MLB Geographical Realignment
Posted 08-22-2022 at 02:32 AM by Shackdaddy
Quote:
Originally Posted by mytreds
Why have two different names for something that is exactly the same? American and National used to mean something, now it doesn't. At least East and West actually means something in the context of a sports league.
My vote would be just to combine everyone into a superleague ala the Premiership in British football. Really no point to divide into conferences or divisions when a)DH is universal b)you want to play every team in the entire sport c) nearly half the league makes it into the playoffs.
My vote would be just to combine everyone into a superleague ala the Premiership in British football. Really no point to divide into conferences or divisions when a)DH is universal b)you want to play every team in the entire sport c) nearly half the league makes it into the playoffs.
Number one England is a much smaller country than the United States.
Number two MLB plays 162 games. The Premier league plays 38 games (every team plays each other twice)
Number three the rivalries are important in baseball. Nobody wants to see the Red Sox and the Yankees only play each other five times a year. As it is now starting next year they will be cutting back from 19 games to 14 games.
So that is one point.
There are three reasons why the terms American League and National League are now irrelevant
In 1999 because of the umpires strike MLB decertified the umpire union and that was when they became MLB umpires instead of National League and American League umpires.
Also with the umpires in 1977 the old balloon chest protectors that the American league home plate umpires used to wear were outlawed. This was grandfathered in however. So if a established American league umpire wanted to continue to wear it he could.
By 1986 they were all gone.
Also in 1999 major league baseball eliminated the positions of President of the American and National Leagues Both leagues became officially under the umbrella of major league baseball.
With the adoption of the DH by the National League in 2022 (Like it or not) for the first time in history both leagues would be playing under the exact same rules.
In effect what we know as the American and National Leagues now are conferences just like the NFL
The reason why they should be realigned into eastern and western conferences are because in 2023 every team will be playing each other during the regular season. Just like the NBA and NHL
It would eliminate none of the traditional baseball rivalries and create some new ones.
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