Baseball Major League is the highest play level in North American professional baseball. Baseball Major League also denotes the organization that regulates the American League and the National League by means of joint organizational structure from 1901. In the year 2000, both leagues got officially separated with all the functions and rights in the commissioner’s office. At present, Baseball Major League operates as a single league with 30 teams in which 29 are from the United States and one in Canada.
All functions and rights of World Baseball Classic are also controlled by Baseball Major League. 162 games are played each season, and additional games are played in case of any tie breaker needed to decide the participation. The games normally starts on the first Sunday in April and ends on the first Sunday in October, and postseason are played during October or in early November. The rules and regulations for both league is the same except the American League operates under the Designated Hitter Rule.
The Baseball Major League is managed by the Major League Baseball, which has gone through many incarnations since 1876 with the latest changes in 2005. Commissioner of baseball guides the Baseball Major League in selecting and controlling the umpiring crews, labor, negotiating markets, and all television contracts. The multimedia division of the Baseball Major League is a New York- based advanced media, which also look after all the individual websites of the 30 teams. The baseball uniforms worn by the team members show the role played by an individual in the team such as players, coaches, and managers.
The Philadelphia Phillies are the only team that shows player’s number on their sleeve, other than the back of their uniforms. The Baseball Major League drug policy is very strict and first positive drug test on the player leads to 50 games suspension, 100 games suspension for second positive test, and finally life-time ban for third positive test. Numerous blackout rules are followed in the Baseball Major League and one such is only local broadcasters are given first priority to televise games. At present, three broadcasters hold the contract to broadcast games namely ESPN, FOX, and TBS, and league is in the state of transition to the new contracts. The national radio broadcasting contract is given to the ESPN and rights to World Series are solely owned by ESPN. With the growing popularity of baseball, there is much possibility of international expansion in countries such as Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Monterrey, and San Juan.