cluded a transfer of the Milwaukee Brewers from the
American League to the National League. The De-
troit Tigers moved from the American League East
to replace the Brewers in the American League Cen-
tral, the new Devil Rays became part of the American
League East, and the new Diamondbacks filled a po-
sition in the National League West. Further maneu-
vering to gain fan appeal occurred in 1997 with the
inauguration of interleague play. The first round of
interleague games in 1997 indicated a success, as at-
tendance was up by 35 percent.
Baseball in the 1990’s included a number of
foreign-born players, making up 19 percent of all
players and hailing from 197 countries. In 1992, the
Toronto Blue Jays, managed by Cito Gaston, be-
came the first Canadian team to win the World Se-
ries. On August 16, 1996, the New York Mets and
San Diego Padres played a regular-season game in
Monterey, Mexico, the first regular-season game
played outside the United States and Canada. In
1993, Bob Watson was named general manager of
the Houston Astros, becoming the first African
American ever to hold that post in the major
leagues. In 1996, as general manager of the New
York Yankees, Watson became the first African
American general manager to guide a team to a
World Series championship. On April 15, 1997, a
crowd of 54,047 attended the fiftieth anniversary of
Jackie Robinson’s major-league debut with the
Brooklyn Dodgers. Commissioner Bud Selig an-
nounced that Robinson’s number, 42, would be
permanently retired on all major-league teams.
Notable records were achieved in the decade.
On May 1, 1991, Rickey Henderson of the Oakland
Athletics broke the all-time base-stealing record with
his 939th career stolen base. On September 6, 1995,
Cal Ripken, Jr., of the Baltimore Orioles broke the
record of 2,130 consecutive games played, a record
that was held by Lou Gehrig. It took the thirty-five-
year-old Ripken thirteen years to set the new record,
beginning on May 30, 1982. Gehrig’s streak began
on June 1, 1925, and ended on April 30, 1939.The Nineties in America Baseball 83
Texas Rangers pitcher Nolan Ryan, age forty-four, waves to the crowd after his seventh no-hitter on May 1, 1991.(AP/Wide World
Photos)