The American and National Leagues started off as two separate entities, but they combined to form Major League Baseball early in the 20th century. Even though the two leagues have combined in many aspects -- common draft, similar structure -- many aspects make each league distinct.
National League
The National League was the first professional baseball league. It began in 1876 with teams in Chicago, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Boston, Hartford, New York, St. Louis and Louisville. The National League fluctuated in size over the next quarter century. It played with as many as 12 teams through the 1900 season. However, it dropped four teams after that season and it went back to eight teams for the 1901 season. That fueled the decision for a new league to start competing.
American League
The American League began play in 1901. It started with four of the teams that the National League had dropped and added four more teams. The eight original American League teams were located in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Washington. The National League scoffed at the American League's designation as a major league, but it agreed to honor its player contracts, and in 1903, it agreed to have its champion meet the American League champion in an annual championship series at the conclusion of the regular season.
Competition Between the Two Leagues
The first World Series played between the champions of the American and National League saw the Boston Americans take on the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1903. The American League's Americans -- soon to be renamed the Red Sox -- upset the Pirates, 5 games to 3. There was no World Series in 1904 when the New York Giants won the National League pennant and manager John McGraw refused to compete with an American League team. While McGraw felt that getting on the same field as an American League team was beneath him, he changed his mind the following year, and the Giants defeated the Philadelphia Athletics. The World Series has been player every year since with the exception of 1994, when a labor dispute between players and management wiped out the season. American League teams have a 62-44 edge in the World Series.
The All-Star game features the top players in each league meeting in a mid-summer game every year. The first All-Star game was played in 1933 in Chicago's Comiskey Park, and featured a home run by the legendary Babe Ruth in a 4-2 American League victory. Limited inter-league regular season games between the two leagues began in 1997.
Differences Between the Two Leagues
The National League is often referred to as the senior circuit and the American League is referred to as the junior circuit because the National League started 25 years before its counterpart. The National League was the more progressive of the two leagues and signed the first black player when the Brooklyn Dodgers inked Jackie Robinson to a contract in 1947. While the Cleveland Indians signed the second black player, Larry Doby, for the American League a few months later, National League teams were much faster to sign minority players for the next 15 years and it allowed that league to gain a competitive edge that manifested itself in the All-Star game and public perception. National League teams drew more fans than their American League counterparts until the 1980s.
American League teams felt they had to add more offense to the game to draw more fans, and they added the designated hitter in 1973. That allowed a hitter to bat for the pitcher in all games. The National League never went along with this idea, and the two leagues play with different formats because of their inability to agree. When inter-league games are played, National League rules are used in games at National League ballparks, while the designated hitter is used in games played at American League ballparks.
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