How Old Is Major League Baseball?

A logical conundrum

The NL marked its 50th Birthday in 1926; yet this Golden Jubilee delegate pendant dates to 1925

This query came my way via an MLB colleague, who wished to know what season 2022 was in our game’s history. It was the 146th, he speculated. At first I agreed, but then….

Each guest received a photo-bedecked baseball; note 1926 as year of celebration

If 1876 was MLB’s first season — and it was; disregard advocates for 1871 — then 1885 was its tenth. The 1905 campaign was its 30th, and 1945 was its 70th; 1950 marked the 75th year, and thus MLB’s 75th birthday occurred and was celebrated in 1951. (Its 50th had been celebrated widely in 1925-1926.) This is analogous to me having just marked my 75th birthday some days ago, completing 75 years. (I am thus 75 years old but in my 76th year; this allows for my first birthday having taken place when I completed one year, not when I began it.)

The “problem” begins to evidence with the patches worn by NL players

Once you accept that 1885 is MLB’s tenth season (not its ninth), the rest lines up. The span 1876–1885 looks like nine years but you must count the first and​ the last.

1925 … or 1926?

So … the 2022 season is MLB’s 147th, even though MLB is at this moment 146 years old. In 2026 it will mark its 150th birthday, but the 2025 campaign will have been its 150th.

Can we agree on this reasoning? My wife has labeled it “Thorn Standard, the Exciting Understanding of Time.”