• MLB is made up of two leagues:^note Although since 2000 they no longer exist as independent legal and administrative entities, and really function more like conferences within the single "league" of MLB the National League (NL), sometimes referred to as the "Senior Circuit", since it is the older of the two; and the American League (AL), sometimes called the "Junior Circuit". Each league currently consists of 15 teams, sorted into three five-team divisions. From 1973 to 2021, the most notable difference was that the AL used the designated hitter while the NL didn't (aside from the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season, in which both leagues used it).^note  The DH had also been used by both leagues in World Series play since 1976, in the All-Star Game since 1989, and in regular-season interleague play since 1997. This led to something of a Broken Base (no pun intended) over which league was better, or whether the DH is good or bad for the game. Beginning in 2022, all of MLB uses the DH, but the Broken Base will undoubtedly live on for years.
• The regular season consists of 162 games for each team (although sometimes it's less if a rain-out isn't made up; before 2022, it was at rare times more if a divisional or wild-card tie occurred at the end of the season).^note  A 154-game schedule was used from 1904 to 1960, save for the World War I season of 1919, in which 140 games were scheduled. Other seasons have been unexpectedly shortened by war (1918); labor stoppages (1972, 1981, 1994, 1995); and the COVID-19 Pandemic (2020).
• The midpoint of the season is usually the All-Star Game,^note  It usually falls about a week after the season's mathematical halfway point, but for discussion purposes, it's regarded as the easiest place to divide the schedule. in which the top players of the two leagues square off against each other. From 2003 through 2016, the All-Star Game was controversially used to determine who had the home-field advantage in the World Series, but beginning in 2017 home advantage in the Series goes to the pennant winner with the better regular-season record.^note  The former practice of awarding home-field advantage in the World Series to the ASG winner was implemented after the 2002 game, which ended in a tie after both managers, trying to make sure everybody got to play, ran out of pitchers. It was intended to try to get managers and players to treat the All-Star Game as a serious game rather than just a meaningless exhibition. Another trivia tidbit: The day following the MLB All-Star Game is traditionally the only day of the year on which none of North America's four major pro sports leagues has any game or major event scheduled.^note  Though this is mostly due to the NFL, NBA, and NHL all being in their offseason. While MLB doesn't have games on the day before or the day after the ASG, it holds its popular Home Run Derby on the night before the ASG. As of somewhere in the mid-New 10s, there aren't any games two days after the ASG, either. ESPN has capitalized on this, and now tapes its annual ESPY Awards the day after the All-Star Game. (Prior to 2010, the ceremony was aired the following Sunday; since then it's been broadcast live.)
• The postseason has gone through a number of changes over the years (most of which have involved lengthening it), with the one constant being that it all culminates in the World Series (aka the "Fall Classic"), the major leagues' best-of-seven^note although it was expanded to best-of-nine for a few years in the early 20th century championship event.
  • Prior to 1969, it was pretty simple: the team with the best regular-season record in each league was automatically crowned its league's champion (or "pennant winner", to use the preferred nomenclature) — barring those rare occasions when two teams wound finish up with identical records and a special playoff was then held to break the tie (see below) — and would then face its counterpart from the other league in the World Series, which was generally played in the first week of October.
  • In 1969 — after several rounds of expansion had increased the number of major-league teams from 16 to 24 — both leagues were split into two divisions of six teams each. Now each league's two division winners would face off in a League Championship Series to determine the league's pennant winner and World Series representative. The LCS used a best-of-five format until 1985, when it became a best-of-seven. This consequently pushed the World Series back to the second week of October or later.
  • In 1995 — by which time MLB had expanded some more — each league was reshuffled into three divisions, which necessitated the creation of yet another postseason round: now, in addition to the three division champions, there would be a "wild card", consisting of the team with the best record among its league's non-division winners (confused yet?). The new first round of the postseason, dubbed the Division Series, would have each league's wild card face off against one of the division champions in one best-of-five series while the other two division champions squared off in the other. The two winners of those series would then face each other in the LCS, the winner of which would once again capture its league's pennant and advance to the World Series, which was now pushed back to the third week of October at the very earliest.
  • In 2012, each league gained a second wild card team. Now the two wild-card winners would face each other in a single, sudden-death elimination game, the winner of which would advance to the Division Series.
  • In 2022, a third wild card was added in each league, and the postseason was expanded to four rounds. Now, the two division winners in each league with the best records receive byes into the Division Series. The other division winner and the three wild cards play in the new Wild Card round, with that division winner playing the wild card team with the worst record and the two remaining wild cards playing one another. This round consists of best-of-three series, with the higher seed hosting all three games. (Note that the division winner gets a higher seed even if it has a worse record than any or all of the wild card teams.) As you might imagine, all of this means that the World Series nowadays doesn't begin until the end of October, and occasionally even extends into the first week of November if it goes the distance. Many favor expanding the Division Series to a best-of-seven format, but MLB has resisted this idea out of reluctance to push the postseason any later into the calendar (by late October, many top baseball cities are already quite cold weather-wise).
  • Through 2021, there was also the rarely seen "play-in" or tiebreaker game, sometimes known as a one-game playoff (emphasis singular) or Game 163 (since it counted as a regular-season game). This was an extra game following the last scheduled day of the regular season, and was only played when two or more teams had identical records after the season's end and a postseason berth was on the line.^note  The NL used a three-game playoff for tiebreakers prior to the divisional era, when they joined the AL in using the single-game format. This was considered a regular-season game, and all statistics accumulated during play counted in the regular-season numbers. The most recent of these games to occur (and, as it turns out, the last ones) were in 2018, when two of the National League's three divisions needed tiebreakers: the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers in the Central, and the Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Dodgers in the West. In both cases, the winner would become division champion, and the loser would drop to the wild-card game. The Brewers and Dodgers won the games, while the Cubs and Rockies then faced off in the wild-card game, with the Rockies winning. Prior to 2012, no playoff was held if both teams qualified for the postseason anyway (that is, if the loser would still be in line for the wild card); the team with the better record in head-to-head competition was considered the division champion while the other was relegated to the wild card. When the postseason expanded in 2012, Major League Baseball decreed that going forward, all ties for a division lead would be settled with a one-game playoff (settling ties between two division-winning teams from different divisions or two wild card teams with a tie-breaker game would be rather silly — it wouldn't have much of an effect on which teams reached the division series) even if both teams would make the playoffs anyway, with the winner getting the division title and the loser getting a wild card. This was presumably done in the interest of fairness, since the wild card team now had to face a single-game sudden death situation (as opposed to automatically gaining a berth in the Division Series) anyway. Beginning with the 2022 season, tiebreaker games were eliminated; all postseason spots are now determined by tiebreaker formulas if necessary, much like what's seen in the NFL.
• In mid-February, about six weeks prior to the start of the season, teams will gather for Spring Training to prepare for the upcoming season by getting back into game shape, practicing with their teammates, and playing exhibition games (games that don't count in the league regular season standings) against other teams training nearby.^note An exception is 2022, when the start of spring training was delayed to mid-March due to a labor dispute. It was settled in time to allow for a full 162-game schedule, though compressed a little more than normal. Due to a combination of tradition and practicality, half the teams^note Specifically, they are: Boston, both New York teams, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Pittsburgh, Toronto, Detroit, St. Louis, Minnesota, Houston, Atlanta, Miami, and Tampa Bay. hold spring training at small ballparks in central Florida, nicknamed the Grapefruit League. The other half^note Specifically: Cleveland, Cincinnati, both Chicago teams, Kansas City, Texas, Colorado, Arizona, San Diego, both Los Angeles teams, San Francisco, the Athletics, and Seattle. train in the greater Phoenix area in Arizona, known as the Cactus League. Teams play exhibitions against their respective teams regardless of regular-season league alignments, which is much less notable than it was before the introduction of regular season interleague games. The time is used to evaluate and settle on a regular-season roster, and decide who has to start the season in the minor leagues. Also notable is that pitchers and catchers will report a few days before other players (as the difficulty of pitching means they need the time to get into shape), leading to (particularly passionate) fans talking about the number of days till pitchers and catchers report as a way to deal with a long slog of winter.

Most Valuable Player

The Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is given to the player in each league who is considered to have been most valuable to his team. The exact definition of "valuable" is basically an annual argument every winter - the rules for the MVP explicitly state that the winner doesn't have to come from a winning team, but it almost always goes to a player from a team who made the playoffs or came very close. The result is that some great players who posted great seasons never got MVP consideration because they had the misfortune of playing for crummy teams. Pitchers are eligible for the award, but seldom win it; many baseball writers believe pitchers shouldn't win it because they have their own award, while others simply don't feel that a single pitcher can ever be as valuable as someone who plays every day. Justin Verlander's AL MVP win in 2011 was the first time a pitcher won that award since Dennis Eckersley in 1992, and the first win by a starting pitcher since Roger Clemens in 1986. More recently, pitcher Clayton Kershaw won the NL MVP in 2014, and Shohei Ohtani has been the unanimous MVP three times (AL in 2021 and 2023, NL in 2025) as a starting pitcher and designated hitter.

Cy Young Award

Given to each league's best pitcher. It is named for the pitcher with the most career wins of all time. (He also has the most career losses of all time, but he played in an era where pitchers pitched every day.) Starting pitchers and relief pitchers are both eligible, but the award almost always goes to a starter. The last reliever to win the Cy Young is Éric Gagné of the Dodgers in 2003; the last AL reliever to win is Dennis Eckersley of the Oakland Athletics in 1992. Yes, it was the same year he won the MVP. Yes, he was that good.

Rookie of the Year

The Rookie of the Year Award is given to the rookie in each league who is considered to have had the best season. Though a rookie is generally defined as a first-year player, he doesn't necessarily have to be. As long as the player enters the current season without having exceeded 130 Major League at-bats, 50 innings pitched, or 45 days spent on a Major League team's roster, he is considered to be in his rookie season. Experience in leagues besides the MLB is not counted against a player, which has caused some controversy since beginning with Hideo Nomo in 1995, several Japanese-born players won the award despite having prior professional experience in Japanese baseball. It was renamed the Jackie Robinson Award in the eighties to commemorate one of its most famous winners. Robinson was also the first recipient of the award. The official name is rarely used, however.

Manager of the Year

The Manager of the Year Award is awarded to one manager in each league. There are no specific guidelines for who can win, but the award typically goes to the manager of a team who achieved surprising success, usually a team that was expected to finish low in the standings but ended up competing for a title.

Comeback Player of the Year

While the magazine The Sporting News has presented such an award since 1965, MLB did not officially recognize such an award until establishing its own version in 2005. It's only voted on by a subset of the BBWAA membership, specifically by the 30 MLB beat reporters who write for MLB's official website. According to MLB, the award is intended to go to a player who "re-emerged on the baseball field during a given season." Typically, the winner will have overcome serious injury or illness, or major personal issues.

Reliever of the Year

The Reliever of the Year Award is given to the relief pitcher in each league who is considered to have had the best season. While several bodies have presented their own awards for this position, with the magazine Sporting News having done so since 1960, MLB did not present an official award for this position until 2005, when it started selecting a single "Delivery Man of the Year" for all of MLB. The Delivery Man award was replaced by the current Reliever of the Year Awards in 2014. The awards are named for the all-time saves leaders in each league—Mariano Rivera in the AL and Trevor Hoffman in the NL, both Hall of Famers. It's one of the few MLB awards for players that's not voted on by the BBWAA; instead, the voting body is a panel of seven retired relievers, including the two award namesakes. Usually goes to a closer, although two recent NL winners were setup men: Josh Hader in 2018 and Devin Williams in 2020, both with the Brewers. Both would later win the NL award as closers, Hader in 2019 and 2021 and Williams in 2023.

Edgar Martínez Award

Goes to the top designated hitter as voted on by the BBWAA. It was presented in 1973, the first season of the DH, and named after the Seattle Mariners great shortly before his retirement in 2004. Unlike most other MLB awards, there's only one recipient, mostly because the DH was long exclusive to the AL. During the COVID season of 2020, in which the NL temporarily adopted the DH, the award was open to all of MLB. With the DH being permanently adopted by the NL in 2022, the award is now fully open to both leagues.

Executive of the Year

The Executive of the Year Award is one of MLB's newer awards, having been first presented in 2018. Unlike almost all other MLB awards, it has only one recipient (unless the voting is tied, which has yet to happen). It's also not voted on by the BBWAA, but rather by team executives themselves.

All-MLB Team

The All-MLB Team is MLB's newest major honor, having been introduced for the 2019 season. As the name implies, it consists of the players viewed as the best in the game at their positions, regardless of league, with a first and second team. Each team consists of one catcher, one player at each infield position, three outfielders (regardless of specific position), one designated hitter, five starting pitchers, and two relievers. Another honor that's not voted on by the BBWAA, instead using a panel of media members (print and broadcast), former players, and baseball officials, plus a single vote determined by fan poll on the MLB website.

Gold Glove

The Gold Glove Award goes to the top defensive players and teams in the game. Unlike most of the above awards, awards for each position are voted on by the managers and coaches in each league as opposed to the baseball writers, and the team awards are based solely on statistical criteria. Since the 2022 season, each league awards 10 Gold Gloves, one at each fielding position plus one for a "utility player" (essentially one who regularly plays multiple positions). Also, since 2011 a Platinum Glove is awarded to the best fielder regardless of position in each league, as chosen by fans from the Gold Glove winners. Finally, since 2020, a team Gold Glove has been awarded for each league, based on the SABR Defensive Index, an advanced statistical metric created by the Society for American Baseball Research.

Since fielding excellence tends to be measured by a lot of intangibles rather than pure statistics, the Gold Gloves frequently spark debate; the most common criticism of the award process is that they are often awarded based on reputation, without regard as to whether the player truly had a better year in the field than his peers. Derek Jeter was one of the more prominent examples of an undeserving Gold Glove winner; though he had a reputation as a great defensive shortstop, advanced fielding statistics generally didn't back up his reputation and few sabermetricians would have considered him remotely Gold Glove-worthy (and, during the years when he was teammates with Alex Rodriguez—a legitimately good defensive shortstop before he moved to third base—they would be known to snark that Jeter wasn't even the best shortstop on his own team, let alone the entire American League). Another particularly egregious example was Rafael Palmeiro winning the AL Gold Glove at first base in 1999, despite the fact that he was primarily a designated hitter that year and only played 28 games in the field.

More recently, the process has been adjusted for these awards with a sizable portion of the vote now coming from taking several advanced fielding metrics into account, which has started to improve things a bit, though average or even poor defenders still win a Gold Glove from time to time. A recent example of this is Eric Hosmer, who won 4 Gold Gloves at first base in a 5-year span in the mid-2010s despite advanced statistics being in general agreement that he was at best an average defender and at worst a terrible one.

Hank Aaron Award

Goes to the top hitter in each league. The BBWAA has no role in the voting; a combination of broadcast media (specifically MLB announcers and color commentators, on both radio and TV) and fans vote, weighted 70/30 in favor of media. It was introduced in 1999 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Aaron's breaking of Babe Ruth's career home run record. Before his death in 2021, Aaron presented the awards personally (except in 2019), and his widow continues to present them.

Silver Slugger

The Silver Slugger Award goes to the top offensive player at each position. Like the Gold Gloves, they are voted on by each league's managers and coaches rather than the baseball writers. Before the National League adopted the designated hitter in 2022, the Silver Slugger awards were slightly different from Gold Glove awards; due to the American League's use of the DH, the award for AL pitchers (who didn't hit) was replaced with one for designated hitters. With no pitchers batting for 2022 and beyond^*thanks to another 2022 rule change, Shohei Ohtani can now hit in the lineup as the DH while serving as starting pitcher, the DH award has now fully replaced the pitchers' award.

World Series Most Valuable Player

The World Series Most Valuable Player (WSMVP) Award, awarded to whoever on the field was most valuable to giving the World Series winner its ring. First given out to Dodgers pitcher Johnny Podres in 1955, it is usually presented and awarded on the field in the hours after the series is won. In 2017, it was renamed after Giants outfielder Willie Mays in honor of the 63rd anniversary of his famous catch during the 1954 World Series, despite the fact the man himself never won a WSMVP.

League Championship Series Most Valuable Player

The League Championship Series Most Valuable Player (LCSMVP) Award is extremely similar to the WSMVP except for it being one rung below the Autumn Classic. A unique award to baseball, it is given to the two players most valuable to helping their team win their respective pennants. Additionally, much like the WSMVP, a winner is typically chosen right after the clinching and awarded on the field. Unlike what some may think, an LCSMVP winner is not an indicator to who will win the WSMVP, with such a case happening only nine times throughout the award's history.

BBWAA Career Excellence Award

Given out by the BBWAA for "meritorious contributions to baseball writing". This "Writer of the Year" award was originally named after J.G. Taylor Spink, who published The Sporting News from 1914 until his death in 1962 and was the award's first recipient. In 2021, with increased awareness of racial issues, Spink's name was removed from the award due to his record of supporting segregated baseball. Unlike other awards, it doesn't necessarily have to represent a specific team thanks to the existence of national print (and nowadays web) outlets. However, the only recipient who didn't cover a specific team was 2013 recipient Roger Angell, longtime fiction editor for The New Yorker who was even more noted for his writing on baseball.^note In fact, because Angell never worked a specific team beat, he was ineligible for BBWAA membership.

Ford C. Frick Award

Given out by the BBWAA to the television and radio announcer of the league who made the most contributions to the sport. This "Broadcaster of the Year" award is named after the third Commissioner of Baseball, who first made his name as a sportswriter in the 1920s through ghostwriting for Babe Ruth. Like the BBWAA Career Excellence Award, it doesn't necessarily have to represent a specific team thanks to the existence of national broadcasts. As of the latest change to the election cycle, which took effect in 2023, local and national broadcasters are considered on a single ballot in four consecutive years, followed by a ballot consisting of candidates whose careers ended before 1994, the start of the wild card era.^note The first ballot consisting exclusively of pre-1994 figures will be voted on in 2027.

While broadcasters aren't eligible for the Hall of Fame, winners of this award are considered 'Hall-of-Fame' broadcasters.

Roberto Clemente Award

MLB's "Man of the Year" award, given to one player who best represents the game on and off the field, emphasizing community involvement. Named after the Pirates Hall of Fame right fielder who died in a plane crash while attempting to deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.

Heart & Hustle Award

An award given out to active players who not only excel on the field, but embody the values and traditions of the game. Instead of the BBWAA, it's given out by the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association, with the primary voting body being former players. A committee of alumni from each team nominates a candidate from their team, with the overall winner being chosen by a combination of alumni and fan votes.

• MLB has no salary cap, and trades are much more open-ended than in other sports. Players may be traded not only for other players, but also cash, or minor league prospects (known as a "player to be named later", this gives the team six months to decide which minor leaguer would be the best fit for their roster). The vagaries of MLB transactions have led to several players being traded for themselves, and one (future Hall of Famer Dave Winfield) being traded for dinner between two GMs ^note Winfield was traded from the Minnesota Twins to the Cleveland Indians, originally for a player to be named later, but since the trade occurred during the 1994-95 baseball strike, the season was cancelled without Winfield ever playing a game for his new team, and the GMs decided the most fair way of settling the trade would be to grab dinner together, with the Indians' GM paying for it. Other bizarre trades from the early days of baseball include a player being traded for a suit of clothes and another being given to a team in exchange for that team paying for the player's previous team to get a new outfield fence at their home stadium.
  • Teams are free to make trades of (almost) any kind from the end of the previous season—more specifically, two days after the day on which the final game of the World Series starts—to 4 pm Eastern Daylight Time (UTC 2000) on July 31 of the current season. Since the 2019 season, this has been the only trade deadline, at least for players on a team's 40-man reserve list. Previously, a team wishing to trade a player between July 31 and the August 31 eligibility deadline for postseason play had to put him through waivers: a transaction system in which any other team may claim him for a small fee if the team wishes. If a player clears waivers (meaning no team claimed him), he could then be traded.^note This system is also used for players who are out of free transfers to minor league teams, aka "options". A player who has no free options left must be waived to be sent to the minors. The waiver system still operates, but a team can no longer receive any compensation if another team claims the player. Players signed to minor-league contracts can still be traded through the August 31 postseason eligibility deadline.
  • However, unlike the situation in all other major US sports leagues, trading of draft picks is absolutely prohibited, with one very minor exception. For needed background, since the 2012 draft, all teams have been allocated a "bonus pool" for each draft, which it can use to sign its drafted players. Teams that go too far above their assigned bonus pool can lose draft picks, which are then awarded to small-revenue teams. These so-called "competitive balance" picks can be traded—unlike regular picks, or those awarded as compensation for losing high-profile free agents. However, these trades must include at least one player, and only the team that was initially awarded the pick can trade it.
    • Draft pick trading has been prohibited since the first MLB draft in 1965. MLB feared that teams in need of cash (especially those in small markets) would simply sell their picks to richer teams, thereby "mortgaging their future". Critics of the rule state it's actually hurt small-market and low-revenue teams—a team that can't afford to sign a player at the value he commands for his draft slot must draft another player, instead of trading the pick for one or more players, and/or a package of later draft picks. The rule was made even more stringent in 1985, prohibiting teams from trading their drafted players until one year after the draft. This latter aspect was relaxed slightly in 2015, allowing drafted players to be traded once that season's World Series ended.
• Due to the lack of a salary cap, and the relative open-endedness of MLB ownership, most teams exist in a cycle of contending and rebuilding. A contending team will stock up on free agents in an attempt to make playoff appearances, until they are too far in the hole, their star players age out, or their farm system just runs too dry. At that point, they will begin to sell off their high-valued players for cash and/or prospects, and generally do very poorly while stocking up a new generation of players, hopefully to be supplemented with high-quality free agents for another championship run in the future. MLB draft picks once played a principal role in this cycle, but changes in the Players' Agreement in 2013 drastically reduced the role of compensatory picks.
• Speaking of the draft, MLB has two of these every year. The event popularly known as the "MLB Draft" is the first and by far largest of these. Its formal name is "First-Year Player Draft", and is sometimes called the "Rule 4 Draft" from the MLB rule that governs it. This draft differs from those of other major sports leagues in the US and Canada (NFL, NBA, NHL, CFL, MLS) in several dramatic ways:
  • First, it takes place during the season, usually in June after the NCAA season ends.
  • It's much longer than the other major drafts. The NBA draft is only 2 rounds. The MLS SuperDraft has 3. The CFL draft has 6 rounds, and those of the NFL and NHL have 7. MLB? Twenty... reduced from 40 effective in 2021. And in the distant past, the draft had lasted as long as 400 rounds.
  • The eligibility rules are different from those of most other leagues. For the NFL, NBA, CFL, and MLS drafts, college/university players must renounce any remaining eligibility at that level to be drafted. Not so in MLB (or, for that matter, the NHL). All residents of the United States, its territories, and Canada are automatically draft-eligible upon graduating from high school. Once they enroll in a four-year college or university, they're no longer eligible to be drafted (or re-drafted) until after three years or turning 21, whichever comes first. At that point, eligibility is again automatic, with no requirement to renounce college eligibility. Those who enroll in junior colleges (two-year schools) remain eligible.^*It's unclear how Quebec is treated. Students in that province graduate from high school a year before their contemporaries in the US or Anglophone Canada (i.e., after grade 11 instead of 12). From there, Québécois students typically attend a CEGEP, a two-year program, with many going on from there to universities—where most bachelor's programs last only three years instead of four, since the first university year will have been completed at a CEGEP. CEGEP would probably be treated as a junior college for draft purposes.
  • As noted above, trading of draft picks is generally prohibited.
• To prevent teams from "stashing" too many high-level players in the minor leagues that other teams would use in the majors, every year a "Rule 5 Draft" is held that allows teams to select players from other teams that have had a minimum of 4 years service in the minor leagues (5 years if they were signed prior to their 19th birthday) and are not on the 40-man reserve list. A player selected in this draft costs $50,000, and must remain on the major league roster for the following year or at the end of the season be offered back to his original team for half-price.
• Player contracts are under team control for up to six years of major league time. For their first few years, few make above the league minimum salary of around $500,000. After three years, or two for an exceptional player, a player is eligible for salary arbitration, in which both player and team submit salary proposals to an impartial arbitrator, who then chooses one or the other. Teams and players generally try to avoid arbitration and instead find a compromise number in negotiation — arbitration hearings are notoriously unpleasant, with teams having to explain why a player isn't good enough to justify a larger salary. It's just business, but it's still not fun for the player, and it can be very alienating. For a quality player, this is usually a substantial pay raise. After six years, a player is eligible to enter into a contract with any team willing to sign him, for whatever amount both sides regard as fair. MLB first permitted free agency in 1975, and the vagaries of free agency have occasionally become very contentious between players and the league, with several high profile collusion cases (in which MLB teams made a prohibited decision not to sign each other's free agents) in the late 1980s, leading into a players' strike in 1994.

• The village of Cooperstown, New York — where popular mythology once held that future Union Army general Abner Doubleday had invented the game of baseball in 1839 — is home to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, established in 1939 for enshrining the history of the game and those who have played in or otherwise contributed to it. Each year a handful of retired major leaguers are selected by committee for induction into the Hall, and are thereafter known as "Hall of Famers". Players need to have been retired for at least five years before gaining eligibility to join the Hall, although this requirement has been waived exactly once: Roberto Clemente, who died in a 1972 plane crash, was inducted the following year. This exception subsequently became a rule, as the Hall decreed that an otherwise eligible player who dies while active or prior to the five-year cutoff would be eligible six months later. Contrary to popular belief, no formal exception was made for Lou Gehrig aside from a special one-man election just for him. Under the rules of his day, he was eligible for the Hall upon his retirement, and because of his terminal illness (a disease that now bears his name, at least in North America), a special election was held for him in December 1939, about 18 months before his death. Although he was duly elected and honored with a plaque in Cooperstown, Gehrig never received a formal induction ceremony until 2013.
  • Various team executives, managers, and umpires have also been enshrined in the Hall, and there are annual awards given to the game's journalists and broadcasters (who strictly speaking are not actually Hall inductees, but are generally regarded by the public as "Hall of Famers" regardless). There is a common belief that comedians Abbott and Costello are also Hall honorees, but they aren't; their famous Who's on First? routine is commemorated with an exhibit in the Hall museum, but neither comedian holds any sort of ties to the game apart from the routine.
• Major League Baseball, unlike every other sports league in the United States, enjoys explicit protection from antitrust legislation (granted in what is universally believed to be an "oddball" Supreme Court decision, with many calling the antitrust exemption an outright Ass Pull... and that's not even getting into subsequent Supreme Court decisions, which basically maintained that because Congress hadn't passed any law repealing the antitrust exemption — which did not actually exist in any law — that meant they endorsed the exemption, and it was therefore outside the Court's power to remove it). And that's in spite of later SCOTUS decisions, which held that antitrust laws applied to every other sports league. Among other things, this means that franchise relocations (often forced by an antitrust lawsuit) have been much rarer in MLB than in the NFL or NBA.^note Since the 1972 season, only two relocations that happened: the Montreal Expos moving to Washington DC in 2005, and the Oakland Athletics' move to Las Vegas by way of Sacramento between 2025 and 2028.

1903-1920: The Dead-ball Era

• 1903: Boston Americans (AL) defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) in 8 games.^note Played in a best of nine series.
• 1904: Series not played since the New York Giants owner refused to play against the Boston Americans.
• 1905: New York Giants (NL) defeated the Philadelphia Athletics (AL) in 5 games.
• 1906: Chicago White Sox (AL) defeated the Chicago Cubs (NL) in 6 games.^note First cross-town matchup
• 1907: Chicago Cubs (NL) defeated the Detroit Tigers (AL) in 5 games.^note One game was a tie.
• 1908: Chicago Cubs (NL) defeated the Detroit Tigers (AL) in 5 games.
• 1909: Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) defeated the Detroit Tigers (AL) in 7 games.
• 1910: Philadelphia Athletics (AL) defeated the Chicago Cubs (NL) in 5 games.
• 1911: Philadelphia Athletics (AL) defeated the New York Giants (NL) in 6 games.
• 1912: Boston Red Sox (AL) defeated the New York Giants (NL) in 8 games.^note One game was a tie.
• 1913: Philadelphia Athletics (AL) defeated the New York Giants (NL) in 5 games.
• 1914: Boston Braves (NL) defeated the Philadelphia Athletics (AL) in 4 games.
• 1915: Boston Red Sox (AL) defeated the Philadelphia Phillies (NL) in 5 games.
• 1916: Boston Red Sox (AL) defeated the Brooklyn Robins (NL) in 5 games.
• 1917: Chicago White Sox (AL) defeated the New York Giants (NL) in 6 games.
• 1918: Boston Red Sox (AL) defeated the Chicago Cubs (NL) in 6 games.^note The only World Series played entirely in the month of September, due to World War I forcing the season to end early.
• 1919: Cincinnati Reds (NL) defeated the Chicago White Sox (AL) in 8 games.^note Played in a best of nine series.
• 1920: Cleveland Indians (AL) defeated the Brooklyn Robins (NL) in 7 games.^note Played in a best of nine series.

1921-1945: The Golden Age of Baseball

• 1921: New York Giants (NL) defeated the New York Yankees (AL) in 8 games.^note Played in a best of nine series. First "Subway Series"
• 1922: New York Giants (NL) defeated the New York Yankees (AL) in 5 games.^note One game was a tie.
• 1923: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the New York Giants (AL) in 6 games.
• 1924: Washington Senators (AL) defeated the New York Giants (NL) in 7 games.
• 1925: Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) defeated the Washington Senators (AL) in 7 games.
• 1926: St. Louis Cardinals (NL) defeated the New York Yankees (AL) in 7 games.
• 1927: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) in 4 games.
• 1928: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the St. Louis Cardinals (NL) in 4 games.
• 1929: Philadelphia Athletics (AL) defeated the Chicago Cubs (NL) in 5 games.
• 1930: Philadelphia Athletics (AL) defeated the St. Louis Cardinals (NL) in 6 games.
• 1931: St. Louis Cardinals (NL) defeated the Philadelphia Athletics (AL) in 7 games.
• 1932: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the Chicago Cubs (NL) in 4 games.
• 1933: New York Giants (NL) defeated the Washington Senators (AL) in 5 games.
• 1934: St. Louis Cardinals (NL) defeated the Detroit Tigers (AL) in 7 games.
• 1935: Detroit Tigers (AL) defeated the Chicago Cubs in 6 games.
• 1936: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the New York Giants (NL) in 6 games.
• 1937: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the New York Giants (NL) in 5 games.
• 1938: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the Chicago Cubs (NL) in 4 games.
• 1939: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the Cincinnati Reds (NL) in 4 games.
• 1940: Cincinnati Reds (NL) defeated the Detroit Tigers (AL) in 7 games.
• 1941: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers (NL) in 5 games.
• 1942: St. Louis Cardinals (NL) defeated the New York Yankees (AL) in 5 games.
• 1943: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the St. Louis Cardinals (NL) in 5 games.
• 1944: St. Louis Cardinals (NL) defeated the St. Louis Browns (AL) in 6 games.
• 1945: Detroit Tigers (AL) defeated the Chicago Cubs (NL) in 7 games.

1946-1968: Integration, Relocation, and the New York Years

• 1946: St. Louis Cardinals (NL) defeated the Boston Red Sox (AL) in 7 games.
• 1947: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers (NL) in 7 games.
• 1948: Cleveland Indians (AL) defeated the Boston Braves (NL) in 6 games.
• 1949: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers (NL) in 5 games.
• 1950: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the Philadelphia Phillies (NL) in 4 games.
• 1951: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the New York Giants (NL) in 6 games.
• 1952: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers (NL) in 7 games.
• 1953: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers (NL) in 6 games.
• 1954: New York Giants (NL) defeated the Cleveland Indians (AL) in 4 games.
• 1955: Brooklyn Dodgers (NL) defeated the New York Yankees (AL) in 7 games.^note Games 1–3 were the last World Series games to be played in September.
• 1956: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers (NL) in 7 games.
• 1957: Milwaukee Braves (NL) defeated the New York Yankees (AL) in 7 games.
• 1958: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the Milwaukee Braves (NL) in 7 games.
• 1959: Los Angeles Dodgers (NL) defeated the Chicago White Sox (AL) in 6 games.
• 1960: Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) defeated the New York Yankees (AL) in 7 games.
• 1961: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the Cincinnati Reds (AL) in 5 games.
• 1962: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the San Francisco Giants (NL) in 7 games.
• 1963: Los Angeles Dodgers (NL) defeated the New York Yankees (AL) in 4 games.
• 1964: St. Louis Cardinals (NL) defeated the New York Yankees (AL) in 7 games.
• 1965: Los Angeles Dodgers (NL) defeated the Minnesota Twins (AL) in 7 games.
• 1966: Baltimore Orioles (AL) defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers (NL) in 4 games.
• 1967: St. Louis Cardinals (AL) defeated the Boston Red Sox (AL) in 7 games.
• 1968: Detroit Tigers (AL) defeated the St. Louis Cardinals (NL) in 7 games.

1969-1993: The League Championship Series Era

• 1969: New York Mets (NL) defeated the Baltimore Orioles (AL) in 5 games.
• 1970: Baltimore Orioles (AL) defeated the Cincinnati Reds (NL) in 5 games.
• 1971: Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) defeated the Baltimore Orioles (AL) in 7 games.
• 1972: Oakland Athletics (AL) defeated the Cincinnati Reds (NL) in 7 games.
• 1973: Oakland Athletics (AL) defeated the New York Mets (NL) in 7 games.
• 1974: Oakland Athletics (AL) defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers (NL) in 5 games.
• 1975: Cincinnati Reds (NL) defeated the Boston Red Sox (AL) in 7 games.
• 1976: Cincinnati Reds (NL) defeated the New York Yankees (AL) in 4 games.
• 1977: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers (NL) in 6 games.
• 1978: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers (NL) in 6 games.
• 1979: Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) defeated the Baltimore Orioles (AL) in 7 games.
• 1980: Philadelphia Phillies (NL) defeated the Kansas City Royals (AL) in 6 games.
• 1981: Los Angeles Dodgers (NL) defeated the New York Yankees (AL) in 6 games.^note The regular season was shortened to about 100-110 games thanks to a players' strike occuring in June and July. Because of this, 1981's postseason featured an additional round below the ALCS and NLCS.
• 1982: St. Louis Cardinals (NL) defeated the Milwaukee Brewers (AL) in 7 games.
• 1983: Baltimore Orioles (AL) defeated the Philadelphia Phillies (NL) in 5 games.
• 1984: Detroit Tigers (AL) defeated the San Diego Padres (NL) in 5 games.
• 1985: Kansas City Royals (AL) defeated the St. Louis Cardinals (NL) in 7 games.
• 1986: New York Mets (NL) defeated the Boston Red Sox (AL) in 7 games.
• 1987: Minnesota Twins (AL) defeated the St. Louis Cardinals (NL) in 7 games.
• 1988: Los Angeles Dodgers (NL) defeated the Oakland Athletics (AL) in 5 games.
• 1989: Oakland Athletics (AL) defeated the San Francisco Giants (NL) in 4 games.^note  Game 3 was interrupted and later postponed by the Loma Prieta earthquake, which hit during the pregame show, resulting in the rare instance of an earthquake being recorded live. The series is widely held to have saved hundreds, or even thousands, of lives, since people left work early to catch the game or stayed late at after-work parties, meaning several area roads which suffered severe damage such the Bay Bridge and Cypress Street Viaduct had far fewer vehicles on them than usual during rush hour. As a result of the quake, the Athletics had to drive around the bay to get back to Oakland, and opted not to celebrate their win with champaign out of respect for the victims. May or may not have been caused by the opening of a portal to an Eldritch Location.
• 1990: Cincinnati Reds (NL) defeated the Oakland Athletics (AL) in 4 games.
• 1991: Minnesota Twins (AL) defeated the Atlanta Braves (NL) in 7 games.
• 1992: Toronto Blue Jays (AL) defeated the Atlanta Braves (NL) in 6 games.^note Games 3–5 were the first World Series games to be played outside of the United States, and the Blue Jays became the first, and to date only, non-US team to win a WS championship.
• 1993: Toronto Blue Jays (AL) defeated the Philadelphia Phillies (NL) in 6 games.

1994-2014: The Wild Card (and Steroid) Era

• 1994: Series canceled due to a players' strike.
• 1995: Atlanta Braves (NL) defeated the Cleveland Indians (AL) in 6 games.^note The regular season was shortened to 144 games thanks to the 1994 players' strike bleeding over to April 1995. The postseason remained unaffected by this.
• 1996: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the Atlanta Braves (NL) in 6 games.
• 1997: Florida Marlins (NL) defeated the Cleveland Indians (AL) in 7 games.
• 1998: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the San Diego Padres (NL) in 4 games.
• 1999: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the Atlanta Braves (NL) in 4 games.
• 2000: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the New York Mets (NL) in 5 games.
• 2001: Arizona Diamondbacks (AL) defeated the New York Yankees (NL) in 7 games.^note The postseason and the end of the regular season were pushed back about a week and a half because of the September 11th Attacks. As a result, 2001 was the first World Series to have games played in November.
• 2002: Anaheim Angels (AL) defeated the San Francisco Giants (NL) in 7 games.
• 2003: Florida Marlins (NL) defeated the New York Yankees (AL) in 6 games.
• 2004: Boston Red Sox (AL) defeated the St. Louis Cardinals (NL) in 4 games.
• 2005: Chicago White Sox (AL) defeated the Houston Astros (NL) in 4 games.
• 2006: St. Louis Cardinals (NL) defeated the Detroit Tigers (AL) in 5 games.
• 2007: Boston Red Sox (AL) defeated the Colorado Rockies (NL) in 4 games.
• 2008: Philadelphia Phillies (NL) defeated the Tampa Bay Rays (AL) in 5 games.
• 2009: New York Yankees (AL) defeated the Philadelphia Phillies (NL) in 6 games.
• 2010: San Francisco Giants (NL) defeated the Texas Rangers (AL) in 5 games.
• 2011: St. Louis Cardinals (NL) defeated the Texas Rangers (AL) in 7 games.
• 2012: San Francisco (NL) Giants defeated the Detroit Tigers (AL) in 4 games.
• 2013: Boston Red Sox (AL) defeated the St. Louis Cardinals (NL) in 6 games.
• 2014: San Francisco Giants (NL) defeated the Kansas City Royals (AL) in 7 games.

2015-Present: The Statcast Era

• 2015: Kansas City Royals (AL) defeated the New York Mets (NL) in 5 games.
• 2016: Chicago Cubs (NL) defeated the Cleveland Indians (AL) in 7 games.
• 2017: Houston Astros (AL) defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers (NL) in 7 games.
• 2018: Boston Red Sox (AL) defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers (NL) in 5 games.
• 2019: Washington Nationals (NL) defeated the Houston Astros (AL) in 7 games.
• 2020: Los Angeles Dodgers (NL) defeated the Tampa Bay Rays (AL) in 6 games.^note The series was played at the neutral site of Globe Life Field due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Also because of COVID, 2020's regular season was only 60 games long.
• 2021: Atlanta Braves (NL) defeated the Houston Astros (AL) in 6 games.
• 2022: Houston Astros (AL) defeated the Philadelphia Phillies (NL) in 6 games.
• 2023: Texas Rangers (AL) defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks (NL) in 5 games.
• 2024: Los Angeles Dodgers (NL) defeated the New York Yankees (AL) in 5 games.
• 2025: Los Angeles Dodgers (NL) defeated the Toronto Blue Jays (AL) in 7 games.