1998 Major League Baseball expansion 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 the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (currently the Tampa Bay Rays), would subsequently begin play for the 1998 season. With the successes of
Clark Griffith Collegiate Baseball League University. That continued until 1987 when teams began playing on their own home fields. The league instituted a rule requiring the use of only wooden bats in competition in 1993. More than 50 CGL alumni went on to play major league baseball and over 250 went on to play minor league baseball. See CGL major league alumni. Sites of teams that participated in the league in 2009: Clark Griffith Collegiate Baseball League The Clark C. Griffith Collegiate Baseball League (CGL) was a collegiate summer baseball league, with teams located in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. All league players had to