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Beginner's Guide to Major League Baseball- All Teams

Beginner's Guide to Major League Baseball- All Teams

A Brief Guide to MLB and all of its Teams

Although American Football is marketed as ‘America’s Game’, the romantics amongst us still see Baseball as the quintessential American pastime.

From the cathedral-like Yankee Stadium to the minor league ballparks that are dotted about the country, America has a deep, complicated relationship with baseball that many will find hard to understand.

Much like the eponymous village cricket green in the UK, baseball makes up part of the social fabric of many states, with Little league being an integral part of many kids’ childhoods growing up, and batting cages a natural-looking part of the built environment.

There are games on TV every day, all day, throughout the baseball season, which runs from April until October, and after that attentions turn to the NFL. As Roger Hornsby said;

"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring."

The Sporting Blog aims to become the go-to resource for Major League Baseball content in the UK and Europe. We hope that we can educate people about this great game, and publish amazing content that can reach back into the US market as well.

This webpage is our MLB hub. Below, we profile every team in Major League Baseball and give you a quick summary of the most important facts regarding these storied organisations. Laid out in a simple fashion, we go through each team in the National League and the American League, and from here you can explore further content about MLB teams and players, and our opinions on the sport of baseball as a whole.

Enjoy, and let’s play ball. Words and research courtesy of Dave White from European Baseball!

Guide to All Major League Baseball Teams

The American League

American League East

Baltimore Orioles

Established: 1901, in Baltimore since 1954

World Series wins: 3 (1966, 1970, 1983)

Colours: Orange, white and black

3 of the greatest players: Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, Cal Ripken Jnr

The Orioles play their home games at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland. Having started life as the Milwaukee Brewers for one season and then turning to the St. Louis Browns, they settled in Baltimore in 1954.

Birdland’s golden era was from the mid-’60s to early ‘80s, when they were postseason attendees on a regular basis, with Frank Robinson a key component of the teams that won the first two titles (he was AL MVP in 1966, becoming the only player to be named MVP in the AL and NL). Ripken Jnr holds the MLB record of consecutive games, standing at a staggering 2,632 over a 17 year period.

Apart from a mini resurgence between 2012-16 when they made the playoffs three times, they have struggled recently with losing seasons being a common occurrence since the turn of the millennium, which has also led to a sharp drop in attendance figures. 

Boston Red Sox

Established: 1901

World Series wins: 9 (1903, 1912, 1915, 1916, 1918, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2018)

Colours: Red, blue and white

3 of the greatest players: Ted Williams, Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz

The iconic Fenway Park has been their home since 1912, with the legendary ‘Green Monster’ one of MLB’s great stadium features. The Red Sox have been a mainstay of MLB but since their successes of the early 20th century, their appearances in the postseason were sporadic at best until the mid-1980s, and since then they have played play-off baseball regularly.

The 96-year World Series win drought was attributed to the ‘curse of The Bambino’, the fabled tale born from the Red Sox trading away Babe Ruth to their rivals, the New York Yankees. After John Henry purchased the organisation in 2002 and instilled some ‘Moneyball’ type thinking, the curse was finally broken in 2004 behind the hitting brilliance of Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz and the tight pitching of Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez.

Recent history has been very up-and-down, with their most recent World Series ring in 2018, but a last-place finish last year. They played the first MLB games in Europe against the Yankees in London in 2019 - losing both games.

The Turning Point 2004- The Red Sox Yankees rivalry. A must watch!

New York Yankees

Established: 1901, in New York City since 1903

World Series wins: 27 (1923, 1927, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1977, 1978, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2009)

Colours: Navy blue and white

3 of the greatest players: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Derek Jeter

Arguably the most famous baseball organisation in the world. Now playing in Yankee Stadium (II) in New York, the Yankees retired numbers reads like a who's who of baseball greats. Add Di Maggio, Mantle, Berra, Mickey Mantle, Munson, Ford, Rivera, et al to the list above. 

With a huge market share, the Pinstripes have always been able to spend big and attract the best players. They dominated baseball in the period from the 1920s to the 1960s and their overall total of 27 World Series wins is far and away the most in MLB, with the Cardinals second with 11. They have been American League pennant winners 40 times, meaning they have played that many World Series.

Recent World Series appearances have eluded the Bronx Bombers but they are regular play-off appearance makers and their financial muscle will always make them contenders - Gerrit Cole’s 9-year $324 million contract underlining this.

Current star Aaron Judge holds the American League record for home runs by a rookie in a season (52) and was the fastest player in MLB to hit 60 dingers.

Tampa Bay Rays

Established: 1998

World Series wins: 0

Colours: Navy blue and light blue

3 of the greatest players: Evan Longoria, Blake Snell, Carl Crawford

Originally named The Tampa Bay Devil Rays, they were part of the two team expansion (with the Diamondbacks) in 1998, playing at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg from their inception and they became the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008.

The Rays are a very small market team, regularly having a payroll a quarter to that of teams like the Yankees, Dodgers and Angels. Results were bleak in their first 10 years finishing last in 9 of those and second to last in the other, every year having a losing record. The name change brought a change of fortune and they won their division in 2008 which led to them ending up in the 2008 World Series, losing to the Phillies.

Since 2008, they have had a winning season every year bar four and played in the 2020 World Series, losing to the Dodgers. Given the powerhouses of the Yankees and Red Sox in their five-team division and their minimal payroll, this run of achievement is remarkable.

Toronto Blue Jays

Established: 1977

World Series wins: 2 (1992, 1993)

Colours: Royal blue 

3 of the greatest players: Roberto Alomar, Carlos Delgardo, Roy Halladay

The only non-American team in MLB who play at the astroturfed Rogers Centre which has a fully retractable roof, the Blue Jays were part of the 1977 expansion along with the Seattle Mariners.

Like many expansion teams, their results were unfavourable in the first few years, but they quickly found their feet and were rewarded with a golden era in the mid-1980s to the early ‘90s, which included two World Series wins. The second of which was sealed with a game 6 walk-off home run from Joe Carter.

Since the 1993 World Series win, play-off appearances have been rare and most seasons have seen a 3rd place or lower finish in their 5 team division, winning the AL East only once, in 2015 behind the MVP year of Josh Donaldson.

The current crop is an exciting bunch, led by Vladimir Guerrero Jnr, Cavan Biggio and Bo Bichette (who set an MLB record in 2019 of hitting a double in 9 consecutive games), all sons of former MLB greats.

American League Central

Chicago White Sox

Established: 1900

World Series wins: 3 (1906, 1917, 2005)

Colours: Black and white 

3 of the greatest players: Ted Lyons, Luke Appling, Frank Thomas

Playing in the south side of Chicago at Guaranteed Rate Field (having played for 80 years at Comiskey Park - named after longtime owner Charles Comiskey, who was succeeded by family members), the White Sox started out as the White Stockings and had early success until the 1919 Black Sox scandal, in which Chicago White Sox players were paid to throw the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. Eight players were banned for life.

Recent success has been hard to come by with only 3 division titles in the last 25 years, one leading to their 2005 World Series victory driven by the brilliance of Mark Buehrle, AJ Pierzynski and Paul Konerko.

Things are looking up for the South Siders with young stars such as Luis Robert, Tim Anderson, Eloy Jimenez (once a Chicago Cub) and Lucas Giolito providing excitement in addition to veterans Jose Abreu (current AL MVP) and Yasmani Grandal giving them the opportunity to rival their crosstown rivals, The Cubs.

Cleveland

Established: 1894

World Series wins: 2 (1920, 1948)

Colours: Red and blue

3 of the greatest players: Jim Thome, Nap Lajoie, Tris Speaker

Are in the process of changing their name, dropping the suffix ‘Indians’ after the 2021 season with a yet to be established replacement name - the name and the logo have been criticised for perpetuating Native American stereotypes.

Having been an American League affiliate since 1901, only 2 World Series rings and 6 AL pennants seems scant reward for their fans. Indeed, their championship drought of 72 years is the longest current streak of all MLB organisations. However, they have a loyal fanbase, setting an MLB record in 2001 for having 455 consecutive sellout games (since been broken). The organisation retired the number 455 in honour of the fans.

Notable player achievements include Thome’s 612 home runs (not all for Cleveland) sitting him 8th on the all-time list. There has been recent pitching success in Cleveland, with 5 AL Cy Young award winners in the last 14 years, including last year's winner Shane Bieber and Corey Kluber winning it twice (2014 and 2017). 

Detroit Tigers

Established: 1894

World Series wins: 4 (1935, 1945, 1968, 1984) 

Colours: Blue and white

3 of the greatest players: Ty Cobb, Al Kaline, Miguel Cabrera 

Currently playing in Comerica Park, they are one of 8 original members of the American League (along with division counterparts in Chicago and Cleveland). The franchise has only ever had one name, always being known as the Detroit Tigers, an unusual fact in MLB.

The Tigers have had extremely mixed results in the last 20 years, losing two World Series (to the Cardinals in 2006 and the Giants in 2012) but have had some very difficult years, including losing 119 (2003), 114 (2019), 106 (2002) and 98 (2017 and 2018). 310 losses from 2017 to 2019 is a tough run for the fans, made worse by their reasonably large payroll in recent years (more around league average now).

Miguel Cabrera has been a Tiger since 2008 and has won a raft of awards, including the 2012 triple crown winner (the first person to do this in MLB since 1967 - this is when you lead the league in home runs, batting average and RBIs) and AL MVP twice (2012 and 2013). He is a likely hall of famer. 

With many recent high draft picks, the future looks brighter for the Tigers, especially with their impressive young pitching line-up.

Kansas City Royals

Established: 1969

World Series wins: 2 (1985, 2015) 

Colours: Light blue

3 of the greatest players: George Brett, Frank White, Salvador Perez

For a small market team who have only been playing MLB for 50 years, two World Series rings and four AL pennants is a very good return. Playing at Kauffman Stadium, the Blue Crew regularly go through a cycle where they break down the organisation and build it back up again through high draft picks, shrewd trades and player development, and have been successful at this.

By using this approach, the Royals inevitably go through periods of having weak sides which has resulted in some very difficult years, most recently having over 100 losses in 2018 and 2019 and a period of 100 losses in four years out of five (2002 - 2006).

But they have had some great times, most recently having back-to-back World Series appearances (2014 and 2015), only losing to the Giants in game 7 to Madison Bumgarner’s brilliance in 2014, but winning it all the next season against the Mets, with some stellar pitching from Johnny Cueto, Alex Gordon’s hitting and series MVP Salvador Perez. The Royals played ‘small ball’ in this series, only hitting two home runs in the five games.

Minnesota Twins

Established: 1901, based in Minnesota since 1961

World Series wins: 3 (1924, 1987, 1991)

Colours: Blue, red and white

3 of the greatest players: Kirby Puckett, Walter Johnson, Rod Carew

Recent divisional success has been present for the Twins but their postseason woes are evident, in fact, in all four major American sports, the Twins have the longest losing streak in play-off sport, losing 18 consecutive games (a pretty astonishing feat in baseball), which dates back to 2004. Needless to say, a World Series Win or even an AL pennant is a distant memory, going back to 1991.

The Twins, who play at Target Field, have had some recent notable individual awards come their way, including Roco Baldelli, Paul Molitor and Ron Gardenhire as AL Manager of the Year (2019, 2017 and 2010 respectively), Joe Mauer as AL MVP (2009), Justin Morneau also as AL MVP (2004) and Johan Santana’s AL Cy Young award (2004 and 2006 - he won the Pitching Triple Crown this year too, a rare feat).

In a very winnable division, the Twins will be looking over their shoulder at the improving White Sox and the high draft picks for the Tigers and Royals soon coming to fruition.

American League West

Houston Astros

Established: 1962

World Series wins: 1 (2017)

Colours: Orange, white and blue

3 of the greatest players: Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Jose Altuve

The Astros have had a very interesting existence, starting out as an expansion team in the National League in 1962 (with the Mets) and have played in the NL West and NL Central before most recently moving leagues to the American League in 2013. Their one World Series victory in 2017 is shrouded in controversy with the sign stealing scandal and the trash can accompaniment.

To obtain that WS victory, the Astros went through a long process of stripping down the organisation and had a forward thinking front office. The way they obtained stars such as Bregman and Correa, and developed Springer and Altuve is fascinating. It’s a shame those players are now saddled with this controversy.

When talking Astro legend, Nolan Ryan is not only an organisational hero but a true baseball legend who was stellar for the Astros, but his body of work didn’t justify his inclusion on the list above, but make no mistake that he is one of the finest pitchers the game has ever seen (pitching from 1966 - 1993, he pitched 5,386 innings, striking out 5,714 [an MLB record] and a career ERA of 3.19 - I could go on. Phenomenal). You don’t need to look too far to find him on another organisation's list of three...

Los Angeles Angels

Established: 1961, in Anaheim since 1966

World Series wins: 1 (2002)

Colours: Red and white

3 of the greatest players: Nolan Ryan, Chuck Finley, Mike Trout (tempting to include Tim Salmon here too)

When all is said and done, Mike Trout will be in the argument for the greatest player of all time - not just of our generation. His statistics are frightening and still only 29 years of age (1,418 hits, 310 home runs, 203 stolen bases, .305 average, .418 OBP and an amazing 1.004 OPS). He has many individual awards, including 3 AL MVPs, all that is missing from his resume is a World Series ring. Sadly for Angels fans, their postseason appearances have been very limited indeed since they won it all in 2002, winning just two postseason series, and only appearing once in the last ten years - losing three straight to the Royals in 2014.

The Angels play their games at Angel Stadium and, despite the money that has been spent, including some recent monster contracts, have underperformed and underwhelmed. An interesting and fun team to watch (Shohei Ohtani playing as a two-way player, pitching and hitting to an elite standard for example) but their fans will be craving more success, will the Angels make the breakthrough soon?

Oakland Athletics

Established: 1901, in Oakland since 1968

World Series wins: 9 (1910, 1911, 1913, 1929, 1930, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1989)

Colours: Green, yellow and white

3 of the greatest players: Rickey Henderson, Eddie Plank, Reggie Jackson

Only refer to this team as the As, not the ‘Athletics’. Now playing at the Coliseum, the As saw early success when they were the Philadelphia As in the early twentieth century. They haven’t quite seen the same successes since their halcyon days of the 1970s when they won three rings in a row and five consecutive division titles. 

First ballot hall of famer Rickey Henderson holds some astonishing records including the single season record of stolen bases (130) and career steals (1,406) - two records that are unlikely to be broken in an age where stealing bases is less common. He also has 3,055 hits and 2,295 runs.

The Moneyball book and film was based on the ideas of the As front office, operating as a small market team and finding value in players that others didn’t see. This was part of a different kind of thinking in baseball that led to a change in the way teams research, draft and trade for players.

Seattle Mariners

Established: 1977

World Series wins: 0 

Colours: Blue, silver and green

3 of the greatest players: Edgar Martinez, Ken Griffey Jnr, Ichiro Suzuki

An expansion team with the Blue Jays, the Mariners play at T-Mobile Park, however, their existence in MLB has been devoid of any success. No World Series rings, no AL Pennants, only three divisional titles and they haven’t appeared in the postseason since 2001. They have had 30 losing seasons in 44 years. But bizarrely, the Mariners hold the single-season record of most wins in a 162-game season with 116 wins in 2001.

As well as those listed above, some of the most famous names in the sport have pulled on their uniform, including Alex Rodriguez (had 141 runs in 1996), Randy Johnson (308 strikeouts in 1993) and Felix Hernandez who threw a perfect game against the Rays in 2012, the 23rd in MLB history. Suzuki also holds the Major League record with hits in a season with 262 in 2004.

A team that is thirsty for success, they are very active in the trade market, seeking young talent but are a long way from challenging for titles despite some exciting players on their roster.

Texas Rangers

Established: 1961, based in Arlington since 1972

World Series wins: 0

Colours: Blue, red and white

3 of the greatest players: Ivan Rodriguez, Adrian Beltre, Rafael Palmeiro

After starting off as the Washington Senators and playing in the AL East, they moved to Arlington, Texas in 1972 to then compete in the AL West. Despite being a big market team, success for the Rangers has eluded them. With no World Series rings, the Rangers only have two Pennants, winning in consecutive seasons (2010 and 2011), but lost the World Series to the Giants and Cardinals respectively.

Recent AL MVP winners from the Rangers include Josh Hamilton (2010), Alex Rodriquez (2003), Ivan Rodriguez (1999) and Juan Gonzalez (1998 and 1996). Buck Showalter and Jeff Bannister also won AL Manager of the Year awards in (2004 and 2015).

Now playing in the newly opened (2020) Globe Life Field, they play in a winnable division but the Texas Rangers seem to be a long way off competing for the divisional title, let-alone appearing in another World Series any time soon.

The National League

National League East

Atlanta Braves

Established: 1871, moved to Atlanta in 1966

World Series wins: 3 (1914, 1957, 1995)

Colours: Blue, red and white

3 of the greatest players: Hank Aaron, Chipper Jones, Warren Spahn

The Braves have a rich successful history, winning divisional titles 18 times since 1991, dominating the NL East in recent years, and winning 17 NL Pennants. But for all this divisional and NL success, they haven’t transferred this to World Series success, only winning 3 of their 9 appearances (8 Pennant wins were before World Series play began).

Now playing in Truist Park, they have called 9 ballparks ‘home’. The Braves started out playing as the Boston Red Stockings and had a raft of name changes until they became the Boston Braves in 1941. They had a brief spell in Milwaukee before finally settling in Atlanta.

Hank Aaron, who died in early 2021, is a true baseball great, being a first ballot Hall of Fame inductee in 1982 (how he only got 97.8% of votes is strange, he should have been nailed on for unanimous). He holds MLB records for RBIs, total bases and extra-base hits. He is second on the all-time home run list (755), a .305 batting average and 3,771 hits. The Braves have also had a raft of pitching legends within the organisation including Spahn, Kid Nichols, Phil Niekro, John Smoltz, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine.

Miami Marlins

Established: 1993

World Series wins: 2 (1997, 2003)

Colours: Black and blue

3 of the greatest players: Hanley Ramirez, Giancarlo Stanton, Josh Johnson

A 1993 expansion team along with the Rockies, they started out as the Florida Marlins, winning a World Series title in their 5th year of existence, which is incredible, and they backed this up with another title 6 years later. Interestingly, before last season, these were the only two seasons that the Marlins played postseason baseball, winning it all both times.

However, last season was the first year they had a winning record since 2009. A very small market team, they have produced some of the game's best current players, including Stanton, Christian Yelich, Miguel Cabrera, JT Realmuto and Marcell Ozuna. These trades and high draft picks are giving Marlins fans some legitimate hope for a bright future, including an excellent, young pitching staff. But they will go through a process of breaking it down again, trading and starting again like many small-market teams.

Derek Jeter became President in 2017 and is part of an exciting movement for The Fish, who have a very forward-thinking organisation. The hiring of Kim Ng as General Manager in 2020 is significant as she is the first female GM at any organisation in the big four American sports.

New York Mets

Established: 1962

World Series wins: 2 (1969, 1986)

Colours: Blue, orange and white

3 of the greatest players: David Wright, Tom Seaver, Jacob de Grom

Part of the 1962 expansion with the Astros, the Mets had a horrible start to their existence, winning only 40 of 162 games in their first season, the worst performance of any team in a 162-game season. Based in Queens, New York, playing at Citi Field, the idea behind the Mets being placed here was to bring a second team back to New York after the Dodgers and Giants headed west - their colours are an acknowledgement to those two teams.

The Miracle Mets won it all in 1969, which was the first year of their existence where they had a winning season, winning 100 regular season games behind the pitching of Seaver, Gary Gentry and Jerry Koosman, and the hitting of Cleon Jones and Tommie Agee.

They won it all again in 1986 and won the NL Pennant again in 2000 and 2015, losing the WS to the cross-town Yankees, and Royals respectively. The organisation is looking for a period of front office stability after some rocky years and some questionable decisions. They now have a very strong team and arguably the best pitcher in the game in de Grom, a NL Cy Young Award winner in 2018 and 2019. Run support for de Grom is a craving for the Mets fans.

Philadelphia Phillies

Established: 1883

World Series wins: 2 (1980, 2008)

Colours: Red and white

3 of the greatest players: Mike Schmidt, Chase Utley, Robin Roberts

Having played National League baseball since 1883, of all American professional sports, the Phillies are the oldest continuous, same-name and same-city franchise. Known as the Phillies since 1890, they have played at Citizens Bank Ballpark since 2004.

Despite their long history, the Phillies have only won 2 World Series rings, but do have 7 NL Pennants to their name. They have long-suffering fans and the team were the first to lose 10,000 Major League games, and the first American franchise in any sport to that figure. They have seen recent success with 5 straight division titles from 2007-11 and with their marquee signing of Bryce Harper, a large fanbase, a decent TV market share, they are a big market team with lots to be hopeful for.

The Phillie Phanatic is arguably the best mascot in MLB, with a fun, funky look and getting up to lots of comical antics, the Phanatic is well-worth looking out for.

Washington Nationals

Established: 1969, based in Washington DC since 2005

World Series wins: 1 (2019)

Colours: Red and white

3 of the greatest players: Ryan Zimmerman, Max Scherzer, Gary Carter

Not to be confused with either of the Washington Senators franchises that existed (1900-60 and 1961-71), the Nationals started life as the Montreal Expos as part of the 1969 NL expansion. In Montreal, it took them until their 11th season to have a winning year and only having one postseason appearance (1981). 

Moving to DC (and now playing in Nationals Park) certainly improved life for the franchise and the last ten years have seen first or second place finishes, culminating in the World Series win in 2019 where they started the season very poorly, with a 19-31 record at the end of May. But they got on a roll, finished second, beat the heavy favourites in the LA Dodgers in the NLDS, and finally won it all against the Astros, in a very strange series where the visiting team won all seven games - the first time this has happened in major American sports. 

The Nationals were driven by the elite pitching of Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin, and the hitting of Anthony Rendon, Trea Turner and Juan Soto.

Ryan Zimmerman was the franchise’s first draft pick in 2005, debuting later that year and playing in every season since (except 2020 when he opted out due to COVID). For this, he is nicknamed, ‘Mr National’.

National League Central

Chicago Cubs

Established: 1876

World Series wins: 3 (1907, 1908, 2016)

Colours: Blue and white

3 of the greatest players: Cap Anson, Billy Williams, Ryne Sandberg

Going into the 1909 season, owners and fans alike couldn't have foreseen that they wouldn’t see another World Series victory for 108 years (which, at the time, was the longest drought for a championship for any team in the major American sports). The Cubs were dominant in the late 1800's and the first part of the twentieth century, winning 16 Pennants, but didn’t win another Pennant until their World Series-winning year of 2016.

One of the long-standing, traditional MLB teams playing all their years in the National League, the Cubbies play on the northside of Chicago at the iconic Wrigley Field, their home since 1916. The ivy on the back fence is one of the great sights of American ballparks. 

Recent individual award winners include NL Rookie of the Year and NL MVP Kris Bryant (2015 and 2016 respectively), and Jake Arrieta as NL Cy Young award winner (2015).

The Cubs win The World Series.


Cincinnati Reds

Established: 1881

World Series wins: 5 (1919, 1940, 1975, 1976, 1990)

Colours: Red and white

3 of the greatest players: Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Pete Rose

The 1970s saw a golden period for the Reds, when they became known as ‘The Big Red Machine’, and that machine churned out 2 rings, 4 NL Pennants and 6 division titles in that decade, behind the hitting of Bench, Morgan, Rose, George Foster and Dave Concepcion, and the pitching of Gary Nolan, Don Gullett and Tom Seaver. However, since 1990, the Reds have seen very little in terms of success, with only a pair of division titles.

Another long-standing member of the National League, the Reds now play at Great American Ballpark, which hosted the MLB All-Star Game in 2015. Canadian Joey Votto, a Red since 2007 and a true organisation legend who owns the highest WAR value of any Reds 1st baseman, is still raking, owning a career average over .300, hitting 300 home runs and is approaching 2,000 hits and 1,000 RBIs. He will surely be wearing red in the Hall of Fame.

Milwaukee Brewers

Established: 1969, based in Milwaukee since 1970

World Series wins: 0

Colours: Blue and yellow

3 of the greatest players: Paul Molitor, Robin Yount, Ryan Braun

Whilst the Brewers have anchored their home in Milwaukee, their divisional life has be somewhat nomadic, playing in four different divisions since 1970 - the American League West, East and Central before finally calling the National League Central their home, making them only one of two current MLB organisations to switch leagues, the other being the Astros.

With no World Series victories, only one Pennant and four divisional titles, Brewers fans have been devoid of success, struggling to compete recently with the Cubs and Cardinals. However, this is all an improvement on the first year of the franchise when they existed as the Seattle Pilots and had a disastrous season, nearly going bankrupt and led to Jim Bouton’s book, Ball Four.

Two Brewers have recently won the NL MVP title, Ryan Braun in 2011 and Christian Yelich in 2018, Yelich also won the NL batting title in ‘18, the first Brewer to do so. Devin Williams became the latest Brewer to win a Rookie of the Year award, picking up last year’s NL award.

Pittsburgh Pirates

Established: 1882

World Series wins: 5 (1909, 1925, 1960, 1971, 1979) 

Colours: Black and yellow

3 of the greatest players: Honus Wagner, Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell

Playing in one of the most picturesque MLB ballparks in PNC Park on the banks of the Allegheny River, the Buccos are currently in the midst of a rebuild and may see some difficult seasons ahead.

The Pirates history is dappled with some dominant teams, rivalling the Yankees for the best team around in the early twentieth century, but by the time the 1920s had finished (where they won 5 Pennants between 1901 and 1927 and two World Series) the Pirates firm dipped, they then saw a resurgence in the 1970s with two more World Series and two Pennants and a raft of divisional titles. The end of the 1970s saw the end of any significant success, only seeing a hat-trick of division titles from 1990-92. 

Fourth on the Pirates all-time home run list (with 203), Andrew McCutchen is a Pirates legend who is still playing, albeit over for the Phillies. The face of the organisation during the early 2010s, McCutchen was the NL MVP in 2013.

St. Louis Cardinals

Established: 1882

World Series wins: 11 (1926, 1931, 1934, 1942, 1944, 1946, 1964, 1967, 1982, 2006, 2011)

Colours: Red and white

3 of the greatest players: Stan Musial, Roger Hornsby, Bob Gibson

The Red Birds play their home games at Busch Stadium and are another team with a long tradition in the National League. They were also known as the Browns and Perfectos, before becoming the Cardinals in 1900.

It wasn’t until Branch Rickey instilled the first farm system in the game that the Cardinals then started to see success, and the number of World Series wins makes them the most successful National League team and only second all-time to the Yankees. Add 19 Pennants and 14 division titles, and Cardinals fans have seen their fair share of good times.

Ozzie Smith is arguably the best defensive shortstop of all-time, often coming onto the field with a trademark backflip. Mark McGwire and Albert Pujols are hitting legends for the Cardinals, McGwire hit 70 home runs in one season (1998) - although the admittance by Big Mac of the use of PEDs takes a shine off this - and Pujols, who was Rookie of the Year (2001) and NL MVP three times (2005, 2008, 2009) whilst with the Cardinals, is currently 13th all-time in hits (3,253), 5th all-time in home runs (667) and 3rd all-time for RBIs (2,112).

National League West

Arizona Diamondbacks

Established: 1998

World Series wins: 1 (2001)

Colours: Red and black

3 of the greatest players: Paul Goldschmidt, Luis Gonzalez, Randy Johnson

Along with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the D-backs were a 1998 expansion team, and, unusually for an expansion team, saw success very quickly, winning the World Series in their fourth season, in 2001, behind a wild game 7 finish and the pitching of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling.

The D-backs haven’t won any further Pennants but have five divisional titles to their name and this haul is pretty impressive given the length of their existence and the strength of the division. Looking to the future, considering the strength of divisional rivals (the Dodgers and Padres are arguably the best teams in MLB) and the Diamondbacks current playing staff, a sixth divisional title might be a few years off.

Chase Field is the home of the Diamondbacks, with a capacity of 48,600, the stadium was the first built in the USA with a retractable roof over natural grass. The stadium also has a huge air-conditioning system enabling games to be played at cooler temperatures than those found in desert Phoenix.

Colorado Rockies

Established: 1993

World Series wins: 0

Colours: Purple, black and silver

3 of the greatest players: Todd Helton, Nolan Arenado, Larry Walker

No divisional titles, one Pennant and a defeat in their only World Series (being swept by the Red Sox) is a tough return for the Rockies faithful.

Playing at altitude at Coors Field with its large outfield has presented an interesting existence, and led to consistently high rates of scoring in games there. It has been argued that players have artificially high averages when they play for the Rockies due to the hitting conditions. 11 NL batting champions since their existence does add some weight to that argument, including current Yankee, DJ LeMahieu (2016) and current Rocky, Charlie Blackmon (2017). Conversely, pitchers have higher ERAs when playing for the Rockies, making it hard to attract the best free agent pitchers.

Nolan Arenado can be considered one of the finest players of the game, certainly an elite defensive 3rd baseman, with exceptional hitting skills. His departure to the Cardinals after the 2020 season was a hammer blow to the faithful of the Rox, with the direction of the organisation in question by fans.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Established: 1883, based in Los Angeles since 1958

World Series wins: 7 (1955, 1959, 1963, 1965, 1981, 1988, 2020)

Colours: Blue and white

3 of the greatest players: Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Clayton Kershaw

One of MLB’s current powerhouses with the financial muscle (see Mookie Betts and Trevor Bauer contracts) to sustain a realistic World Series challenge every year for the foreseeable future. However, they are not just a wallet dipping juggernaut, they have honed and developed many of the top players on their roster (and in MLB) at the moment, such as Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw, Julio Urias, Will Smith, Corey Seager and Cody Bellinger.

Their formidable roster has led them to appear in 3 World Series in the past 4 year, but only winning one (last year). Their recent history is dominant, with 11 divisional titles since the turn of the millennium.

The Dodger’s history is equally impressive, boasting 21 World Series appearances (winning only 7, mind you). They started off in Brooklyn and moved west along with cross-town rivals, New York Giants (who moved to San Francisco). The most significant piece of their history is when Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson, who broke the colour barrier in incredibly difficult circumstances for Robinson, MLB acknowledging this by holding ‘Jackie Robinson Day’ and every club retiring the number 42 jersey, which he wore with aplomb and honour. Robinson was an excellent player, a sporting hero but, bigger than that is his importance to society.

San Diego Padres

Established: 1969

World Series wins: 0

Colours: Brown and gold

3 of the greatest players: Tony Gwynn, Dave Winfield, Trevor Hoffman

As is very common, expansion teams struggle in their first few years, but none more so than the Padres who finished last in their division in each of their first six seasons and didn’t post a winning record until 1978. They have two Pennants to their name but lost both World Series they’ve appeared in.

Their fortunes now appear to be very different with some impressive investment in players such as Manny Machado, Yu Darvish and Blake Snell, but also backed up by the youth of Jake Cronenworth and the incredible talents of Fernando Tatis Jnr. at shortstop, he is destined for stardom. The Friars will be in the World Series conversation for the next few years at least.

The Padres play at Petco Park and a notable organisation achievement was made in April 2021 when Joe Musgrove threw the Padres first no-hitter, the last franchise to achieve this. Rather poetically, Musgrove, who was traded to the organisation this winter, is from El Cajon, which is a city within San Diego county, 17 miles from the city of San Diego. Sometimes things are just meant to be - it was worth the wait.

San Francisco Giants

Established: 1883, based in San Francisco since 1958

World Series wins: 8 (1905, 1921, 1922, 1933, 1954, 2010, 2012, 2014)

Colours: Orange and black

3 of the greatest players: Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, Christy Mathewson

Moved from east coast to west in 1958 with the Dodgers, they have a who’s who of MLB legends - add Mel Ott, Willie McCovey, Amos Rusie, Carl Hubbell, Juan Marichal and present day Buster Posey to the list above.

The first half of the 20th century was good to the Giants, with 15 World Series appearances (only 5 victories). After the move to San Francisco, success dried up, losing 3 World Series over the next 50 years, but that was until the hoodoo was broken and the organisation went on an extraordinary run of 3 World Series wins in 5 (2010, 2012, 2014).

Often branded misfits and playing above their true ability in this golden period, they were incredibly successful under the direction of manager Bruce Bochy, the hitting of Posey, Brandon Crawford, Hunter Pence, Brandon Belt, Marco Scutaro, Pablo Sandoval, the pitching of Madison Bumgarner (his postseason exploits are unrivalled, especially in 2014 and Game 7), Tim Lincecum and Sergio Romo. Joe Panik’s defensive play to snare a double-play in Game 7 of 2014 is one of the finest you’ll see in the winner-takes-all game.

Playing in the stunning setting of Oracle Park, the Giants are a forward-thinking organisation under present manager Gabe Kapler and are rebuilding nicely. Competing against the monster organisations of the Dodgers and Padres is their biggest problem right now.

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