The National League is the oldest existing major-league professional baseball organization in the United States. The league began play in 1876 as the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, replacing the failed National Association of Professional Base Ball Players. The league’s supremacy was challenged by several rival organizations over the years, beginning with the American Association in 1882–91. Of those only the American League, formed in 1900, survived. Beginning in 1903 the champions of the National and American leagues have engaged in a World Series contest, held annually except in 1904 and 1994, to decide the championship of Major League Baseball.
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