This document has three separate sections. The first is a summary of the
number of active major league teams for each season. The second is a very
brief summary of franchise moves during the twentienth century. The third
is an overview of the number of games actually played in each season.
A) Active Major League Teams by Season
Seasons AL NL Teams
1901-1960 8 8 16
1961 10 8 18
1962-1968 10 10 20
1969-1976 12 12 24
1977-1992 14 12 26
1993-1997 14 14 28
1998 14 16 30
B) Overview of Franchise Histories
For a more complete history, see "Team Origins/histories"
in this archive.
Excluded are moves before 1901 and moves within a metropolitan
area (for example, the Twins moved from Bloomington to Minneapolis
in 1982) and nickname changes (Houston Colt-45s to Houston Astros).
Current name/ 1st Season
location post-1901 Franchise Moves
Atlanta Braves 1901 1953 Boston->Milwaukee, 1966 Milwaukee->Atl
Baltimore Orioles 1901 1902 Milwaukee - St Louis, 1954 St Louis Browns->Baltimore
Boston RedSox 1901
Chicago Cubs 1901
Chicago White Sox 1901
Cincinnati Reds 1901
Cleveland Indians 1901
Detroit Tigers 1901
Los Angeles Dodgers 1901 1958 Brooklyn->Los Angeles
Minnesota Twins 1901 1961 Washington Senators->Minnesota Twins
New York Yankees 1901 1903 Baltimore Orioles->New York
Oakland Athletics 1901 1955 Philadelphia->KC, 1967 KC->Oakland
Philadelphia Phillies 1901
Pittsburgh Pirates 1901
St Louis Cardinals 1901
San Francisco Giants 1901 1958 New York->San Francisco
Texas Rangers 1961 1972 Washington Senators->Texas Rangers
Anaheim Angels 1961
Houston Astros 1962
New York Mets 1962
Kansas City Royals 1969
Milwaukee Brewers 1969 1970 Seattle Pilots->Milwaukee Brewers
1998 - moved from American to National League
Montreal Expos 1969
San Diego Padres 1969
Seattle Mariners 1977
Toronto Blue Jays 1977
Colorado Rockies 1993
Florida Marlins 1993
Arizona Diamondsbacks 1998
Tampa Bay Devil Rays 1998
C) Games played 1901-1998
The table below is a summary of the actual number of games played per
per season from 1901-1997. Both leagues played a 154 game schedule
until 1961, and have played a 162 game schedule since then.
The number of games actually played per team varied widely from
1901-1919, for a variety of reasons. There have also been four
seasons shortened by player strikes (1972, 1981, 1994-1995).
NL AL Total Avg Games
Yr Games Games Games G/Team To Date Comments
1901 549 561 1110 138.8 1110 Eight teams in each league
1902 553 562 1115 139.4 2225
1903 554 560 1114 139.3 3339
1904 626 623 1249 156.1 4588
1905 617 620 1237 154.6 5825
1906 613 615 1228 153.5 7053
1907 617 616 1233 154.1 8286
1908 622 622 1244 155.5 9530
1909 620 620 1240 155.0 10770
1910 628 621 1249 156.1 12019
1911 614 623 1237 154.6 13256
1912 619 613 1232 154.0 14488
1913 614 620 1234 154.3 15722
1914 631 625 1256 157.0 16978
1915 621 624 1245 155.6 18223
1916 625 622 1247 155.9 19470
1917 622 625 1247 155.9 20717
1918 508 508 1016 127.0 21733
1919 560 558 1118 139.8 22851
NL AL Total Avg Games
Yr Games Games Games G/Team To Date Comments
1920 617 617 1234 154.3 24085
1921 616 613 1229 153.6 25314
1922 618 620 1238 154.8 26552
1923 616 617 1233 154.1 27785
1924 617 614 1231 153.9 29016
1925 616 612 1228 153.5 30244
1926 616 618 1234 154.3 31478
1927 619 617 1236 154.5 32714
1928 617 614 1231 153.9 33945
1929 613 616 1229 153.6 35174
1930 616 618 1234 154.3 36408
1931 618 618 1236 154.5 37644
1932 615 618 1233 154.1 38877
1933 608 618 1226 153.3 40103
1934 615 608 1223 152.9 41326
1935 611 617 1228 153.5 42554
1936 618 620 1238 154.8 43792
1937 622 617 1239 154.9 45031
1938 613 610 1223 152.9 46254
1939 615 616 1231 153.9 47485
NL AL Total Avg Games
Yr Games Games Games G/Team To Date Comments
1940 619 617 1236 154.5 48721
1941 622 622 1244 155.5 49965
1942 611 613 1224 153.0 51189
1943 617 621 1238 154.8 52427
1944 619 623 1242 155.3 53669
1945 612 618 1230 153.8 54899
1946 621 621 1242 155.3 56141
1947 623 620 1243 155.4 57384
1948 618 619 1237 154.6 58621
1949 618 622 1240 155.0 59861
1950 620 618 1238 154.8 61099
1951 617 622 1239 154.9 62338
1952 621 618 1239 154.9 63577
1953 618 622 1240 155.0 64817
1954 621 616 1237 154.6 66054
1955 618 616 1234 154.3 67288
1956 618 621 1239 154.9 68527
1957 616 619 1235 154.4 69762
1958 619 616 1235 154.4 70997
1959 618 620 1238 154.8 72235
NL AL Total Avg Games
Yr Games Games Games G/Team To Date Comments
1960 617 619 1236 154.5 73471
1961 811 619 1430 158.9 74901 AL adds Was & LA Angels
1962 809 812 1621 162.1 76522 NL adds Hou & NY Mets
1963 808 811 1619 161.9 78141
1964 814 812 1626 162.6 79767
1965 810 813 1623 162.3 81390
1966 806 809 1615 161.5 83005
1967 810 810 1620 162.0 84625
1968 812 813 1625 162.5 86250
1969 973 973 1946 162.2 88196 AL adds KC, Mil NL: Mtl, SD
1970 973 971 1944 162.0 90140
1971 966 972 1938 161.5 92078
1972 929 930 1859 154.9 93937 Strike cancels 85 games
1973 972 971 1943 161.9 95880
1974 973 972 1945 162.1 97825
1975 963 971 1934 161.2 99759
1976 967 972 1939 161.6 101698
1977 1131 972 2103 161.8 103801 AL adds Tor, Sea
1978 1131 971 2102 161.7 105903
1979 1128 971 2099 161.5 108002
NL AL Total Avg Games
Yr Games Games Games G/Team To Date Comments
1980 1132 973 2105 161.9 110107
1981 750 644 1394 107.2 111501 Strike cancels 712 games
1982 1135 972 2107 162.1 113608
1983 1135 974 2109 162.2 115717
1984 1134 971 2105 161.9 117822
1985 1132 971 2103 161.8 119925
1986 1134 969 2103 161.8 122028
1987 1134 971 2105 161.9 124133
1988 1131 969 2100 161.5 126233
1989 1133 973 2106 162.0 128339
1990 1133 972 2105 161.9 130444
1991 1134 970 2104 161.8 132548
1992 1134 972 2106 162.0 134654
1993 1134 1135 2269 162.1 136923 NL adds Fla, Col
1994 797 802 1599 114.2 138522 Strike cancels 669 games
1995 1009 1007 2016 144.0 140538 Strike cancels 252 games
1996 1135 1135 2270 162.1 142808
1997 1134 1131 2265 161.8 145073 First year of interleague play*
1998 1298 1134 2432 162.1 147505 AL adds TB, NL adds Ari, Mil moves to NL