Most people know that Major League Baseball is split up into two separate leagues : The American League and the National League . The National League , form in 1876 , is the older of the two league that make up the professional Major League Baseball constitution in the United States and Canada . The main departure in the two is that the American League use the designated hitter dominion to replacepitchersduring at - bats , and the National League does not .
Alexander Cartwright , an architect and sportsman in New York City , is wide recognise as the father of modern organised baseball . He was implemental in founding the first organization give to playing baseball game , the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club , in 1845 . He write 20 rule about the field of operations layout and how the biz was played . The most important one was that player had to be tagged or thrust out rather than having the ball thrown at them [ root : Dickey ] . Of naturally , therules were qualify as the game evolved , but Cartwright feed us the centre of baseball game .
Baseball ’s popularity spreading , with squad that toured the country and yield musician . The first league was the National Association of Baseball Players , form in 1871 and disbanded in 1875 because of poor leadership , poor rule and related to problems .
William Hulbert , a Chicago businessman and team executive director , muster in Albert Spalding , astar pitcherwith the predominant team , the Boston Red Stockings , to help form a new league with businessman rather than players turn tail the show . They formed the National League , with eight team .
How did the National League fare at first – and how did the American League come up into existence ? take on .
The National and American Leagues
For 25 year , theNational Leaguedominated major league baseball . Attempts to work rival associations flopped , mainly because of deficiency of money and organisation . But a former sportswriter named Byron Bancroft ( Ban ) Johnson rebel and finally break through . Johnson developed a well - feed second league , but it was a minor league because the agreement that regularise baseball dictated that the National League was the only major conference . Johnson pulled out of that concord and established the American League as a second , self-governing major conference in 1901 . Because the teams in the American League pay more , they were able-bodied to get a lot of players from the National League [ informant : Koppett ] .
Besides stealing players from the National League , the American League get trounce the elderly one in attending . There were gaiter about minor conference players , which cities to make for in and where tobuild ballpark .
By former 1903 , the two leagues made peace , occur up with a National Agreement to oversee such thing as schedules , normal and recruiting . A three - man National Commission oversaw everything . In 1903 , the champions of the two leagues feather off for the first official Major League Baseball World Series . After the"Black Sox " scandalerupted over Chicago White Sox histrion deliberately lose the 1919 World Series , a new National Agreement was adopted in 1921 , and the three - humans National Commission in charge of Major League Baseball was supersede with one powerful baseball game commissioner .
Over the years , team have move and changed names , and the leagues have flourish . In 2012 , the National League had 16 teams and the American League had 14 teams . Once the Houston Astros switch to the American League in 2013 , the numbers will be 15 and 15 .
Outstanding player from the two leagues meet once a year for an All - Star Game . Since 1997 , team from the two leagues have met during the regular time of year for interleague shimmer . Of course , the champions of the two conference still meet each fall for the World Series .
Play between the two conference has been more complicated since the American League adopt amajor regulation changein 1973 . The American League ’s designated slugger ( DH ) rule admit a 10th player , a striker who does not play in the bailiwick but bats regularly in position of the pitcher . pitcher do n’t have to bat .
Sincepitchersare usually poor hitters , the normal has changed the plot . It was adopted because score had been declining . It operate in term of some increase in batting average , hits and runs . Some multitude think it realise the secret plan more exciting . The DH prescript has been good for histrion who are good hitters but miserable fielders . The DH rule also impress pitching strategy because managers do n’t have to take a pitcherful out of the biz and practice a exigency striker when offense is crucial . ( Designated hitters interchange pitchers , who typically are n’t great striker . ) Games do n’t have as many boring postponement while team alter pitchers . And American League team value pitchers without any vexation about their hit power .
When teams from the two league work each other , the designated hitter rule is used in American League ballparks only .
I love baseball game , especially the Baltimore Orioles . But I ’d never recall a circumstances about the account of the game as we know it . It was n’t as prosperous as I had thought it would be to find the history . There ’s a lot of data online about players , statistics , etc . , but my hunt for authoritative information took me to a university library and some Quran . I was concerned to learn of the bicker between league in the early days . Sometimes we think everything used to be everlasting , and only in contemporary times do we have bicker over concern , money , leading and so on , but my research showed me that ’s not the lawsuit .
