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Last time, we took a look at the rapid expansion of professional baseball in the United States, and the conflicts between the National League, the American Association, and the Players' League. The National League eventually came out on top and again assumed the role of the most powerful professional league, creating a monopoly on the national game in a professional eye. In part three of this four-part series, the National League goes up against a new opponent, one that proves to be unwilling to submit and eventually shows it can stand the test of time in the same world as the NL: The American League.
Part III: The American League and the World Series
After a decade of peace, the National League found out that monopoly has its price. Without any major competition, the League had grown complacent and inner turmoil began to arise. There were words exchanged in the media between the teams and the league heads, and it seemed as though the National League would erupt into civil war. It was at this point that Ban Johnson, president of the revamped Western League, stepped onto the scene. In October of 1899, the Western League changed its name to the American League, a move that they hoped would allow it to gain more popularity in Eastern cities as the American League made its move towards becoming a full-fledged professional league. In October of 1900, all the groundwork had been laid; all the Americans needed was financial backing.
When the American League began playing, the officials from the National League thought little of it, feeling the Americans would provide little actual competition at the gates. After just two years, however, American League teams out drew the National League, 2.2 million fans to 1.7 million fans respectively, proving that the Americans were genuine competition that would not fold as easily as the American Association and the Players' League had. The National League, bitterly divided over their leadership, attempted to support a new American Association to battle the American League. The biggest issue was putting the new Association teams in cities the AL controlled, where the NL had no influence.
In early 1901, Johnson officially announced that the American League would become a completely-professional league, and not just a semi-pro minor league system. With this announcement, the numbers of players switching from the National League to the American League shot up dramatically. The average AL salary was higher than those in the NL, and the players liked the leadership that headed the AL. National League contracts were honored, but the reserve rule - long viewed unfair by many players - was completely ignored, allowing the AL to sign more players. By the end of 1902, it was clear that the National League could not crush the American League; the two leagues would have to co-exist. Peace talks began, and in January of 1903, both sides reached an agreement that would provide for the long-term existence of both leagues.
It took a while for the peace to become official; the National League's leadership squabbled over the terms of peace for several days. In the end, however, the National League clubs ratified the peace accord with the American League, and the war officially came to an end. The clubs of each league headed into spring training in March of 1903 with high hopes that the peace treaty signed in Cincinnati would be a lasting one and that the "Great baseball War" would soon become a thing of the past.
Following the 1903 season, it was decided that the pennant winners from both leagues would meet in a post-season series to play for baseball's world championship. This initial championship series featured the American League champion Boston Red Sox and the National League victor, the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was a best-of-nine series, with the winner of five of the games claiming the championship for themselves. The first World Series kicked off on October 1, 1903 in Boston. Pittsburgh won the game, 7-3, in front of 16,000 spectators. Boston took the following game, before Pittsburgh rallied and won the next two, taking a 3-1 series lead. By winning the next three games on the road, Boston took a 4-3 series advantage back home, where they were victorious, 3-0, in front of the home crowd in game 8. The Boston Red Sox became the first official world champions under the new AL versus NL system, kicking off a tradition that continues into the present day.
It was peace that ruled over major league baseball for the next decade, and the sport's popularity continued to grow across the nation. Attendance and gate receipts rose as well, and baseball cemented itself as America's newest pastime. When the final baseball war arose a decade later, it officially solidified the American and National Leagues as the dominant forces in American baseball.
Stay tuned for the fourth and final installment in this series on baseball history, "Part IV: The Challenge of the Federal League."
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