# MLB Baseball: The Senior League? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** baseball-mlb\ **Created:** [September 21, 2022, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-baseball-the-senior-league/971982 "2022-09-21T13:44:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-baseball-the-senior-league/971982/1 "2022-09-21T13:44:04Z")
On the TV show MASH, in an episode where they bet who will win the 1951 World Series, the term “Senior League” is used to describe the league the Dodgers are in, as I recall. What does that mean? Googling, I can only find this refers to a softball league? What’s the SD on this? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-baseball-the-senior-league/971982/2 "2022-09-21T13:46:23Z")
The National League is older than the American League, and is sometimes referred to as the senior league. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-baseball-the-senior-league/971982/3 "2022-09-21T13:47:44Z")
The NL was founded in 1876, the AL in 1901. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-baseball-the-senior-league/971982/4 "2022-09-21T13:53:55Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > On the TV show MASH, in an episode where they bet who will win the 1951 World Series, the term “Senior League” is used I believe the exact term is “Senior Circuit”. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-baseball-the-senior-league/971982/5 "2022-09-22T17:27:48Z")
Yes, the phrase was a staple of old-timey sports writing, but was invariably written (and spoken) as “senior circuit”. (And “junior circuit”.) ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2022, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-baseball-the-senior-league/971982/6 "2022-10-02T20:01:02Z")
Thanks, all! ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-baseball-the-senior-league/971982/7 "2022-10-05T13:09:55Z")
I don’t think I’ve ever heard it referred to as the Senior Circuit in normal conversation. It would either be like that MASH episode when they were in an earlier era (in that case it was only 20 years earlier but it felt longer) or it’s someone like Bob Costas trying to be purposely old-timey. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-baseball-the-senior-league/971982/8 "2022-10-05T13:13:57Z")
I remember watching that MASH episode when it first aired. It was like a dagger to the heart of my father because it was all about the Dodgers blowing the 1951 season and Bobby Thomson killing them in the one game playoff.