Do you want to catch up on the history of baseball but don't have the time to do things like read books or you know, learn stuff? Well, here's the history of baseball from 1876 to the present in year-by-year format for people with short attention spans. Of course, it does cover 132 years, so maybe you need a longer attention span.

• 1876 - Play ball in the National League!
• 1877 - Hey, those Louisville guys were cheating!
• 1878 - Paul Hines wins the Triple Crown, but nobody notices because no one has thought of RBIs yet.
• 1879 - "Hey, why don't we try this reserve clause thing."
• 1880 - Look the Cubs were really good once!
• 1881 - Chicago has better year than James Garfield.
• 1882 - Play ball in the American Association!
• 1883 - Phillies play first season and win just 17 games. Angry fans there boo Chester Arthur.
• 1884 - Play ball in the Union Association!
• 1885 - Chicago plays St. Louis in World Series and the teams tie 3-3-1.
• 1886 - Pitcher Guy Hecker leads American Association in batting.
• 1887 - Walks count as hits! Tip O'Neill bats .490!
• 1888 - Walks don't count as hits. Tip O'Neill bats .335.
• 1889 - Dodgers face Giants for the first time. They don't like each other.
• 1890 - Play ball in the Players League!
• 1891 - Back down to two leagues. Boston wins both of them.
• 1892 - Down to just one league and it's got 12 teams!
• 1893 - Pitchers back up to 60'6". Batters like this.
• 1894 - Batters tee off and hit .309 and teams average 7.36 runs per game. Speaker of the House Charles Crisp threatens investigations.
• 1895 - Players beat each other up a lot.
• 1896 - Players continue to beat each other up.
• 1897 - Boston succeeds in beating up Baltimore more efficiently and takes pennant.
• 1898 - St. Louis loses 111 games, but fans still refuse to leave games early.
• 1899 - Cleveland loses 134 games and misses pennant by 84 games.
• 1900 - Just one league. Just eight teams. But something is in the air.
• 1901 - Play ball in the American League!
• 1902 - Pirates win NL by 27 1/2 games, but fans would rather talk about NFL franchise that won't start play for 31 years.
• 1903 - The World Series starts. TV ratings are the lowest ever.
• 1904 - The World Series is cancelled on account of the New York Giants being jerks.
• 1905 - World Series starts up again and all five games are shutouts. TV ratings drop further.
• 1906 - Cubs win 116 games, but just two in the World Series as the White Sox rule Chicago.
• 1907 - Cubs win the World Series! There are more to follow!
• 1908 - Fred Merkle doesn't touch second. Cubs win the World Series again!
• 1909 - World Series goes seven games for the first time. Pirates win.
• 1910 - St. Louis teams combine for 197 losses. But fans remain cheerful.
• 1911 - World Series needs 13 days to play six games.
• 1912 - Snodgrass muffs it. Red Sox win the World Series.
• 1913 - Walter Johnson goes 36-7 with 1.04 ERA, Washington still doesn't win.
• 1914 - Braves go from 15 games out of first to winning by 10 1/2 in just 90 days.
• 1915 - Play ball in the Federal League!
• 1916 - Philadelphia A's go 36-117 and finish 40 games out of seventh.
• 1917 - White Sox win World Series more or less honestly.
• 1918 - Red Sox win World Series in war-shortened season, expect titles to keep on coming.
• 1919 - That World Series seems fishy.
• 1920 - Yep, it was fishy.
• 1921 - Babe Ruth hits lots and lots of home runs. People are happy.
• 1922 - Supreme Court says, "Antitrust? What antitrust laws? I don't see any antitrust laws!"
• 1923 - Long suffering Yankees fans rewarded with first World Series title.
• 1924 - Bad hop! Washington wins the World Series!
• 1925 - Pirates win Game 7. Again.
• 1926 - Hungover guy strikes out Tony Lazzeri. St. Louisans cheer!
• 1927 - Hey, those Yankee guys are good!
• 1928 - Those Yankee guys are still good!
• 1929 - Cubs blow the World Series. TWICE!
• 1930 - Philadelphia A's dynasty looks unbeatable.
• 1931 - Philadelphia A's dynasty beaten.
• 1932 - Babe Ruth points somewhere.
• 1933 - Six Crown Year for Philadelphia with Klein and Foxx.
• 1934 - Dizzy Dean makes being a hick chic.
• 1935 - Fans begin to tire of seeing Cubs lose in World Series.
• 1936 - Yankees resume beating the crap out of everybody.
• 1937 - Yankees continute beatings.
• 1938 - Cubs roll over and play dead to avoid beating from Yankees.
• 1939 - Ernie Lombardi snoozes and Yankees win again.
• 1940 - Reds win World Series against opponent that was trying.
• 1941 - Yankees play Dodgers in World Series. Young Roger Kahn writes wistful essay about it for school.
• 1942 - Dodgers win 104 games. Cardinals win 106 and the World Series.
• 1943 - Yankees who avoided draft beat Cardinals who avoided draft.
• 1944 - Cardinals beat crosstown rivals and discover that the Browns actually do have brown in their uniform.
• 1945 - Guys back from the war get together and play World Series. Detroit declared winner.
• 1946 - Enos Slaughter runs through stop sign, St. Louis wins again.
• 1947 - 42
• 1948 - Cleveland beats Boston in one-game playoff and then Boston again in the World Series.
• 1949 - Young David Halberstam writes wistful essay in school about AL pennant race.
• 1950 - Fans puzzle over Philadelphia pennant in NL. Write it off as fluke.
• 1951 - Brooklyn leads it 4-2...Hartung down the line at third not taking any chances... Lockman with not too big of a lead at second, but he'll be runnin' like the wind if Thomson hits one... Branca throws... [audible sound of bat meeting ball]
• 1952 - Yankees and Dodgers win pennants again, but Bobby Shantz and Hank Sauer win MVP awards.
• 1953 - Yankees and Dodgers combine for 17 homers in six game World Series. Congress investigates how Dodgers won 105 games with bad pitching.
• 1954 - Don Liddle retires Vic Wertz in key at bat as Giants sweep Cleveland.
• 1955 - Dodgers win World Series. Wistful essays are written throughout Brooklyn.
• 1956 - Don Larsen: 97 pitches, 27 up, 27 down.
• 1957 - Baseball fans wonder how team in Wisconsin can win World Series.
• 1958 - Major League Baseball goes to the Pacific Time Zone. East Coast fans ready themselves for scores such as "Philadelphia at Los Angeles, night."
• 1959 - White Sox discover that trying to win the World Series doesn't mean that you necessarily will win.
• 1960 - Back to the wall goes Berra... it is... over the fence! Home run! The Pirates win! Pirates win Game 7. Again.
  
• 1961 - AL says hello to the West Coast. Roger Maris hits lots and lots of home runs.
• 1962 - Mets lose 120 games and become very popular.
• 1963 - Yankees discover that this Koufax kid is good.
• 1964 - Heimlich maneuver not invented in time to keep Phillies from losing NL pennant.
• 1965 - Sandy Koufax makes hitters cry uncle.
• 1966 - Entire Baltimore pitching staff makes the Dodgers cry uncle.
• 1967 - Red Sox live Impossible Dream, but still lose World Series.
• 1968 - Baseball player hits double. Film at 11!
• 1969 - Ooh... divisions... Canada....
• 1970 - Baseball returns to Milwaukee. Guy with bad haircut is hailed as hero.
• 1971 - Pirates win Game 7 of World Series. Again.
• 1972 - Mustaches become cool.
• 1973 - Ya gotta believe the 1973 Mets are the worst team ever to win the pennant.
• 1974 - He's sittin' on 7-14... Here's the pitch by Downing... swinging... there's a drive into left-center field... that ball is gonna beeee... Outta here! It's gone! It's 7-15! There's a new home run champion of all time... and it's Henry Aaron!
• 1975 - "Mr. Kuhn, Mr. Seitz is on the phone for you. He says it's important."
  
• 1976 - 100 years of the National League makes teams wear funny caps.
• 1977 - Reggie! Reggie! Reggie!
• 1978 - "Deep to left! Yastrzemski will not get it -- it's a home run! A three-run home run for Bucky Dent..."
• 1979 - Pirates win Game 7 of World Series. Again.
• 1980 - The Phillies? The Philadelphia Phillies. They won? You've got to be kidding.
• 1981 - Split season shenanigans!
• 1982 - Cardinals beat Brewers in first World Series where all food served in the stadiums is deep fried in lard and beer.
• 1983 - Does anybody really remember anything about the 1983 season?
• 1984 - Tigers win World Series over San Diego as baseball enters into bleak, dsytopian world.
• 1985 - Vince Coleman takes on tarp roller and loses. Kansas City wins the World Series.
• 1986 - "Behind the bag … it gets through Buckner!"
• 1987 - "It's kind of loud in here! Don't you think?" "What?" "Never mind."
• 1988 - "Gibson a deep sigh...regripping the bat...shoulders just shrugged...now goes to the top of the helmet as he always does...steps in with that left foot... Eckersley working out of a stretch. Here's the 3-2 pitch..."
• 1989 - 7.1
• 1990 - See 1931 and insert "Oakland" in place of "Philadelphia"
• 1991 - Braves begin quest to lose every World Series of the decade
• 1992 - Canada? They have teams in Canada? Is that allowed?
• 1993 - "Here's the pitch on the way...a swing and a BELT! LEFT FIELD...WAY BACK...BLUE JAYS WIN IT!"
• 1994 - Still waiting
• 1995 - Baseball adds a new round of playoffs, but hardly anyone sees it.
• 1996 - Yankees reward long-suffering fans with World Series win.
• 1997 - Marlins reward short attention span fans with World Series win.
• 1998 - Ooh, lots of home runs. Looks like fun. How do I do get that big and strong?
• 1999 - Chad Curtis refuses to talk to Jim Grey. America wins twice!
• 2000 - The Subway Series makes a comeback. America is not impressed.
• 2001 - Diamondbacks win World Series despite being managed by Bob Brenly.
• 2002 - Scott Spiezio and Darin Erstad win one for Michael Eisner.
• 2003 - Cubs sign wrong Alex Gonzalez, lose NLCS.
• 2004 - Finally, those people can just shut up.
• 2005 - South Siders laugh derisively at North Siders.
• 2006 - Cardinals become first NL team to win 10 World Series. Approximately eight people notice it.
• 2007 - Why do those people win all the time? It's not fair!