Major League Baseball history timeline: the 1845 Knickerbocker rules, National League founding, first World Series, Jackie Robinson, free agency, and modern milestones.
Major League Baseball from the codified rules of 1845 through the National League's founding, integration, free agency, and the modern game - the milestones that shaped America's pastime.
Alexander Cartwright's New York Knickerbockers adopt written rules that shape modern baseball.
Baseball's first openly all-professional team barnstorms undefeated through the 1869 season.
The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs forms, the oldest league still operating today.
Ban Johnson's American League declares itself a major league, triggering a two-league war settled in 1903.
Boston of the American League beats Pittsburgh in the first modern World Series between league champions.
Eight White Sox players are accused of conspiring to throw the 1919 World Series; a 1920 grand jury investigates.
Boston announces the sale of Babe Ruth to New York, launching the Yankee dynasty and the live-ball era.
Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis is named baseball's first commissioner to restore trust after the Black Sox affair.
The first MLB All-Star Game is played at Comiskey Park in Chicago; Babe Ruth homers in an AL win.
The Reds host the Phillies under the lights at Crosley Field, baseball's first big-league night game.
Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson are elected to the new Hall of Fame.
Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers, ending six decades of segregation in the major leagues.
The Dodgers and Giants play their first seasons in Los Angeles and San Francisco, taking MLB to the West Coast.
MLB adds its first new franchises since 1901, growing from 16 teams and reshaping both leagues.
The players' union hires labor economist Marvin Miller, transforming baseball's balance of power.
The Supreme Court rules against Curt Flood's challenge to the reserve clause, but his fight paves the way for free agency.
Hank Aaron passes Babe Ruth's career home run record in Atlanta.
Arbitrator Peter Seitz rules Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally free agents, ending the perpetual reserve clause.
The 1994-95 players' strike wipes out the 1994 World Series, the first Series lost to a labor dispute.
Cal Ripken Jr. breaks Lou Gehrig's consecutive-games record, a feel-good landmark after the strike.
Barry Bonds hits career home run 756 to pass Hank Aaron, amid the steroid-era controversy.
The Chicago Cubs win Game 7 in Cleveland for their first World Series title since 1908.
MLB opens the 2023 season with a pitch clock, bigger bases, and shift limits - the biggest rules shake-up in decades.
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