A Brief Guide to MLB and all of its Organisations

Although American Football is marketed as ‘America’s Game’, the romantics amongst us still see Baseball as the quintessential American pastime.

From the cathedral-like Yankee Stadium to the minor league ballparks that are dotted about the country, America has a deep, complicated relationship with baseball that many will find hard to understand.

Much like the eponymous village cricket green in the UK, baseball makes up part of the social fabric of many states, with Little league being an integral part of many kids’ childhoods growing up, and batting cages a natural-looking part of the built environment.

There are games on TV every day, all day, throughout the baseball season, which runs from April until October, and after that attentions turn to the NFL. As Roger Hornsby said;

"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring."

The Sporting Blog aims to become the go-to resource for Major League Baseball content in the UK and Europe. We hope that we can educate people about this great game, and publish amazing content that can reach back into the US market as well.

This webpage is our MLB hub. Below, we profile every team in Major League Baseball and give you a quick summary of the most important facts regarding these storied organisations. Laid out in a simple fashion, we go through each team in the National League and the American League, and from here you can explore further content about MLB teams and players, and our opinions on the sport of baseball as a whole.

Enjoy, and let’s play ball. Words and research courtesy of Dave White from European Baseball!

Guide to All Major League Baseball Teams

The American League

American League East

Baltimore Orioles

Established: 1901, in Baltimore since 1954

World Series wins: 3 (1966, 1970, 1983)

Colours: Orange, white and black

3 of the greatest players: Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, Cal Ripken Jnr

The Orioles play their home games at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland. Having started life as the Milwaukee Brewers for one season and then turning to the St. Louis Browns, they settled in Baltimore in 1954.

Birdland’s golden era was from the mid-’60s to early ‘80s, when they were postseason attendees on a regular basis, with Frank Robinson a key component of the teams that won the first two titles (he was AL MVP in 1966, becoming the only player to be named MVP in the AL and NL). Ripken Jnr holds the MLB record of consecutive games, standing at a staggering 2,632 over a 17 year period.

Apart from a mini resurgence between 2012-16 when they made the playoffs three times, they have struggled recently with losing seasons being a common occurrence since the turn of the millennium, which has also led to a sharp drop in attendance figures.

Boston Red Sox

Established: 1901

World Series wins: 9 (1903, 1912, 1915, 1916, 1918, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2018)

Colours: Red, blue and white

3 of the greatest players: Ted Williams, Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz

The iconic Fenway Park has been their home since 1912, with the legendary ‘Green Monster’ one of MLB’s great stadium features. The Red Sox have been a mainstay of MLB but since their successes of the early 20th century, their appearances in the postseason were sporadic at best until the mid-1980s, and since then they have played play-off baseball regularly.

The 96-year World Series win drought was attributed to the ‘curse of The Bambino’, the fabled tale born from the Red Sox trading away Babe Ruth to their rivals, the New York Yankees. After John Henry purchased the organisation in 2002 and instilled some ‘Moneyball’ type thinking, the curse was finally broken in 2004 behind the hitting brilliance of Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz and the tight pitching of Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez.

Recent history has been very up-and-down, with their most recent World Series ring in 2018, but a last-place finish last year. They played the first MLB games in Europe against the Yankees in London in 2019 - losing both games.

The Turning Point 2004- The Red Sox Yankees rivalry. A must watch!

New York Yankees

Established: 1901, in New York City since 1903

World Series wins: 27 (1923, 1927, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1977, 1978, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2009)

Colours: Navy blue and white

3 of the greatest players: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Derek Jeter

Arguably the most famous baseball organisation in the world. Now playing in Yankee Stadium (II) in New York, the Yankees retired numbers reads like a who's who of baseball greats. Add Di Maggio, Mantle, Berra, Mickey Mantle, Munson, Ford, Rivera, et al to the list above.

With a huge market share, the Pinstripes have always been able to spend big and attract the best players. They dominated baseball in the period from the 1920s to the 1960s and their overall total of 27 World Series wins is far and away the most in MLB, with the Cardinals second with 11. They have been American League pennant winners 40 times, meaning they have played that many World Series.

Recent World Series appearances have eluded the Bronx Bombers but they are regular play-off appearance makers and their financial muscle will always make them contenders - Gerrit Cole’s 9-year $324 million contract underlining this.

Current star Aaron Judge holds the American League record for home runs by a rookie in a season (52) and was the fastest player in MLB to hit 60 dingers.

Tampa Bay Rays

Established: 1998

World Series wins: 0

Colours: Navy blue and light blue

3 of the greatest players: Evan Longoria, Blake Snell, Carl Crawford

Originally named The Tampa Bay Devil Rays, they were part of the two team expansion (with the Diamondbacks) in 1998, playing at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg from their inception and they became the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008.

The Rays are a very small market team, regularly having a payroll a quarter to that of teams like the Yankees, Dodgers and Angels. Results were bleak in their first 10 years finishing last in 9 of those and second to last in the other, every year having a losing record. The name change brought a change of fortune and they won their division in 2008 which led to them ending up in the 2008 World Series, losing to the Phillies.

Since 2008, they have had a winning season every year bar four and played in the 2020 World Series, losing to the Dodgers. Given the powerhouses of the Yankees and Red Sox in their five-team division and their minimal payroll, this run of achievement is remarkable.

Toronto Blue Jays

Established: 1977

World Series wins: 2 (1992, 1993)

Colours: Royal blue

3 of the greatest players: Roberto Alomar, Carlos Delgardo, Roy Halladay

The only non-American team in MLB who play at the astroturfed Rogers Centre which has a fully retractable roof, the Blue Jays were part of the 1977 expansion along with the Seattle Mariners.

Like many expansion teams, their results were unfavourable in the first few years, but they quickly found their feet and were rewarded with a golden era in the mid-1980s to the early ‘90s, which included two World Series wins. The second of which was sealed with a game 6 walk-off home run from Joe Carter.

Since the 1993 World Series win, play-off appearances have been rare and most seasons have seen a 3rd place or lower finish in their 5 team division, winning the AL East only once, in 2015 behind the MVP year of Josh Donaldson.

The current crop is an exciting bunch, led by Vladimir Guerrero Jnr, Cavan Biggio and Bo Bichette (who set an MLB record in 2019 of hitting a double in 9 consecutive games), all sons of former MLB greats.

American League Central

Chicago White Sox

Established: 1900

World Series wins: 3 (1906, 1917, 2005)

Colours: Black and white

3 of the greatest players: Ted Lyons, Luke Appling, Frank Thomas

Playing in the south side of Chicago at Guaranteed Rate Field (having played for 80 years at Comiskey Park - named after longtime owner Charles Comiskey, who was succeeded by family members), the White Sox started out as the White Stockings and had early success until the 1919 Black Sox scandal, in which Chicago White Sox players were paid to throw the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. Eight players were banned for life.

Recent success has been hard to come by with only 3 division titles in the last 25 years, one leading to their 2005 World Series victory driven by the brilliance of Mark Buehrle, AJ Pierzynski and Paul Konerko.

Things are looking up for the South Siders with young stars such as Luis Robert, Tim Anderson, Eloy Jimenez (once a Chicago Cub) and Lucas Giolito providing excitement in addition to veterans Jose Abreu (current AL MVP) and Yasmani Grandal giving them the opportunity to rival their crosstown rivals, The Cubs.

Cleveland

Established: 1894

World Series wins: 2 (1920, 1948)

Colours: Red and blue

3 of the greatest players: Jim Thome, Nap Lajoie, Tris Speaker

Are in the process of changing their name, dropping the suffix ‘Indians’ after the 2021 season with a yet to be established replacement name - the name and the logo have been criticised for perpetuating Native American stereotypes.

Having been an American League affiliate since 1901, only 2 World Series rings and 6 AL pennants seems scant reward for their fans. Indeed, their championship drought of 72 years is the longest current streak of all MLB organisations. However, they have a loyal fanbase, setting an MLB record in 2001 for having 455 consecutive sellout games (since been broken). The organisation retired the number 455 in honour of the fans.

Notable player achievements include Thome’s 612 home runs (not all for Cleveland) sitting him 8th on the all-time list. There has been recent pitching success in Cleveland, with 5 AL Cy Young award winners in the last 14 years, including last year's winner Shane Bieber and Corey Kluber winning it twice (2014 and 2017).

Detroit Tigers

Established: 1894

World Series wins: 4 (1935, 1945, 1968, 1984)

Colours: Blue and white

3 of the greatest players: Ty Cobb, Al Kaline, Miguel Cabrera

Currently playing in Comerica Park, they are one of 8 original members of the American League (along with division counterparts in Chicago and Cleveland). The franchise has only ever had one name, always being known as the Detroit Tigers, an unusual fact in MLB.

The Tigers have had extremely mixed results in the last 20 years, losing two World Series (to the Cardinals in 2006 and the Giants in 2012) but have had some very difficult years, including losing 119 (2003), 114 (2019), 106 (2002) and 98 (2017 and 2018). 310 losses from 2017 to 2019 is a tough run for the fans, made worse by their reasonably large payroll in recent years (more around league average now).

Miguel Cabrera has been a Tiger since 2008 and has won a raft of awards, including the 2012 triple crown winner (the first person to do this in MLB since 1967 - this is when you lead the league in home runs, batting average and RBIs) and AL MVP twice (2012 and 2013). He is a likely hall of famer.

With many recent high draft picks, the future looks brighter for the Tigers, especially with their impressive young pitching line-up.

Kansas City Royals

Established: 1969

World Series wins: 2 (1985, 2015)

Colours: Light blue

3 of the greatest players: George Brett, Frank White, Salvador Perez

For a small market team who have only been playing MLB for 50 years, two World Series rings and four AL pennants is a very good return. Playing at Kauffman Stadium, the Blue Crew regularly go through a cycle where they break down the organisation and build it back up again through high draft picks, shrewd trades and player development, and have been successful at this.

By using this approach, the Royals inevitably go through periods of having weak sides which has resulted in some very difficult years, most recently having over 100 losses in 2018 and 2019 and a period of 100 losses in four years out of five (2002 - 2006).

But they have had some great times, most recently having back-to-back World Series appearances (2014 and 2015), only losing to the Giants in game 7 to Madison Bumgarner’s brilliance in 2014, but winning it all the next season against the Mets, with some stellar pitching from Johnny Cueto, Alex Gordon’s hitting and series MVP Salvador Perez. The Royals played ‘small ball’ in this series, only hitting two home runs in the five games.

Minnesota Twins

Established: 1901, based in Minnesota since 1961

World Series wins: 3 (1924, 1987, 1991)

Colours: Blue, red and white

3 of the greatest players: Kirby Puckett, Walter Johnson, Rod Carew

Recent divisional success has been present for the Twins but their postseason woes are evident, in fact, in all four major American sports, the Twins have the longest losing streak in play-off sport, losing 18 consecutive games (a pretty astonishing feat in baseball), which dates back to 2004. Needless to say, a World Series Win or even an AL pennant is a distant memory, going back to 1991.

The Twins, who play at Target Field, have had some recent notable individual awards come their way, including Roco Baldelli, Paul Molitor and Ron Gardenhire as AL Manager of the Year (2019, 2017 and 2010 respectively), Joe Mauer as AL MVP (2009), Justin Morneau also as AL MVP (2004) and Johan Santana’s AL Cy Young award (2004 and 2006 - he won the Pitching Triple Crown this year too, a rare feat).

In a very winnable division, the Twins will be looking over their shoulder at the improving White Sox and the high draft picks for the Tigers and Royals soon coming to fruition.

American League West

Houston Astros

Established: 1962

World Series wins: 1 (2017)

Colours: Orange, white and blue

3 of the greatest players: Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Jose Altuve

The Astros have had a very interesting existence, starting out as an expansion team in the National League in 1962 (with the Mets) and have played in the NL West and NL Central before most recently moving leagues to the American League in 2013. Their one World Series victory in 2017 is shrouded in controversy with the sign stealing scandal and the trash can accompaniment.

To obtain that WS victory, the Astros went through a long process of stripping down the organisation and had a forward thinking front office. The way they obtained stars such as Bregman and Correa, and developed Springer and Altuve is fascinating. It’s a shame those players are now saddled with this controversy.

When talking Astro legend, Nolan Ryan is not only an organisational hero but a true baseball legend who was stellar for the Astros, but his body of work didn’t justify his inclusion on the list above, but make no mistake that he is one of the finest pitchers the game has ever seen (pitching from 1966 - 1993, he pitched 5,386 innings, striking out 5,714 [an MLB record] and a career ERA of 3.19 - I could go on. Phenomenal). You don’t need to look too far to find him on another organisation's list of three...

Los Angeles Angels

Established: 1961, in Anaheim since 1966

World Series wins: 1 (2002)

Colours: Red and white

3 of the greatest players: Nolan Ryan, Chuck Finley, Mike Trout (tempting to include Tim Salmon here too)

When all is said and done, Mike Trout will be in the argument for the greatest player of all time - not just of our generation. His statistics are frightening and still only 29 years of age (1,418 hits, 310 home runs, 203 stolen bases, .305 average, .418 OBP and an amazing 1.004 OPS). He has many individual awards, including 3 AL MVPs, all that is missing from his resume is a World Series ring. Sadly for Angels fans, their postseason appearances have been very limited indeed since they won it all in 2002, winning just two postseason series, and only appearing once in the last ten years - losing three straight to the Royals in 2014.

The Angels play their games at Angel Stadium and, despite the money that has been spent, including some recent monster contracts, have underperformed and underwhelmed. An interesting and fun team to watch (Shohei Ohtani playing as a two-way player, pitching and hitting to an elite standard for example) but their fans will be craving more success, will the Angels make the breakthrough soon?

Oakland Athletics

Established: 1901, in Oakland since 1968

World Series wins: 9 (1910, 1911, 1913, 1929, 1930, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1989)

Colours: Green, yellow and white

3 of the greatest players: Rickey Henderson, Eddie Plank, Reggie Jackson

Only refer to this team as the As, not the ‘Athletics’. Now playing at the Coliseum, the As saw early success when they were the Philadelphia As in the early twentieth century. They haven’t quite seen the same successes since their halcyon days of the 1970s when they won three rings in a row and five consecutive division titles.

First ballot hall of famer Rickey Henderson holds some astonishing records including the single season record of stolen bases (130) and career steals (1,406) - two records that are unlikely to be broken in an age where stealing bases is less common. He also has 3,055 hits and 2,295 runs.

The Moneyball book and film was based on the ideas of the As front office, operating as a small market team and finding value in players that others didn’t see. This was part of a different kind of thinking in baseball that led to a change in the way teams research, draft and trade for players.

Seattle Mariners