- There have been many attempts at establishing professional baseball leagues over the years
- Two associations eventually established an agreement to form the professional major baseball leagues that are in existence today
- There are a couple of professional baseball leagues that many people may not have heard of…the American Association Baseball League and the Frontier League Professional Baseball association
- Read on to learn how these organizations came into being and their status today
A Brief History of Major Baseball Leagues
Two professional baseball leagues make up Major League Baseball (MLB), the National League and the American League. The National League, also known as the Senior League, was the first to come into existence in 1876. Unsuccessful attempts to unseat the league for preeminence among baseball fans were thwarted until 1893 when a new professional league appeared on the scene. The Western League was formed by a businessman by the name of Ban Johnson to challenge the National League for supremacy.
In seven short years, the Western League blossomed into the American League and was giving the NL a run for its money. Rather than continuing to fight a losing battle, the two leagues struck an agreement in 1902 which merged the two professional baseball leagues. Major League Baseball and the World Series were the results of this merger. MLB operates as a single entity and is currently comprised of 30 teams.
The American Association Baseball League
There were two incarnations of the American Association Baseball League. The first operated from 1882 to 1891 and was one of the first leagues to challenge the National League. As organized baseball was still in its infancy and disorganization was the rule, the first American Association soon dissolved. Its remnants are still around in the form of the Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, and St. Louis Cardinals.
The current version is the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball and operates throughout the Midwest and Southeast of the United States. It plays mostly in small market cities and towns that are not served by Major and Minor League Baseball associations. Teams include:
• Lincoln Saltdogs
• Wichita Wingnuts
• Sioux City Explorers
• El Paso Diablos
• Grand Prairie AirHogs
• Pensacola Pelicans
• Sioux Falls Canaries
• St. Paul Saints
• Fort Worth Cats
• Shreveport-Bossier Captains
The Frontier League Professional Baseball Association
The Frontier League is based in Illinois and plays throughout the United States Midwest and Pennsylvania. Like the American Association, it operates in small towns and cities not served by other professional organizations. There are a couple of “Cinderella” stories to come out of the Frontier League Professional Baseball Association. In 2000, Brian Tollberg and Morgan Burkhart made their big league debuts with the San Diego Padres and Boston Red Sox respectively. This rekindled childhood dreams of big league glory among players in the organization. The league recruits undrafted high school and college players or prospects that haven’t been able to make it higher level professional baseball leagues. The players aren’t paid very much as each team has a $60,000 salary cap.
As a company that creates variety of baseball scoreboards we are paying attention to things like baseball leagues, their history and development.