Team Chronology
This page presents a chronology of teams and leagues. Events listed include when they were created, moved (between cities or leagues) or disbanded. Also included are some official name changes by Anaheim. However, nickname changes are not discussed here. Some of these franchise connections are not agreed upon by all baseball historians. This list uses the best information available.| Year | League | Added | Dropped | Moved |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1871 |
NA |
National Association formed | ||
| 1871 |
NA |
Boston Chicago Cleveland Fort Wayne New York Philadelphia Rockford Troy Washington Olympics |
||
| 1872 |
NA |
Baltimore Lord Baltimores Brooklyn Atlantics Brooklyn Eckfords Middletown Washington Nationals |
Chicago Fort Wayne Rockford Washington Olympics (5/28) Washington Nationals (6/26) Troy (7/23) Middletown (8/9) Cleveland (8/19) |
|
| 1873 |
NA |
Baltimore Marylands Elizabeth Philadelphia White Stockings Washington Nationals |
Brooklyn Eckfords Baltimore Marylands (7/11) Elizabeth (8/7) |
|
| 1874 |
NA |
Chicago Hartford |
Washington Nationals | |
| 1875 |
NA |
Keokuk New Haven Philadelphia Centennials St. Louis Red Stockings St. Louis Brown Stockings Washington Olympics |
Baltimore Lord Baltimores | |
| 1876 |
NA |
National Association disbanded | ||
| 1876 |
NA |
Brooklyn Keokuk New Haven Philadelphia Centennials Philadelphia White Stockings St. Louis Red Stockings Washington |
Boston (to NL) Chicago (to NL) Hartford (to NL) New York (to NL) Philadelphia Athletics (to NL) St. Louis Brown Stockings (to NL) |
|
| 1876 |
NL |
National League formed | ||
| 1876 |
NL |
Cincinnati Louisville |
National Association teams: Boston Chicago Hartford New York Philadelphia Athletics St. Louis Brown Stockings |
|
| 1877 |
NL |
New York Philadelphia |
||
| 1878 |
NL |
Indianapolis Milwaukee Providence |
Hartford Louisville St. Louis |
|
| 1879 |
NL |
Buffalo Cleveland Syracuse Troy |
Indianapolis Milwaukee |
|
| 1880 |
NL |
Worcester | Syracuse | |
| 1881 |
NL |
Detroit | Cincinnati | |
| 1882 |
AA |
American Association formed | ||
| 1882 |
AA |
Baltimore Cincinnati Louisville Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis |
||
| 1883 |
NL |
Troy (to New York) Worcester to Philadelphia |
||
| 1883 |
AA |
Columbus New York |
||
| 1884 |
AA |
Brooklyn Indianapolis Richmond Toledo Washington |
||
| 1884 |
UA |
Union Association formed | ||
| 1884 |
UA |
Altoona Baltimore Boston Chicago Cincinnati Kansas City Milwaukee Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis St. Paul Washington Wilmington |
||
| 1885 |
NL |
Cleveland | Union Association team: St. Louis |
|
| 1885 |
AA |
Columbus | ||
| 1885 |
UA |
Union Association disbanded | ||
| 1885 |
UA |
Altoona Baltimore Boston Chicago Cincinnati Kansas City Milwaukee Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Paul Washington Wilmington |
St. Louis (to NL) | |
| 1886 |
NL |
Kansas City Washington |
Buffalo Providence |
|
| 1887 |
NL |
Indianapolis | Kansas City St. Louis |
American Association team: Pittsburgh |
| 1887 |
AA |
Cleveland | Pittsburgh (to NL) | |
| 1888 |
AA |
Kansas City | New York | |
| 1889 |
NL |
Detroit | American Association team: Cleveland |
|
| 1889 |
AA |
Columbus | Cleveland (to NL) | |
| 1890 |
NL |
Indianapolis Washington |
American Association teams: Brooklyn Cincinnati |
|
| 1890 |
AA |
Baltimore Brooklyn Rochester Syracuse Toledo |
Baltimore Kansas City |
Brooklyn (to NL) Cincinnati (to NL) |
| 1890 |
PL |
Players League formed | ||
| 1890 |
PL |
Boston Brooklyn Buffalo Chicago Cleveland New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh |
||
| 1891 |
AA |
Cincinnati Washington |
Brooklyn Rochester Syracuse Toledo |
Cincinnati (to Milwaukee 8/14) Players League team: Boston |
| 1891 |
PL |
Players League disbanded | ||
| 1891 |
PL |
Brooklyn Buffalo Chicago Cleveland New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh |
Boston (to AA) | |
| 1892 |
NL |
American Association teams: Baltimore Louisville St. Louis Washington |
||
| 1892 |
AA |
American Association disbanded | ||
| 1892 |
AA |
Boston Columbus Milwaukee Philadelphia |
Baltimore (to NL) Louisville (to NL) St. Louis (to NL) Washington (to NL) |
|
| 1900 |
NL |
Baltimore Cleveland Louisville Washington |
||
| 1901 |
AL |
American League formed | ||
| 1901 |
AL |
Baltimore Boston Chicago Cleveland Detroit Milwaukee Philadelphia Washington |
||
| 1902 |
AL |
Milwaukee (to St. Louis) | ||
| 1903 |
AL |
Baltimore (to New York) | ||
| 1914 |
FL |
Federal League formed | ||
| 1914 |
FL |
Baltimore Brooklyn Buffalo Chicago Indianapolis Kansas City Pittsburgh St. Louis |
||
| 1915 |
FL |
Indianapolis (to Newark) | ||
| 1916 |
FL |
Federal League disbanded | ||
| 1916 |
FL |
Baltimore Brooklyn Buffalo Chicago Kansas City Newark Pittsburgh St. Louis |
||
| 1953 |
NL |
Boston (to Milwaukee) | ||
| 1954 |
AL |
St. Louis (to Baltimore) | ||
| 1955 |
AL |
Philadelphia (to Kansas City) | ||
| 1958 |
NL |
Brooklyn (to Los Angeles) New York (to San Francisco) |
||
| 1961 |
AL |
Los Angeles Washington |
Washington (to Minnesota) | |
| 1962 |
NL |
Houston New York |
||
| 1965 |
AL |
Los Angeles (name change to California) | ||
| 1966 |
NL |
Milwaukee (to Atlanta) | ||
| 1966 |
AL |
California (to Anaheim) | ||
| 1968 |
AL |
Kansas City (to Oakland) | ||
| 1969 |
NL |
Montreal San Diego |
||
| 1969 |
AL |
Kansas City Seattle |
||
| 1970 |
AL |
Seattle (to Milwaukee) | ||
| 1972 |
AL |
Washington (to Texas) | ||
| 1977 |
AL |
Seattle Toronto |
||
| 1993 |
NL |
Colorado Florida |
||
| 1997 |
AL |
California (name change to Anaheim) | ||
| 1998 |
NL |
Arizona | American League team: Milwaukee |
|
| 1998 |
AL |
Tampa Bay | Milwaukee (to NL) | |
| 2005 |
NL |
Montreal (to Washington) | ||
| Year | League | Added | Dropped | Moved |