , MLB comprises 30 teams, divided equally between

7347-563: The sport. MLB rose in popularity in the decade following the Black Sox Scandal, and unlike major leagues in other sports it endured the Great Depression and World War II without any of its teams folding. Shortly after the war, Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier . Some teams moved to different cities in the 1950s and 1960s. The AL and NL added eight clubs in the 1960s: two in 1961, two in 1962, and four in 1969. Player discontent with established labor practices, especially

7440-610: The team how to play the game safely. He died on April 4, 1971, in El Cajon, California , and is buried in River View Cemetery , Portland, Oregon (Sec. 13, Lot 49, Sp. 7). His distant cousin, Joe Mays , was a Major League pitcher from 1999 to 2006. After the 1918 World Series, Mays married Marjorie Fredricka Madden, a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music whom he had met during his rookie season. They were

7533-454: The use of new, white baseballs whenever a ball became scuffed or dirty, helping bring the "dead-ball" era to an end. The following year, the New York Yankees made their first World Series appearance. By the end of the 1930s, the team had appeared in 11 World Series, winning eight of them. Yankees slugger Babe Ruth had set the single-season home run record in 1927, hitting 60 home runs; breaking his own record of 29 home runs. Afflicted by

7626-399: Was "absorbing the available Negro Leagues numbers into the official historical record." The period between 1900 and 1919 is commonly referred to as the "dead-ball era". Games of this era tended to be low-scoring and were often dominated by pitchers, such as Walter Johnson , Cy Young , Christy Mathewson , Mordecai Brown , and Grover Cleveland Alexander . The term also accurately describes

7719-528: Was a couple named Pierce and Genevieve Mays, who were relatives and served as a surrogate uncle and aunt. As a professional baseball player, he had few friends in the baseball world. In part because of his strict Methodist upbringing, Mays refused to pitch on Sundays, as did legendary pitcher Christy Mathewson . Mays quit high school before graduating and began to earn a living as a baseball player on semi-pro teams in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Utah. In 1912, he entered

7812-627: Was a minor without parental permission at the time it was signed, and awarded his rights to the Browns. Barney Dreyfuss , the owner of the Pirates, never forgave Herrmann for the decision and began to work to have him ousted as chairman. After the 1912 season, Dave Fultz , an attorney and former major league player, attempted to unionize major league players in an organization called the Players Fraternity. He became president, with Ty Cobb , Christy Mathewson , Ed Sweeney , and Red Dooin serving as vice presidents. The group achieved concessions for

7905-858: Was a result of players using steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs . In 1993, the National League added the Florida Marlins in Miami and the Colorado Rockies in Denver . In 1998, the Brewers switched leagues by joining the National League, and two new teams were added: the National League's Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix and the American League's Tampa Bay Devil Rays in Tampa Bay . Carl Mays Carl William Mays (November 12, 1891 – April 4, 1971)

7998-527: Was an American baseball pitcher who played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1915 to 1929. During his career, he won over 200 games, 27 in 1921 alone, and was a member of four World Series -champion teams. On August 16, 1920, Mays threw the pitch that fatally injured Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians , the only major league player to die as a direct result of an on-field injury. According to his World War I draft card, Carl William Mays

8091-514: Was born November 12, 1891, in Atterson, Kentucky , one of five sons born to Callie Louisa Mays and William Henry Mays. His father was a Methodist minister, and was responsible for his strict religious upbringing. When Mays was 12, his father died and his mother moved the family to Kingfisher, Oklahoma , to live near her sister-in-law. Mays internalized his grief, settling into a surly persona with few if any close friends. His best personal support group

8184-530: Was by now established as one of the game's premier pitchers, Mays began the 1919 season with a record of five wins and eleven losses. His slow start resulted in the Red Sox trading him to the New York Yankees that July. Mays went 9–3 after the trade, resulting in a combined 1919 record of 14–14. Mays regained his form in 1920. The Yankees finished in third place, but posted a record of 95 wins and 59 losses, only three games out of first place. Mays went 26–11, including 26 complete games. The Yankees were trailing

8277-547: Was capable enough with the bat that he was often used as a pinch-hitter . In his rookie season of 1915, Mays appeared in 34 games for the Red Sox. Used mostly in relief, he won 6 games and lost 5. During the regular season, Mays was involved in a heated confrontation with Ty Cobb of the Tigers. Mays threw near Cobb each time he came to bat. In the eighth inning, after another close pitch, Cobb threw his bat in Mays' direction, calling him

8370-603: Was later referred to as "The Noble Experiment", Robinson was the first black baseball player in the International League since the 1880s, joining the Dodgers' farm club, the Montreal Royals , for the 1946 season. The following year, the Dodgers called up Robinson to the major leagues. On April 15, 1947, Robinson made his major league debut at Ebbets Field before a crowd of 26,623 spectators, including more than 14,000 black patrons. Black baseball fans began flocking to see

8463-488: Was legal at the time of the Chapman incident, but Chapman's death was partly responsible for its ban in Major League Baseball (although the ban wouldn't take effect until 1921). Mays was also known for a habit of throwing inside to any batter who hugged the plate; despite a stellar win–loss record, he was typically among the American League leaders in hit batsmen. Mays was also regarded as an exceptional fielder, and

8556-449: Was persuaded to move to California, Time magazine put O'Malley on its cover. MLB Commissioner Ford C. Frick had opposed the meeting, but the dual moves proved successful for both franchises—and for MLB. Had the Dodgers moved out west alone, the St. Louis Cardinals —1,600 mi (2,575 km) away —would have been the closest NL team. Instead, the joint move made West Coast road trips economical for visiting teams. The Dodgers set

8649-663: Was the owner and operator of a baseball school in Oregon; among his most notable attendees was Johnny Pesky . Mays also worked as a scout for the Cleveland Indians , Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves , and Kansas City Royals . In addition, his stepson, Jerry Bartow, coached baseball at Hoover High School in San Diego , and each spring Mays made the trip from Oregon to volunteer as a mentor and assistant coach. In an interview, Mays said he especially enjoyed working with young pitchers, but that he regarded his most important task as teaching members of

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