query: instance_of western league 
supports: At the end of each Major League Baseball season, the league leaders of various statistical categories are announced. Leading the league in a particular category is referred to as a "title". The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major league status. It is sometimes called the Junior Circuit because it claimed Major League status for the 1901 season, 25 years after the formation of the National League (the "Senior Circuit"). The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest current professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, it is sometimes called the Senior Circuit, in contrast to MLB's other league, the American League, which was founded 25 years later. Both leagues currently have 15 teams. The two league champions of 1903 arranged to compete against each other in the inaugural World Series. After the 1904 champions failed to reach a similar agreement, the two leagues formalized the World Series as an arrangement between the leagues. National League teams have won 48 of the 112 World Series contested from 1903 to 2016. The 2016 National League champions are the Chicago Cubs. The Western League is a name given to several circuits in American minor league baseball . Its earliest progenitor , which existed from 1885 to 1899 , was the predecessor of the American League . During the 20th century , there were four incarnations of the Western League , including a Class D loop that played from 1939 -- 41 and an independent loop ( outside of `` organized baseball '' ) that began play in 1995 . This article , however , concentrates on the two Class A leagues that played from 1900 -- 37 and from 1947 -- 58 . The minor leagues went unclassified through 1901 . From 1902 until 1911 , Class A was the highest level in the minor leagues . In 1912 , a new top tier , Class AA , was created ; in 1936 , a second tier , Class A1 , came into being . In 1946 , the Class AA leagues were renamed AAA , and the A1 loops were renamed AA . Thus the Western League -- whose clubs were actually located in the Great Plains , Rocky Mountain States , the Upper Midwest and the Upper Southwest -- was a top - level minor league until 1911 , then two levels below Major League Baseball through 1935 , and three steps removed in 1936 -- 37 and when it was revived in 1947 during the post-war minor league baseball boom . Its longest - serving franchise was located in Des Moines , Iowa , which joined the WL in 1900 and played continuously through 1937 , when the league shut down during the Great Depression . Des Moines then rejoined the reborn Western circuit when Colorado Senator Edwin C. Johnson founded it in 1947 ; this team , a Chicago Cubs affiliate called the Des Moines Bruins , then played for the final 12 years of the league 's existence .
candidates: agreement baseball category february formation league professional season sports league status team title
answer: sports league