1899 (Detroit). Four of the other 1899 Western League cities now host Major League Baseball today (Kansas City, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis and Saint Paul jointly), while three do not (Buffalo, Grand Rapids, and Indianapolis, but all have minor league teams). This membership list for both leagues lasted in place for nearly a half-century until the move of the Boston Braves to Milwaukee in 1952, the St. Louis Browns to Baltimore, becoming the new Baltimore Orioles in 1954, and the Philadelphia Athletics to Kansas City in 1955. The American League's claim to major league status was disputed, but had to be recognized after the Boston Red Sox defeated the NL champion Pittsburgh Pirates in the first World Series held in late 1903. Another Western League When Ban Johnson changed his league's name to the American League before the 1900 season, another "Western League" was immediately formed to function on the supporting "minor league" level. This League operated from 1900 to 1937 and later from 1947 to 1958. Its franchises were located west of the Mississippi River, in the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains states, as in that early part of the 20th century, it was difficult and long-enduring for teams to go on "road trips" to distant cities by the then existing railroad passenger train systems. In its post-World War II incarnation, the later Western League included clubs in Denver, Colorado (now represented in the National League by the Colorado Rockies), Des Moines, Iowa, Omaha, Nebraska, and Colorado Springs, Colorado (now all represented by teams of the Class AAA ("Triple A") Pacific Coast League). Several other 20th century minor league circuits have also used the same name. Cities represented 1885–1888 1887, 1892 Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Forest Citys (1885) Columbus, Ohio: Columbus Reds (1892) Denver, Colorado: Denver Mountain Lions (1886); Denver Mountaineers (1887–1888) Emporia, Kansas: Emporia (1887) Fort Wayne, Indiana: Fort Wayne (1892) Hastings, Nebraska: Hastings Hustlers (1887) Hutchinson, Kansas: Hutchinson (1888) Indianapolis, Indiana: Indianapolis Hoosiers (1886, 1892) Kansas City, Missouri: Kansas City Cowboys (1885, 1887, 1892) Keokuk, Iowa: Keokuk Hawkeyes (1885) Leadville, Colorado: Leadville Blues (1886) Leavenworth, Kansas: Leavenworth Soldiers (1886–1888) Lincoln, Nebraska: Lincoln Tree Planters (1886–188) Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Milwaukee Milwaukees (1885); Milwaukee Brewers (1892) Minneapolis, Minnesota: Minneapolis Minnies (1892) Newton, Kansas: Newton (1888) Omaha, Nebraska: Omaha Omahogs (1885 1887, 1892) Toledo, Ohio: Toledo Black Pirates (1892) St. Joseph, Missouri: St. Joseph Reds (1886–1887) St. Paul, Minnesota: St. Paul Saints (1892)