# When did major league baseball become Major League Baseball?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-major-league-baseball-become-major-league-baseball/916105>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Tags:** baseball-mlb\
**Created:** [July 23, 2020, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-major-league-baseball-become-major-league-baseball/916105 "2020-07-23T12:09:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jebert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ec9cab/32.png) [@jebert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jebert)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2020, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-major-league-baseball-become-major-league-baseball/916105/1 "2020-07-23T12:09:35Z")

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For a long time the National League and American League were collectively known as he major leagues, or just the majors, and the head of it all was the baseball commissioner.  
I suppose to conform with the NFL, NHL,and NBA, the enterprise is now known as MLB.

In what year did the majors officially become Major League Baseball?

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**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:** [July 23, 2020, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-major-league-baseball-become-major-league-baseball/916105/2 "2020-07-23T12:54:54Z")

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I would say in 1903, with the national agreement signed between the AL and NL, and the creation of the World Series.

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**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2020, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-major-league-baseball-become-major-league-baseball/916105/3 "2020-07-23T12:59:56Z")

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[Britannica concurs.](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Major-League-Baseball)

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**Author:** ![jebert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ec9cab/32.png) [@jebert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jebert)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-major-league-baseball-become-major-league-baseball/916105/4 "2020-07-25T04:08:55Z")

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Upon further review, the 2005 MLB Constitution does indeed refer to Major League Baseball. However, the 1921 Constitution [1921 Major League Agreement](http://roadsidephotos.sabr.org/baseball/1921MLAgree.htm)  
to which the 2005 Constitution refers, does NOT use the term Major League Baseball, so it is doubtful that the 1903 agreement used it either. So perhaps the date I am looking for is 2005.

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**Author:** ![jebert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ec9cab/32.png) [@jebert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jebert)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-major-league-baseball-become-major-league-baseball/916105/5 "2020-07-25T04:13:46Z")

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Upon even further review, the 1903 agreement uses the term Major Leagues, but not Major League Baseball.

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**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-major-league-baseball-become-major-league-baseball/916105/6 "2020-07-25T04:32:58Z")

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Major League Baseball had their logo at least as early as 1969, with “Major League Baseball” in it, so it wasn’t any later than then.