The National League is one of two professional leagues that contend in Major League Baseball ( MLB ) . The National League is erstwhile than its rival , the American League , but it was n’t the first professional baseball arrangement in America .
In the late 19th C , several entrepreneurs essay to set in motion professionalbaseballleagues , only to fold under poor leading , rickety fiscal direction , and the ever - present trouble of gambling . Until the previous 1860s , competitive baseball game was mostly an amateur ’s secret plan . Every large and small townspeople had its squad ( or several teams ) and players were recruited from the ranks of local carpenters , instructor and morticians .
The first paid professional league was the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players , launched in 1871 with nine teams from bounteous cities across the East Coast and Midwest . The National Association , as it was known , only lasted five seasons before crumble under allegations of fixed games and a virtual monopoly on wins by the Boston Red Stockings [ rootage : Miklich ] .
In February of 1876 , the owner of the Chicago White Stockings , William Hulbert , called a closed doors merging in New York City , where he proposed the foundation of a new conference that would root out gambling , shift big businessman away from the players , and attract a wealthier buff base . He called it the National League . Hulbert ’s rules for the new conference would ban alcoholic beverage at game , drunken player and fans , cursing , games on Sunday – and would ask a ticket price of 50 cents , twice the go rate of most professional baseball games [ source : Nemec ] .
How did the National League transportation at first ? Find out on the next Sir Frederick Handley Page .
The Start of the National League
The first National League time of year opened on April 22 , 1876 with eight team , including a few holdover from the National Association . Hulbert ’s White Stockings stole away some of the best National Association players and quick became the new league ’s powerhouse . Chicago won 52 of its 66 games in the 1876 season . The last place Cincinnati Red Stockings go 9–56 [ informant : Nemec ] .
The National League ( NL)introduced some new pattern to the gamethat live today . In the NL , battershad to remain in the batter ’s box when swinging , and base runner could take an extra fundament if a fielder obstructed their path . One rule that did n’t shift initially was the inhibition against a call third strike . arbitrator had to warn a instrumentalist who fail to swing at a " dear clump " that would have been the third strike . If the instrumentalist persisted , then he could be call out [ source : Nemec ] .
The American Association , a rival professional league , launched in 1882 , appealing to a more working class crowd with 25 - penny admissions and alcohol at game . The champions of the National League and American Association play each other in 1882 in what some call the first " World Series . " In 1891 , the two rival leagues coalesce into a single 12 - team National League , also have a go at it as the " Senior Circuit " [ source : Miklich ] .
The American League ( AL ) , known as the " Junior Circuit , " form in 1901 and its Boston Pilgrims won the first prescribed World Series in 1903 [ source : Major League Baseball ] . In the history of the World Series , the AL go with 62 win to 43 . The biggest contributor to the AL ’s dominance is the New York Yankees with 27 World Series titles . In remote 2nd follow the NL ’s St. Louis Cardinals with 11 titles [ source : MLB.com ] .
Today , there are 16 teams in the National League , although that issue will decoct to 15 when the Houston Astros switch to the AL in 2013 . The only major difference between AL and NL baseball is the point hitter rule adopted by the AL in 1973 [ source : McKelvey ] . ( The rule grant AL teams to substitute a hitter for the hurler during at - bats , since pitchers are typically such rickety hitters . ) National League teams plain that the rule gives the AL squads an unfair advantage in the World Series when the DL rule is in effect at AL ballpark . Despite air pressure to espouse the normal , there is no talking among NL managers to transfer track [ author : Verducci ] .
Now countenance ’s take a closer look at those original eight squad that joined the neophyte National League back in 1876 .
National League Charter Franchises
When William Hulbert created the National League in 1876 , he took six teams from the croak National Association and added two more squad to create the " Classic Eight " NL clubs :
The Chicago White Stockings , owned by Hulbert and managed by Hall - of - Fame pitcher A.G. Spalding , were the dominant force in the early years of the National League , winning six of the first 11 league title [ seed : sonny ] . Because of their immature batting order in the early 1900s , the White Stockings earned the nickname the " Cubs , " which became the squad ’s prescribed name in 1907 [ source : lad ] .
The Cubs are one of only two original NL teams that still be today . The other is the Boston Red Stockings , which underwent several name changes ( Red Caps , Beaneaters and Doves ) before settling on the Boston Braves in 1912 [ reference : Braves ] . In 1953 , the Braves make a motion to Milwaukee , where Hank Aaron led the team to a World Series title in 1957 . In 1966 , the Braves moved yet again , this time to Atlanta , where they grew to prominence in the nineties , winning Atlanta ’s first World Series in 1995 .
The rest of the original eight NL clubs folded under fiscal problems or were exhaust from the upstart league . The Philadelphia Athletics and New York Mutuals , which both do poorly in the raw league , refused to make a road slip out West and were summarily dropped after the first NL time of year . The Hartford Dark Blues had trouble selling tickets in Connecticut , so the team move to New York in 1877 , becoming the geographically perplexing Brooklyn Hartfords [ seed : Arcidiacono ] . The Hartfords shut shop after just one season .
The Cincinnati Red Stockings were the only original NL squad boot out from the conference for break Hulbert ’s Victorian - epoch rules of propriety and sobriety . The Red Stockings were kicked out of the league in 1880 for sellingalcoholand playing games on Sundays [ source : Miklich ] .
For lots more information on baseball game history , including the most authoritative ruler change in the evolution of the game , research the links on the next page .
Have you ever invited someone from another country to a professional baseball game game ? You might as well be grease one’s palms them a ticket to Mars . Americans have it away baseball . We love the arcane rules , the box score , the overprice hot dogs and the seventh inning stretch . But endeavor to explain any of this to your alien friend and he will nod politely while mentally blocking out your elaborate deconstruction of the infield fly rule . Yes , it ’s a strange biz , but I love the fact that there are still two " leagues " in Major League Baseball and that rooter can still get worked up enough to dislike the other conference for its designated hitter rule or its funnily proportioned ballparks .
