Who are the original 16 teams that started Major League Baseball?

The original 16 teams that started Major League Baseball (MLB) were part of the National League (NL) and the American Association (AA), which were two separate leagues that eventually merged to form the modern MLB. Here are the original 16 teams and the year they joined the NL or AA:

National League:

  1. Boston Red Stockings (1876)
  2. Chicago White Stockings (1876)
  3. Cincinnati Red Stockings (1882)
  4. Hartford Dark Blues (1876)
  5. Louisville Colonels (1892)
  6. New York Mutuals (1876)
  7. Philadelphia Athletics (1876)
  8. St. Louis Brown Stockings (1876)

American Association:

  1. Baltimore Orioles (1882)
  2. Brooklyn Atlantics (1884)
  3. Cincinnati Red Stockings (1882)
  4. Cleveland Blues (1887)
  5. Columbus Buckeyes (1883)
  6. Kansas City Cowboys (1888)
  7. Louisville Colonels (1885)
  8. Philadelphia Athletics (1882)

It is worth noting that some of these teams have since moved, changed their name, or folded, and that there are now 30 teams in MLB. However, these 16 teams were the original members of the leagues that eventually formed the foundation of modern baseball.