After much wrangling, the peace agreement between the National and American Leagues was signed. And with it a lot of changes, which delighted and infuriated baseball "cranks" across the nation.
The Temple Cup Playoffs were going to expand from four to eight teams, with five coming from the National and three from the American. But after the NL pennant-winning Louisville Colonels were swept from the Challenge Series in three straight games -- causing a reduction in ticket revenue for the Cup Finals -- the decision was made to reward the National Champion with an automatic bye to the semifinals, cutting the number of teams to seven. So, instead, only
two AL teams would qualify.
Those same top two teams would get another reward: admittance to the National League. It was first thought the
"promotion and relegation" (as they call it merrie old England) wouldn't occur until 1904, but the NL saw an opportunity to finally cut the woeful Cleveland Spiders, as well as the 11th-place Brooklyn squad -- which made the New York Giants happy: less competition. In their place, the two-time defending AL champs from St. Paul would move up to the senior circuit, as well as the Milwaukee Brewers.
And the NL would finally recognize the American as a fully major league; in fact, the two circuits would operate as one corporate entity:
Major League Baseball.
