What Does MLB Stand For?

MLB stands for Major League Baseball, the oldest professional sports league in the world. Currently, 30 teams compete in MLB via two separate conferences, the National League and American League. The winners of each conference play in the season-ending World Series championship.

MLB calls Midtown Manhattan home and is the second-highest-grossing major league sport in the United States, with only NFL making more money. Attendance for regular season games during 2022 totaled over 64 million fans to date. That’s a lot of fans singing along to “Take me out to the ball game”!

What Does MLB Stand For?

The abbreviation MLB stands for Major League Baseball, referring to the organization that all professional baseball teams (30 in total) in North America, and one team from Canada, play under. 

MLB is the professional sports league that has existed for the longest time, since 1903.

A Brief History Of MLB

baseball history

Baseball as a sport started way back in the 18th century when European settlers introduced their ball games to the men of the United States. 

The settlers enjoyed cricket and rounders, while American men being American men, combined the two, made up some rules, and called their new sports baseball.

Two separate baseball leagues were established at the turn of the century, the National League, established in 1876, and the American League in 1901. The two competing baseball leagues faced off for the first time in 1903. 

The champions of each league played in what was termed the annual “World Series,” slugging it out for the championship of Major League Baseball in a best-out-of-nine-game series. Today the World Series championship is a best out of 7 games affair.

Even though the two leagues worked together after signing a National Agreement, they remained separate entities until finally merging in 2000, led by the appointed Commissioner of Baseball, a role currently occupied by Robert Dean Manfred Jr. 

Which Major League Baseball Team Won The First World Series Championship?

When the first MLB World Series was decided in 1903, it was a best-of-nine-game series. Even the most clued-up baseball fans may struggle to recall the two teams who played in that historic first World Series event.

The Pittsburgh Pirates, who finished as champions of the National League, faced off against American League champions, the Boston Americans. The Boston Americans were trailing 1-3 before racking up four games in a row to clinch the World Series 5-3.

MLB audience

Which Team Is The Most Successful In MLB History?

One team has dominated the sport of baseball like no other, and that team is the famous New York Yankees. The franchise has more than double the amount of World Series wins as the team placed second. 

MLB TeamTotal World Series Championships
New York Yankees27
St. Louis Cardinals11
Boston Red Sox9
Oakland Athletics9
San Francisco Giants8

How Many Teams Are Currently Playing In MLB?

As mentioned earlier, there are 30 teams currently plying their trade in MLB. With two separate conferences featuring 15 teams, the number of games played by an individual team during a normal season totals 162. 

National League Major League Baseball Teams

National League DivisionNational League Team
East DivisionAtlanta Braves
East DivisionMiami Marlins
East DivisionNew York Mets
East DivisionPhiladelphia Phillies
East DivisionWashington Nationals
Central DivisionChicago Cubs
Central DivisionCincinnati Reds
Central DivisionMilwaukee Brewers
Central DivisionPittsburgh Pirates
Central DivisionSt. Louis Cardinals
West DivisionArizona Diamondbacks
West DivisionColorado Rockies
West DivisionLos Angeles Dodgers
West DivisionSan Diego Padres
West DivisionSan Francisco Giants

American League Major League Baseball Teams

American League DivisionAmerican League Teams
East DivisionBaltimore Orioles
East DivisionBoston Red Sox
East DivisionNew York Yankees
East DivisionTampa Bay Rays
East DivisionToronto Blue Jays
Central DivisionChicago White Sox
Central DivisionCleveland Guardians
Central DivisionDetroit Tigers
Central DivisionKansas City Royals
Central DivisionMinnesota Twins
West DivisionHouston Astros
West DivisionLos Angeles Angels
West DivisionOakland Athletics
West DivisionSeattle Mariners
West DivisionTexas Rangers

After the massive number of games are finished, the five best teams of each conference compete in a play-off competition, with the two best teams fighting for bragging rights in the World Series to be crowned the champions of Major League Baseball.

MLB

How Much Money Does Major League Baseball Generate?

MLB is a money machine and generated $9.56 billion in 2021. Each of the 30 MLB teams contributed over $318 million per team. 

What Is The Average MLB Attendance Per Season?

Baseball is the second most popular sport in North America, trailing behind the sports juggernaut that is the NFL. “America’s favorite past-time” drew 64,556,636 fans to stadiums during the regular 2022 season. 

The average attendance total for all regular season games in 2022 is estimated to be 26,483 fans per game. 

What Does MLB Stand For Besides Major League Baseball?

Now before we get all defensive and shout that Major League Baseball owns the MLB moniker because it’s the oldest sports league in the world, we need to make peace with the fact that other sporting codes also use MLB.

People often refer to MLB while watching a football game, as it refers to the Middle Linebacker position. Minor League Baseball also uses MLB as its acronym.

MLB is also used outside of the sporting world to describe or refer to job titles, music bands, airport codes, and all sorts of descriptions that don’t refer to our beloved ‘Major League Baseball.’

MLB can refer to the following:

  • When referring to a gambling term – Money Line Betting (MLB)
  • A person who brings borrowers and mortgage lenders together – Mortgage Loan Broker (MLB)
  • A collection of files in archive format – Macro Library (MLB)
  • Indicating a specific card found in an anime card game – Majestic Lord Blaster (MLB)
  • Fan-favorite Friends actor – Matt Le Blanc (MLB)
  • Mystery lovers can find their favorite books here – Mystery Lovers Bookshop
  • Referring to a specific business with regards to its turnover – Medium to Large Business (MLB)
  • The Seattle band that became Pearl Jam – Mother Love Bone (MLB)

Conclusion

Now you know that MLB stands for Major League Baseball, but it could just as well have stood for “Must Love Baseball,” as this moniker perfectly describes the average American. 

MLB is considered to be the oldest professional sports league in existence, part of American culture, and long may we continue to hear the shouts of “One, two, three strikes, you’re out.”

Matt Crouch
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