Legacy of the National Agreement.

Prior to the early 1900s baseball had experienced nearly a quarter-century of turmoil with rival leagues competing against each other and team owners and players contending for profits. In 1903 the National Agreement between the American League (AL), newly formed in 1901, and the older National League (NL), established in 1876, brought peace to baseball. The leagues agreed to recognize each other's territorial and reserve-clause rights, which gave teams the power to control their players' careers, and establish a three-man National Commission to govern the game. The National Commission, which consisted of the NL and AL presidents and a third individual selected by them, would serve as a judicial body to resolve disputes between the major leagues as well as controversies involving the minor leagues. From 1903 to 1921, the National Commission succeeded because of the cooperation and service of Ban...