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Major League BaseballMajor League Baseball is the highest-level professional baseball organization in America, and the oldest professional sports league in the US, dating back to the Civil War. It generates the second-highest revenue among the Big Four US sports organizations and features the longest season in professional sports.
The league has endured numerous controversies and changes: the freewheeling (and dangerous) 19th-century Deadball Era, Jackie Robinson's breaking of the color barrier in the mid-20th century, and the performance-enhancing controversies of the 1980s and 1990s. In 2023, MLB implemented rule changes to speed up the game, drawing renewed interest in the sport.
MLB was a regional, segregated league until 1946; today, the league is global, with nearly 28% of the players on the 2025 Opening Day rosters born outside the US. The highest-valued contract belongs to Juan Soto, who was born in the Dominican Republic. Explore Major League Baseball
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Why ‘Shoeless Joe’ Jackson was banned from Major League BaseballFew baseball stars are more infamous than "Shoeless Joe" Jackson, one of the game's greatest hitters. Jackson was part of the Chicago White Sox team (notoriously dubbed the "Black Sox") accused of fixing the 1919 World Series. This resource breaks down the criminal trial that investigated those allegations. Curiously, Jackson and his teammates were acquitted, but Major League Baseball commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis still banned them from the league for life. Society for American Baseball ResearchMajor League Baseball, explainedMajor League Baseball is America’s oldest professional sports league. Alongside triumphs, the league has faced scandals, including drug abuse and steroid use, shaping its path over the decades. Today, MLB embraces new rules, international talent, and a growing connection to legalized sports betting. 1440In 1975, a Major League Baseball clause that kept players legally tied to their teams after retirement was dismantledPlayers fought the "reserve clause" for years, citing the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, but to no avail—in fact, the Supreme Court ruled professional baseball was neither interstate nor commerce in 1922. Players effectively unionized in 1966, and by 1975, an arbitration panel ruling led to the dismantling of the reserve clause, which had been the only antitrust exemption in professional sports. Federal Judicial Center'A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.'- Jackie Robinson, the first Black MLB player (1919-1972) How fantasy baseball fights the loneliness epidemicExperts believe the erosion of traditional community organizations has led to a loneliness epidemic. This deep dive explores how fantasy baseball has filled the gap for some men, providing a stand-in social network. The RingerA deep dive into the man behind ballpark nachosNachos were invented in Mexico in 1943, but "ballpark nachos" (featuring liquid cheese and pickled jalapenos) were invented in 1976 for the Texas Rangers, then a relatively new franchise. This Texas Monthly piece digs into the history of Frank Libreto, who realized classic nachos could be a cost-efficient concession with just a few small tweaks. Texas MonthlyLiza Minnelli's 'New York, New York' used to play after the Yankees lostFor a time, Minnelli's version of the song was played following defeats. After each Yankees victory, it was Frank Sinatra's version. Ultimately, the team stopped using Minnelli's version, though Sinatra's is still played after every Yankees win. Major League BaseballThe inventor of fantasy football first experimented with two other sports In the mid-1950s, Wilfred “Bill” Winkenbach, a part-owner of the Oakland Raiders, concocted two fantasy sports games: one for Major League Baseball and one for the Professional Golfers’ Association. In 1962, he invented fantasy football alongside two writers from the Oakland Tribune. A 1930s card game birthed modern fantasy sports"National Pastime" used the statistics of real Major League Baseball players to determine a winner, creating the template for the modern fantasy sports model. National Baseball Hall of FameJoe DiMaggio's hitting streak cost him a sponsorship deal with HeinzThe ketchup company promised the Yankees player $10,000 if he reached 57 hits to match the number on its iconic labels. When he snapped the streak, it was just one hit shy, at 56. HISTORYHow baseball shaped Black America during ReconstructionA cornerstone of the budding Black culture following the Civil War was baseball, with several clubs springing up in Black neighborhoods and leaders like Frederick Douglass cheering on the players, including his son, who played for a team in Washington. This detailed history of the early Black leagues unpacks how the game enhanced the upwardly mobile community—and why that fact led to the segregation of what would become Major League Baseball. Literary HubInside MLB's robo-umping experimentHuman umpires call roughly 94% of pitches right overall, but performance reduces on borderline pitches in high-leverage moments, the calls that shape game outcomes most. A professor and historian analyze early experiments with the full "robot ump" system that helped shape MLB's decision to implement a compromise "challenge" system. The ConversationA new logo helped the NBA stay relevant in the '70sIn 1967, the American Basketball Association was formed, featuring a flashier style of offense. The competition caused player salaries to rise in both leagues. After watching Major League Baseball unveil its new logo, the NBA decided to use the same designer to create an iconic logo for the league. It debuted in 1971 and reignited basketball fans' interest. Creative BloqThe top 100 players in baseball history More than 20,000 players have played in Major League Baseball since the 1870s, many passing in and out of the memory of even die-hard fans. While necessarily subjective, these rankings based on votes from baseball writers ranks those whose greatness left a lasting impression. From Barry Larkin (No. 100) to Babe Ruth (No. 1), explore the top 100 baseball players over more than a century. ESPNIn 2023, MLB changed its rules to speed up the gameThe league made its most dramatic rules changes in decades by banning the shift, enforcing a pitch clock, limiting pickoff plays, using bigger bases, and adding a baserunner in extra innings. The changes worked, generating renewed interest in the sport. ESPNRobinson is among the league's greatest figuresRobinson won Rookie of the Year and played in the majors for 10 seasons, winning a World Series in 1955. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1962. The Dodgers retired his number, 42, in 1972, and MLB retired it league-wide in 1997. National Baseball Hall of Fame and MuseumJackie Robinson, who broke the MLB's color barrier, made his debut in 1947In the early 1940s, Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey began scouting Negro League players to break baseball’s long-standing color barrier. Jackie Robinson was signed in 1945 and made his major league debut on Opening Day 1947 against the Boston Braves. Dodger InsiderFree agency dramatically changed player compensationWhen team owners created the reserve clause in 1879, the idea was that each team would control player salaries rather than the open market. After the 1975 elimination of the reserve clause, players became eligible for free agency after a contract expired, increasing wages across the league. Economic History AssociationA Bay Area lab was supplying MLB players with steroidsThe Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative, also known as BALCO, began as a modest vitamin shop, but by the 1990s it was at the center of a doping scheme that rocked Major League Baseball and other professional sports. WonderyThe Pete Rose scandal was exposed by Sports IllustratedIn the spring of 1984, a reporter at Sports Illustrated answered a call on the newsroom tip line claiming player/manager Pete Rose was gambling on baseball games. That March, the magazine published the bombshell report that led Major League Baseball to investigate and then ban Rose for life. Sports IllustratedHow Shohei Ohtani made baseball fun againTo rise to the level of Major League Baseball in recent decades, a player needs to become a specialist in at least one of the sport's many skills: hitting, pitching, throwing, running, fielding. For decades, this specialization has made a so-called... GQIntegration of Latino players in MLBThe Senators’ spectacular losing record obscures one of the most important stories in baseball history: the club’s role in integrating Latino players into the major leagues Smithsonian Magazine
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