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-pres 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 Dodgers -> Los Angeles Dodgers Minnesota Twins 1901 1961 Washington Senators -> Minnesota Twins New York Yankees 1901 1903 Baltimore Orioles -> New York Yankees 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 2013 Moved from National League to American League New York Mets 1962 Kansas City Royals 1969 Milwaukee Brewers 1969 1970 Seattle Pilots -> Milwaukee Brewers, 1998 moved from AL to NL Washington Nationals 1969 2005 Montreal Expos -> Washington Nationals San Diego Padres 1969 Seattle Mariners 1977 Toronto Blue Jays 1977 Colorado Rockies 1993 Florida Marlins 1993 Arizona Diamondsbacks 1998 Tampa Bay 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