Editing Major League Baseball (section)

===Founding===
In the 1860s, aided by soldiers playing the game in camp during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], "New York"-style baseball expanded into a national game and spawned baseball's first governing body, 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.1869reds.com/history/|title=Legend of the Cincinnati Red Stockings|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724175805/http://www.1869reds.com/history|archive-date=July 24, 2008|website=1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings Vintage Base Ball Team|date=2007}}</ref>

A schism developed between professional and amateur ballplayers after 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.<ref name="base ball">{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/404475/National-Association-of-Professional-Base-Ball-Players|title=National Association of Professional Base Ball Players|access-date=September 10, 2008|publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica |archive-date=January 16, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116024945/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/404475/National-Association-of-Professional-Base-Ball-Players|url-status=live}}</ref> Its amateur counterpart disappeared after only a few years.<ref name=Rader>{{cite book|last=Rader|first=Benjamin|title=Baseball: A History of America's Game|year=2008|publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]]|isbn=978-0-252-07550-6|page=29|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6jplRWwEmVIC&q=nabbp+baseball&pg=PA27|access-date=November 16, 2020|archive-date=July 1, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701111640/https://books.google.com/books?id=6jplRWwEmVIC&q=nabbp+baseball&pg=PA27|url-status=live}}</ref> The modern [[Chicago Cubs]] and [[Atlanta Braves]] franchises trace their histories back to the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players in the 1870s.<ref name=Spatz>{{cite book|last=Spatz|first=Lyle|title=Historical Dictionary of Baseball|year=2012|publisher=[[Scarecrow Press]]|isbn=978-0-8108-7954-6|page=236|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ViiCha8LoBgC&q=cubs+braves+napbbp&pg=PA236|access-date=November 16, 2020|archive-date=July 1, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701111642/https://books.google.com/books?id=ViiCha8LoBgC&q=cubs+braves+napbbp&pg=PA236|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1876, the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs (later known as the [[National League (baseball)|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 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.<ref>[http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1876/04221876.htm Events of Saturday, April 22, 1876] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713200303/http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1876/04221876.htm |date=July 13, 2015 }}. Retrosheet. Retrieved September 30, 2011.</ref>

[[File:1896 Baltimore Orioles.jpg|thumb|right|National League [[Baltimore Orioles (19th century)|Baltimore Orioles]], 1896]]
The early years of the NL were tumultuous, with threats from rival leagues and 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 (19th century)|American Association]] (1882–1891), sometimes called 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 the resulting bidding war for players led to widespread contract-breaking and legal disputes.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/12/07/100290589.pdf|title=War that Crippled National League: Ban Johnson's Campaign Swept Star Players Out of the Old Organization|newspaper=The New York Times|date=December 7, 1913|accessdate=June 1, 2024}}</ref>

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.<ref name="hotel">{{cite web|url=https://www.milb.com/milb/history|title=Minor League Baseball History|access-date=September 10, 2008|publisher=[[MiLB.com]]|archive-date=September 27, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180927133319/http://www.milb.com/milb/history/|url-status=live}}</ref>

After 1902, the NL, AL, and NA signed 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]].<ref name="nabpl">{{cite web|url=http://roadsidephotos.sabr.org/baseball/1903NatAgree.htm|title=1903 National Agreement|access-date=September 10, 2008|publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]]|archive-date=February 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180201020524/http://roadsidephotos.sabr.org/baseball/1903NatAgree.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Other recognized leagues====
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, 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).<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.artvoice.com/2020/12/16/major-league-baseball-finally-elevates-the-negro-leagues-to-major-league-officially-recognizing-their-statistical-records/ |title=Major League Baseball finally elevates the Negro Leagues to "Major League" officially recognizing their statistical records |website=artvoice.com |date=December 16, 2020 |access-date=July 4, 2021 |archive-date=July 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709184435/https://www.artvoice.com/2020/12/16/major-league-baseball-finally-elevates-the-negro-leagues-to-major-league-officially-recognizing-their-statistical-records/}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.retrosheet.org/chronology.htm |title=Team Chronology |website=[[Retrosheet]] |access-date=July 4, 2021 |archive-date=July 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709183016/https://www.retrosheet.org/chronology.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Some researchers, including [[Nate Silver]], dispute 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.<ref name="union">{{cite web|url=http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=324|title=NerdFight: League Quality Adjustments|publisher=[[Baseball Prospectus]]|access-date=September 8, 2008|author=Silver, Nate|year=2007|author-link=Nate Silver |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212060727/http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=324|archive-date=December 12, 2007}}</ref>

In December 2020, Major League Baseball announced its recognition of seven leagues within [[Negro league baseball]] as major leagues: the [[Negro National League (1920–1931)|first]] and [[Negro National League (1933–1948)|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 (1920–1936)|Negro Southern League]] (1932), and the [[Negro American League]] (1937–1948).<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-mlb-officially-designates-the-negro-leagues-as-major-league |title=MLB officially designates the Negro Leagues as 'Major League' |website=MLB.com |publisher=Major League Baseball |date=December 16, 2020 |access-date=July 4, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=December 16, 2020 |title=Former Negro Leagues player says MLB recognition confirms what players already knew |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/16/us/negro-leagues-major-league-baseball-spt/index.html |access-date=February 12, 2025 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref> In 2021, baseball reference website [[Baseball-Reference.com]] began to include statistics from those seven leagues into their major-league statistics.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/negro-leagues-are-major-leagues.shtml |title=The Negro Leagues Are Major Leagues |website=[[Baseball-Reference.com]] |access-date=July 4, 2021 |archive-date=March 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230301011018/https://www.baseball-reference.com/negro-leagues-are-major-leagues.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> In May 2024, Major League Baseball announced that it was "absorbing the available Negro Leagues numbers into the official historical record."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/faq-negro-leagues-stats-major-league-record |title=What to know about Negro Leagues stats entering MLB record |first=Anthony |last=Castrovince |website=MLB.com |date=May 29, 2024 |accessdate=May 29, 2024}}</ref>