July 10, 1968 – The National League of Major League Baseball announced that it would split into 2 divisions of six teams each for the 1969 season. The decision came after the American League separated its teams into divisions in a similar fashion. Warren Giles, President of the NL stated that New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St Louis, and the expansion team from Montreal would comprise one group. At the same time, San Francisco, LA, San Diego, Cincinnati, Houston, and Atlanta would round out group 2.
As a compromise, the American League increased their scheduled games to 162 from 156 to match the NL so that consistency would be between the two opposing Leagues. The NL would move to three geographical divisions in 1994 as the Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins had been recently added and the Milwaukee Brewers moved over from the AL.
To find more great daily sports history make sure to check out the Sports Jersey Dispatch and Pigskin Dispatch.
More From Sports History Network
The Frustrating History of the New York Jets
Although I was a Dallas Cowboys fan as a young boy, I couldn’t help
The Beards! Looking Back at the Red Sox 2013 Season
As the new MLB season gets underway, there will be plenty of interesting twists
The 1971 Atlanta Falcons: How a Gritty Underdog Season Made Franchise History
The season of 1971 might be considered to most casual observers as a mediocre
Wrestling With Andre: A Parody of My Dinner With Andre
I am a big fan of the 1981 film My Dinner with Andre. The
Kicking Cousins–Anglo and American Football Ties
You’re a freshman at Harvard in 1827. It’s Bloody Monday. You’re out on the
Inside the Record Makers Invitational: The Weightlifting Showdown of the 80s
I started Olympic Weightlifting in 1981, and up to that point, I didn’t know
Ric Flair’s Fake Heart Attack: The Shocking WCW Moment That Fooled Fans
A few weeks ago I found an Instagram video of Ric Flair having a
Victorian Football: From Mob Rule to Class Rule
In the early 1800s, British football begins to slowly take a more orderly form,