Subscribe Feed (RSS)MLB
Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in American professional baseball. It is composed of 30 teams - 29 in the United States and one in Canada. More specifically, Major League Baseball refers to the organization that operates the National League and the American League, by means of a joint organizational structure that has existed between them since 1903. Each season consists of 162 games, which generally begins on the first Sunday in April and ends on the first Sunday in October, with the playoffs played in October and sometimes in early November. The same rules and regulations are played between the two leagues with one exception: the American League operates under the Designated Hitter Rule, while the National League does not. Utilization of the DH Rule in Interleague play, the All-Star and World Series games are determined by the home team's league rules. In 2000, the two leagues were officially disbanded as separate legal entities with all rights and functions consolidated in the commissioner's office. MLB effectively operates as a single league and as such it constitutes one of the major professional sports leagues of North America.
 |
 NEW Fleer MLB St. Louis Cardinals BMW X5 1:24 Scale  US $.99
|
 NEW Fleer MLB Atlanta Braves BMW X5 1:24 Scale US $.99
|
 NEW MLB Cleveland Indians 1:80 Scale Diecast Truck US $.99
|
 Fleer Ltd Ed MLB Pittsburgh Pirates Tractor Trailer1:80 US $.99
|
 NIB MICRO MACHINES START.LINEUP MLB 'SWINGING STARS" #1 US $7.50
|
 NEW Ltd. Edition Fleer MLB Texas Rangers Monster Truck US $.99
|
 NEW Ltd. Ed Fleer MLB Chicago Cubs Monster Truck US $.99
|
 NEW Ltd. Ed Fleer MLB Baltimore Orioles Monster Truck US $.99
|
 NEW Ltd. Ed Fleer MLB St. Louis Cardinals Monster Truck US $.99
|
 MCFARLANE MLB 21 DAISUKE MATSUZAKA REG AND VARIANT US $.99
|
MLB is controlled by the Major League Baseball Constitution that has undergone several incarnations since 1876 with the most recent revisions being made in 2005. Under the direction of Commissioner of Baseball (currently Bud Selig), Major League Baseball hires and maintains the sport's umpiring crews, and negotiates marketing, labor, and television contracts. As is the case for most of the sports leagues in the United States and Canada, the "closed shop" aspect of MLB effectively prevents the yearly promotion and relegation of teams into and out of the Major League by virtue of their performance. Private enterprises is mostly funded by Major league Baseball, but also partially funded directly by public taxes. Major League Baseball maintains a unique, controlling relationship over the sport, including most aspects of minor league baseball. This is due in large part to a 1922 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Federal Baseball Club v. National League, which held that baseball is not interstate commerce and therefore not subject to federal antitrust law. This ruling has been weakened only slightly in subsequent years.
