By Back in the day, baseball was widely known as an American sport but after the emergence of MLB, the popularity of this sport has increased tremendously and is now played in various parts of the world.
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest existing major pro sports league on the planet. This league consists of 30 squads in total from the United States and Canada. The squads are then divided into 15 between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL). The National League was established in 1876 and the American League in 1901. At the start of 1903, the two prominent leagues made a deal with the National Agreement and worked together but stayed legally independent entities until the beginning of 2000, when they integrated into one organization overseen by the Commissioner of Baseball.
Now let’s take a look at the 5 oldest teams to know about.
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Atlanta Braves
Currently known as the Atlanta Braves, which is an American pro baseball squad based in the Atlanta metropolitan region. The Braves actively participate in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a part of the club of the National League (NL) East division. Originally established in 1871 in Boston, Massachusetts, the team was previously known as the Boston Red Stockings. After several name transitions, the squad ultimately started functioning as the Boston Braves in 1912, which held out for most of the early half of the 20th century. However, in 1953, the squad shifted to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and changed its name to Milwaukee Braves, but later came to be known as Atlanta Braves in 1966 after moving to Atlanta.
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Chicago Cubs
Based in Chicago, Chicago Cubs is an American pro baseball squad that actively participates in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) Central division.
Although the heritage of the Cubs goes way back to around 1871 with the founding of the Chicago White Stockings, the squad failed to appear for the following two years because of the 1871 Great Chicago Fire.
Eventually, the Chicago White Stockings were among the earlier squads to enter the National Association of Professional Baseball Players and are arguably the first squads of the NL, which took the place of the National Association in 1876. The squad only ever played for Chicago and went through several name transitions before finally agreeing on Chicago Cubs in 1903.
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St. Louis Cardinals
Entrepreneur Chris von der Ahe bought the Brown Stockings barnstorming club in 1881 and relabeled it as the St. Louis Browns, and later made it to a part of a charter member of the American Association baseball league.
The squad eventually renamed it to the Cardinals in 1900 and as of now, St. Louis Cardinals are regarded as one of the most thriving baseball franchises.
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Pittsburgh Pirates
Established in 1881 as a member of the American Association under the name Pittsburgh Allegheny, the club entered the NL in 1887 and was an important part of the National League East from around 1969 to 1993. The Pittsburgh Pirates have had their fair share of failures but at the same time, the Pirates are also five-time World Series champs, nine-time National League pennants, nine-time National League East division titles, and managed to play three times in the Wild Card Game.
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Cincinnati Reds
The squad was established as one of the charter members of the American Association in 1881 before entering the National League in 1890. The Reds gained a victory in the first American Association pennant in 1882.
The Red Stockings departed from the AA in 1889 to partake in the NL and initially renamed to Reds in the 1890 season, but the squad again changed back to the Redlegs in 1954 before ultimately changing back to the Reds for the last time in 1959.
Don’t forget to check out The MLB Teams with the most fans.
