How Many Baseball Teams Were There In 1920?
How many baseball teams were there in 1920?
The answer might surprise you!
Introduction
Baseball in the United States can trace its origins back to the 18th century, when children in New York City and Philadelphia began playing a game called ” town ball.” By the early 1800s, town ball had evolved into a more organized game known as “base ball,” which was popular among adult urbanites. In 1845, Alexander Cartwright and a group of fellow cricketers set out to codify the rules of base ball, creating the first formalized set of rules for the game.
The first professional baseball team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, was established in 1869. Major League Baseball (MLB) was founded in 1903 as an organization to replace the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, which had collapsed due to rampant player misconduct. MLB officially recognized the American League (AL) as a major league in 1901, and the two leagues operated side by side until 2000, when they merged under the umbrella of MLB.
As of 2020, there are 30 MLB teams: 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada.
The teams in 1920
In 1920, there were 15 major league baseball teams. This included 8 teams in the National League and 7 in the American League.
Why there were so many teams
In the early days of baseball, there were far more teams than there are now. In fact, in 1920 there were a total of 40 teams! Part of the reason for this was that the game was still relatively new, so there were many different groups trying to start up their own teams. There were also fewer professional sports leagues at that time, so baseball had a larger share of the sports market. Finally, travel was more difficult in those days, so it made sense for there to be more teams in order to reduce the amount of travel necessary.
The decline in teams
The 1920s saw a rapid decline in the number of baseball teams, as the sport struggled to recover from the scandal of the 1919 World Series. In 1920, there were just 16 teams in Major League Baseball (MLB), down from 18 the previous year. The number of teams would fall to 8 by 1925, before beginning to rebound in the latter half of the decade.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there were 20 baseball teams in 1920. 10 of those teams were in the National League and 10 teams were in the American League.
