junior circuit

Nickname commonly used to describe the American League, one of two major divisions of Major League Baseball, as opposed to the National League, which can be referred to as the "senior circuit." (This is because the American League is much younger- it was founded in 1901 while the National League was founded in 1876.) It consists of fourteen teams: in the West division Los Angeles, (one of two franchises in the city) Seattle, Oakland, and Texas; in the Central division Minnesota, Chicago, (one of two franchises in the city) Detroit, Kansas City, and Cleveland; and in the East division Tampa Bay, Boston, New York, (one of two franchises in the city) Toronto, and Baltimore. The nicknames for these teams are respectively the Angels, Mariners, Athletics, Rangers, Twins, White Sox, Tigers, Royals, Indians, Rays, Red Sox, Yankees, Blue Jays, and Orioles. Notable players include Kansas City's Zach Grienke, Minnesota's Joe Mauer, and New York's Alex Rodriguez.

In this year's All Star game in St. Louis, the junior circuit beat the senior circuit 4 to 3.