Major League Baseball – or MLB – is the biggest professional baseball league in the world, and has been for a very long time.

Officially, MLB was started in 1869, which is the year of the establishment of the very first professional baseball team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings.

MLB came together as a fully-operating league not long after, as the Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves franchises were established in the early 1870s.

MLB has 30 teams, split into two leagues: 14 teams play in the American League and 16 in the National League. Twenty-nine of the teams are based in the United States, and one in Canada.

Each league in MLB is further divided into three divisions. In both leagues, the three divisions are named the East, Central, and West. The division structure is relatively new, in relation to the age of the league itself, as it was established in 1994 when the National League expanded to 14 teams.

Before that, the two MLB leagues were divided into the East and West divisions.

MLB is considered one of four major professional sports leagues in North America, and it is also involved in international baseball activities in partnership with the International Baseball Federation. One of the major collaborations between the two groups is the World Baseball Classic.

Based on 2011 numbers, average attendance for an MLB matchup is 30,352, giving Major League Baseball the 5th highest average attendance of any sport league in the world.

Fans who enjoy wagering on MLB games should sign up with SM Picks, led by expert handicapper Scott Matthews.