A Radical Idea for Major League Baseball
Tip! Baseball is a game that is dependent on equipment though, and if the equipment is poor quality or in doesn't suit the kids using them, it can dampen their enthusiasm for little league baseball. It's important to buy youth baseball gloves for your child, not small adult baseball gloves which will discourage your youngster.
Now that another World Series is in the books and a fresh five-year labor agreement has been signed, I think it's time that Major League Baseball owners do something that really shakes things up while appealing to the purists and modernists alike. I have a suggestion for a radical new alignment that would do just that, although it likely won't go over too well with the self-appointed guardians of all things baseball. This new alignment would get rid of divisions and the division series and combine some of the best aspects of the old and the new. I will outline it in the paragraphs below.
Major League Baseball would be split into four eight-team leagues: the NL Traditional, the NL Contemporary, the AL Traditional, and the AL Contemporary.
The Traditional leagues would consist of the original eight NL franchises and the original eight AL franchises, respectively, that existed before expansion began in the 1960's. In addition, interleague play would be very limited for the teams in the Traditional leagues.
The Brewers would be assigned to the AL Contemporary. The Contemporary leagues would receive one expansion team each.
The leagues would be aligned as follows:
NL Traditional: Dodgers, Reds, Cubs, Phillies, Cardinals, Pirates, Giants, and Braves.
NL Contemporary: Padres, Nationals, Astros, Diamondbacks, Marlins, Mets, Rockies, and one expansion team.
AL Traditional: Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles, Indians, Tigers, Athletics, Twins, White Sox.
Tip! Metal baseball bats were invented in the 1920s, but it would be 50 years before they would be used in baseball. Today, aluminum bats are used in Little League baseball, although Major League Baseball does not use metal bats because of safety concerns and because the use of metal bats would significantly change the competition.
AL Contemporary: Angels, Rangers, Blue Jays, Mariners, Royals, Devil Rays, Brewers, and one expansion team.
The regular season schedules would be as follows:
NL Traditional teams would play 15-16 games against each other, six games each against NL Contemporary teams, and six interleague games against one designated AL team.
AL Traditional teams would play 15-16 games against each other, six games each against AL Contemporary teams, and six interleague games against one designated NL team.
NL Contemporary teams would play 13-14 games against each other, six games each against NL Traditional teams, six interleague games against one designated AL team, and three interleague games each against four additional AL Contemporary teams.
AL Contemporary teams would play 13-14 games against each other, six games each against AL Traditional teams, six interleague games against one designated NL team, and three interleague games each against four additional NL Contemporary teams.
Tip! When it comes to length and bats for kids, the rules state that Little League baseball bats must be less than or equal to 32 inches in length. Their barrels cannot be more than 2.
A team's designated interleague opponent would remain the same each year for teams like the Yankees, who have a natural rival, but would rotate for teams like the Red Sox, who do not. Additional interleague games for Contemporary teams would be against opponents on a rotating basis.
Three All-star games would be played on consecutive nights: NL Traditional vs. NL Contemporary; AL Traditional vs. AL Contemporary; the winner on the first night vs. the winner on the second night.
Regular season ties would be broken with a best-of-three series. All post-season series would be best-of-seven. The NL Traditional champ would face off against the NL Contemporary champ, and the AL Traditional champ would meet the AL Contemporary champ, with the winners squaring off in the World Series.
Terry Mitchell is a software engineer, freelance writer, amateur political analyst, and blogger from Hopewell, VA. On his blog - http://commenterry.blogs.com - he posts commentaries on various subjects such as politics, technology, religion, health and well-being, personal finance, and sports. His commentaries offer a unique point of view that is not often found in mainstream media.
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