Major League Baseball (MLB)
Baseball’s top league grew from a small 19th-century pastime into a global engine for talent, culture, and innovation. The MLB is where local ballparks, international pipelines, and generations of players intersect, shaping the game and influencing every baseball community.
MLB Basics
- North America’s top professional baseball league, running from early spring through fall.
- Player pipeline pulls from U.S. colleges, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia.
- Sets the competitive, economic, and cultural standards that shape global baseball.
How Baseball Works
Baseball is played over nine innings with teams taking turns hitting and fielding. The pitcher throws the ball, the batter tries to reach base or drive in runners, and the fielding team works to record three outs each inning. The team with the most runs at the end wins, and most of the action comes from the battle between pitcher and hitter.
League Rules & Structure
MLB has 30 teams split into the American League and National League, each playing a long regular season from spring through early fall. Teams compete to reach the postseason, which uses a bracket-style playoff system that ends with the World Series. Games are nine innings, and teams bat until they get three outs. Umpires enforce rules around pitching, hitting, base running, and fielding, which stay consistent across all ballparks.
A Quick History of the MLB
WORLD BASEBALL INDEX
Accra (Ghana) | Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) | Amsterdam (Netherlands) | Athens (Greece) | Bangkok (Thailand) | Barcelona (Spain) | Beijing (China) | Berlin (Germany) | Bogota (Colombia) | Buenos Aires (Argentina) | Cairo (Egypt) | Casablanca (Morocco) | Copenhagen (Denmark) | Doha (Qatar) | Dubai (United Arab Emirates) | Dublin (Ireland) | Delhi (India) | Edinburgh / Glasgow (Scotland) | Havana (Cuba) | Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon (Vietnam) | Istanbul (Turkey) | Jakarta (Indonesia) | Johannesburg (South Africa) | Karachi (Pakistan) | Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) | Lagos (Nigeria) | Lima (Peru) | London (England) | Lyon (France) | Madrid (Spain) | Manchester (England) | Manila (Philippines) | Melbourne (Australia) | Mexico City (Mexico) | Milan (Italy) | Moscow (Russia) | Mumbai (India) | Munich (Germany) | Nairobi (Kenya) | Paris (France) | Rome (Italy) | Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) | Santiago (Chile) | Sao Paolo (Brazil) | Seoul (South Korea) | Shanghai (China) | Stockholm (Sweden) | Sydney (Australia) | Taipei (Taiwan) | Tel Aviv (Israel) | Tokyo (Japan) | Vienna (Austria) | Warsaw (Poland) | Zurich (Switzerland)
Angola | Benin | Botswana | Burkina Faso | Burundi | Cameroon | Cape Verde | Central African Republic | Chad | Comoros | Congo | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Djibouti | Equatorial Guinea | Eritrea | Ethiopia | Gabon | Gambia | Ghana | Guinea | Guinea-Bissau | Ivory Coast | Kenya | Lesotho | Liberia | Madagascar | Malawi | Mali | Mauritania | Mauritius | Mozambique | Namibia | Niger | Nigeria | Rwanda | Sao Tome and Principe | Senegal | Seychelles | Sierra Leone | South Africa | South Sudan | Sudan | Swaziland (Eswatini) | Tanzania | Togo | Uganda | Zambia | Zimbabwe
Argentina | Bolivia | Brazil | Canada | Chile | Colombia | Ecuador | Guyana | Mexico | Paraguay | Peru | Suriname | United States of America | Uruguay | Venezuela
Bangladesh | Bhutan | Brunei | Cambodia | China | India | Indonesia | Japan | Kazakhstan | Kyrgyzstan | Laos | Malaysia | Maldives | Mongolia | Myanmar | Nepal | North Korea | Philippines | Singapore | South Korea | Sri Lanka | Taiwan | Tajikistan | Thailand | Turkmenistan | Uzbekistan | Vietnam
Antigua and Barbuda | Bahamas | Barbados | Belize | Costa Rica | Cuba | Dominica | Dominican Republic | El Salvador | Grenada | Guatemala | Haiti | Honduras | Jamaica | Nicaragua | Panama | Puerto Rico | Saint Kitts and Nevis | Saint Lucia | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Trinidad and Tobago
Albania | Andorra | Armenia | Austria | Belarus | Belgium | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Bulgaria | Croatia | Cyprus | Czech Republic | Denmark | England | Estonia | Finland | France | Georgia | Germany | Greece | Hungary | Iceland | Ireland | Italy | Kosovo | Latvia | Liechtenstein | Lithuania | Luxembourg | Malta | Moldova | Monaco | Montenegro | Netherlands | North Macedonia | Northern Ireland | Norway | Poland | Portugal | Romania | Russia | San Marino | Scotland | Serbia | Slovakia | Slovenia | Spain | Sweden | Switzerland | Ukraine | United Kingdom | Vatican City | Wales
Afghanistan | Algeria | Azerbaijan | Bahrain | Egypt | Iran | Iraq | Israel | Jordan | Kuwait | Lebanon | Libya | Morocco | Oman | Pakistan | Qatar | Saudi Arabia | Somalia | Syria | Tunisia | Turkey | United Arab Emirates | Yemen
Australia | East Timor | Fiji | Kiribati | Marshall Islands | Micronesia | Nauru | Palau | Papua New Guinea | Samoa | Solomon Islands | Tonga | Tuvalu | Vanuatu
NORTH AMERICA
Alabama | Alaska | Arizona | Arkansas | California | Colorado | Connecticut | Delaware | District of Columbia (DC) | Florida | Georgia | Hawaii | Idaho | Illinois | Indiana | Iowa | Kansas | Kentucky | Louisiana | Maine | Maryland | Massachusetts | Michigan | Minnesota | Mississippi | Missouri | Montana | Nebraska | Nevada | New Hampshire | New Jersey | New Mexico | New York | North Carolina | North Dakota | Ohio | Oklahoma | Oregon | Pennsylvania | Puerto Rico | Rhode Island | South Carolina | South Dakota | Tennessee | Texas | Utah | Vermont | Virginia | Washington | West Virginia | Wisconsin | Wyoming
Alberta | British Columbia | Manitoba | New Brunswick | Newfoundland and Labrador | Nova Scotia | Ontario | Prince Edward Island | Quebec | Saskatchewan | Northwest Territories | Nunavut | Yukon
Atlanta | Austin / San Antonio | Baltimore / Washington DC | Bay Area (Oakland / San Francisco / San Jose) | Boston | Buffalo | Calgary | Charlotte | Chicago | Cincinnati | Cleveland / Columbus | Dallas | Denver | Detroit | Edmonton | Houston | Indianapolis | Jacksonville | Kansas City | Las Vegas | Los Angeles / San Diego | Memphis | Miami | Milwaukee | Minneapolis | Montreal | Nashville | New Orleans | New York City | Oklahoma City | Orlando | Ottawa | Philadelphia | Phoenix | Pittsburgh | Portland | Raleigh | Sacramento | Salt Lake City | Seattle | St. Louis | Tampa Bay | Toronto | Vancouver | Winnipeg