In 1901, the 25-year-old National League once again had competition - but this time the new league stayed. In AL’s 1st year, the NY Yankees didn’t exist, the Cleveland and Boston clubs went by different names, and finances forced the Milwaukee Brewers to move to St. Louis where they were known as the Browns. AL’s peaks and valleys include the Deadball Era, the 1919 scandal, the 56-game hitting streak and baseball’s last .400 hitter – both in 1941; the Yankees’ continual dominance; expansion; strikes, the steroid era, etc. Yesterdays and today’s stars are all here! End-of-year standings that include who placed 1st in batting, pitching, and fielding. League notes that highlight rule changes, trends, trades, suspensions, and winning/losing streaks. Noteworthy games: high scores, batting fetes, records set or broken. End-of-the-year awards: Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, MVP, and those entering the Hall of Fame. World Series outcomes. What AL team is 2nd to the NY Yankees in championships? All AL teams are here (including when the Athletics were in Philadelphia), as are the legends: Cobb, Joe Jackson, Babe Ruth, Gehrig, Feller, DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Brooks Robinson, and Yaz. Those who followed include Kirk Gibson, Jose Canseco, Dennis Eckersley, Frank Thomas, Derek Jeter, David Ortiz, Pedro Martinez, and Alex Rodriguez. You also get current stars like Jason Verlander, Aaron Judge, Mike Trout, and Shohei Ohtani.

Page through a year-by-year journey through MLB’s oldest league and this is what you will get… End-of-year standings that include teams who placed 1st in Batting, Pitching, and Fielding. League notes highlighting rule changes, trends, trades, suspensions, and winning/losing streaks. Noteworthy games: high scores, batting fetes, records set End-of-the-year awards: Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, MVP, those entering the Hall of Fame, and World Series outcomes. What NL team has won the most Series championships? Who’s 2nd? All NL teams – past and present, are here, including the Boston Braves, Montreal Expos, and the Houston Astros. Which NL team changed their name to the Bees? A few years later, another became the Blue Jays! Both returned to their former selves a few years later. Follow the dynasties (the St. Louis Cardinals, New York/San Francisco Giants, and the Brooklyn/LA Dodgers), or legends like Wagner, Dean, or Musial; Jackie Robinson, Mays, Koufax, Bench, and Seaver. Those who soon followed were Gwynn, Maddux, Bonds, Walker and Larkin. Current stars like Joey Votto, Clayton Kershaw, Kris Bryant, Max Scherzer, Jacob de Grom, Nolan Arenado, Manny Machado, Paul Goldschmidt, and Fernando Tatis are also included.

Pick a year (you have 122 to choose from!), find your favorite player, note who won a batting or pitching title, but don’t stop there! Compare stats, locate trends, disparities, Triple Crown winners, and one-year wonders. The legends are many as are current and rising stars. Check out Ty Cobb’s batting average and Walter Johnson’s wins, ERA and strikeout numbers. Then find follow Babe Ruth (pitcher and batter), Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Hank Greenberg, and Mickey Mantle. It’s true - some of their year-end numbers don’t even seem real. Who were the dominant pitchers of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1960s (the Year of the Pitcher); just how good was Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson? You'll also find Yaz, the Big Hurt, A-Rod, Derek Jeter, Miguel Cabrera, Adrien Beltre, Mike Trout, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and the remarkable Shohei Ohtani. Some already made it to the Hall of Fame…who’s next and why? Batting leader categories include HR, RBI, and BA, Extra Base Hits, Stolen Bases, and more. Pitching leader categories include Wins, ERA, Strikeouts, Innings Pitched, Shutouts, and Saves.

If you’ve followed the White Sox at all, you might be familiar with the “Hitless Wonders,” the 1919 Black Sox scandal, the 1950s Go-Go club, South Side Hit Men (1977), Winning Ugly (1983), the 2005 World Series Champions to Pedro Grifol's current club. Check out Ed Walsh, the Sox’ 40-game winner in 1908; or the four 20-game winners in 1920 (one entered the Hall of Fame, whereas another was banned from baseball). How about the Sox rookie that pitched a perfect game in the early 1920s; “Old Aches and Pains” playing shortstop; and the GM who traded for Nellie Fox, Billy Pierce, Minnie Minoso, among others. Then there’s Little Luis - the 1st of 6 Sox’ Rookies of the Year; Early Wynn, the club’s 1st of 3 Cy Young Award winners, and Dick Allen, the Sox’ 2nd MVP who helped “save” the club from moving to another city. Okay, let's add exploding scoreboards, "Demolition Derby,” and playoff heartaches in1983 and 1993. The stars were many: the Big Hurt, Albert Belle, Paul Konerko, Mark Buehrle’s pitching wizardry, and the magical 2005 championship team that won without any league leaders or award winners. Herein you will find… Yearly Standings, including a comparison with those placing 1st in Batting, Pitching, and Fielding. Top pitchers, top hitters, a list of rookies, and those obtained in a trade. Club news and dozens of noteworthy games (the winning or losing pitcher and batting stars) League news, listing of other league games, and year-end awards.

Showcasing two influential decades of home runs, stolen bases, and national heroes, David Lee Poremba invites us to take an in-depth look back through the history of baseball in The American League: The Early Years. Poremba has collected over 200 images and captions in this new volume that documents the fledgling American League and its charismatic teams, from its creation in 1901 to its lively rebirth as America's Pastime in 1920. Founded nearly a century ago when Western League President Ban Johnson renamed the circuit in 1900, the American League defied the norm. Amidst the struggles to name a National League president and the expiration of the National Agreement which governed the baseball world, Johnson leapt into open competition for players and fans. Seen in this extensive photographic collection are the historic players lured away from the National League and into the higher paying American League, including Ty Cobb, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, "Wee" Willie Keeler, Cy Young, Nap Lajoie, and many others. With the introduction of the cork-centered baseball in 1910 and the advent of the Sultan of Swat, Babe Ruth, the game of baseball would change forever.

Showcasing two influential decades of home runs, stolen bases, and national heroes, David Lee Poremba invites us to take an in-depth look back through the history of baseball in The American League: The Early Years. Poremba has collected over 200 images and captions in this new volume that documents the fledgling American League and its charismatic teams, from its creation in 1901 to its lively rebirth as America's Pastime in 1920. Founded nearly a century ago when Western League President Ban Johnson renamed the circuit in 1900, the American League defied the norm. Amidst the struggles to name a National League president and the expiration of the National Agreement which governed the baseball world, Johnson leapt into open competition for players and fans. Seen in this extensive photographic collection are the historic players lured away from the National League and into the higher paying American League, including Ty Cobb, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, "Wee" Willie Keeler, Cy Young, Nap Lajoie, and many others. With the introduction of the cork-centered baseball in 1910 and the advent of the Sultan of Swat, Babe Ruth, the game of baseball would change forever.