BASEBALL AND ITS GREATEST PLAYERS and the American League AL which are governed by an organization called Major League Baseball There are also professional minor league teams in many American cit ies In addition baseball is one of the more important amateur sports in the United States with several well organized leagues for youth and junior players as well as a long standing college tradition LAFOR AND Minor LEAGUES For most of their early history the National and American leagues each had eight teams and every team played a 154 game schedule to determine the league champions The league champions would then meet in the World Series Currently the American League has 14 teams and the National League has 16 teams Each league is divided into Eastern Central and Western divisions and each team plays 162 regular season games The team with the best record in each division at the end of the season is a division champion In October each of the division champions and two wild card teams the teams with the best record among the non division winning teams in each league advance to 12
A WoRLD SPORT WITH AMERI ORIGINS Pitcher Brian Wilson and his San Francisco Giants teammates cel ebrate the series winning moment of the 2010 World Series The Giants clinched the title on Nov 1 2010 in game five against the Texas Rangers Damian Strohmeyer Sports Illustrated Getty Images the play offs Best of five games series are played in the first round The winning teams from the first round move on to compete in a second round best of seven games series to determine the league s champion or pennant winner The American League and National League pennant winners then play a best of seven games World Series to determine the overall champion 13
BASEBALL AND ITS GREATEST PLAYERS BASEBALL HALL OF FAME In Cooperstown N Y stands the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum It was ded icated in 1939 The first members of the Hall of Fame had been chosen in 1936 They were Ty Cobb Walter Johnson Christy Mathewson Babe Ruth and Honus Wagner Hze The legendary Babe Ruth seen here at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx New York City shows a young fan bow to bold a baseball bat Hulton Archive Getty Images
A WoRLD SPORT WITH AMERICAN ORIGINS In an annual selection process the mem bers of the Baseball Writers Association of America elect players for membership in the Hall of Fame Eligible players must have been active within the previous 20 years but not for the five years preceding the election A special committee of baseball veterans selects players inactive for at least 21 years and managers and umpires inactive for at least five years Another special committee elects players and other per sonnel such as executives and owners who were active in the Negro Leagues The midseason All Star Game con tested between the most popular American League and National League players began in 1933 Fans vote to select the starting line ups and the team managers select pitchers and substitute players Since 2003 the out come of the All Star Game has determined which league receives home field advantage in the World Series Minor league teams are affiliated with specific major league teams and serve as training grounds for ballplayers with major league potential The minor leagues are clas sified as AAA AA and A according to the relative length of professional experience 15
