1998 Major League Baseball expansion the American League. Following that transaction, MLB consequently altered its season structure so as to include interleague play throughout the regular season. 1998 Major League Baseball expansion The 1998 Major League Baseball expansion resulted in the establishment of Major League Baseball (MLB)'s 29th and 30th teams beginning play for the 1998 season. After initiating an expansion committee in March 1994, 27 groups representing nine cities submitted bids for the proposed expansion teams. After a yearlong process, on March 9, 1995, the league awarded the National League franchise to Phoenix and the American League franchise to Tampa. The Arizona Diamondbacks and
Baseball in the United States the suburbs of major cities, across the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela. Independent baseball leagues also exist, primarily placing their teams in suburban municipalities that lack minor league baseball teams of their own. Most such leagues operate with a level of talent comparable to the middle and lower ends of the minor league system; the Atlantic League, which operates mostly in the Northeast megalopolis, aims to be comparable in level of play to the higher level minor leagues. College baseball is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and