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 Tampa Bay Area 1975, 1980 & 1981 Little League World Series tournaments. Tampa Bay area teams have won the state Little League tournament in 1967, 1969–1975, 1977, 1980–1981, 1988–1991, 1994, 2006, 2008, 2011, and 2012. In addition, local teams have won Junior League championships in 1982, 1985, 2004, and 2011. Little League Baseball's headquarters for the Southern Region was located in Gulfport until 2009. Al López, the first area native to play and manage in the major leagues and the first to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame, came out of the leagues of Ybor City in the early 20th century.