Hope you’re enjoying the American League Championship Series and the National League Championship Series. Gobble them up, because they might soon disappear – at least by those names.
Very soon there probably will be no American League Championship Series or National League Championship Series.
Why? Take a sip of water before you proceed.
Very soon there will probably be no American League or National League.
That’s 117-plus years of baseball tradition that is likely to be relegated to the history books as soon as the major leagues figure out their next round of expansion. Two more teams are going to be added sometime in the next two-to-five years, bringing the total number of teams to 32. When that happens it appears baseball will be divided into four divisions of eight teams each. Evidently those divisions will be formed strictly on a geographical basis. That would mean, for example, that the Mets and Yankees will compete in the same division.
The National League was created in 1876 and the American League joined it in 1901 – first as a rival and then as a partner. During much of the 20th Century the distinction and the rivalry between the leagues was a significant part of the game’s fabric. Over the years, however, interleague trading, free agency and interleague play have eroded most of that distinction and rivalry. The only significant difference that remains is that the AL uses the designated hitter rule and the NL does not. Otherwise, the existence of two leagues within the structure of Major League Baseball has become an anachronism.
Evidently that anachronism is about to be jettisoned.
At least that’s what a national columnist reported recently in an article he published in Baseball America. He didn’t say where his information came from but his sources apparently are sound. No one in authority has denied any of it.
The writer, Tracy Ringolsby, projects four divisions of eight teams each. Each club will play 12 games against each of the seven teams within its division and three games against every other major league club, bringing the total number of games for each club to 156. The four pennant winners and eight wild-cards will qualify for the playoffs. The pennant winners will have a first-round bye, then play the four survivors of the wild-card round. Winners of those four series will be in the semifinals, or whatever it is the owners decide to call that round of the playoffs.
Expansion, as noted, is one factor driving these changes. Any schedule involving 30 teams is bound to be awkward, but a schedule featuring 32 franchises can come together much more smoothly.
The other major factor contributing to these changes is the growing demand from the players that they get more off days during the season. The schedule created by this format would call every team to play two three-game series each week – thus assuring a weekly day off. The schedule itself if shortened by six games, something the owners apparently are willing to accept in return for reduced travel costs. Since most of the teams will be in a division with other teams located in the same time zone, the travel costs will be reduced considerably.
Currently 14 teams are located in the Eastern Time Zone, eight in the Midwest Time Zone, one (the Rockies) in the Mountain Time Zone and seven in the Pacific Time Zone. Montreal is virtually certain to receive one of the expansion franchises and become the 15th team the East. If the other expansion city were, say, Charlotte, that would create 16 Eastern Time Zone franchises – exactly what would be needed to fill two divisions. The eight Midwestern clubs would form a third division and the Rockies would be part of the Western Division.
However, if the owners decide to place a team in Las Vegas or in Portland, Ore, that team would join Western Division and the Rockies would become part of the Midwestern Division. That would mean one team in the Midwestern Time Zone would have to play in a division with seven Eastern Time Zone teams. Expect some squawking if that happens.
There would be other issues that would have to be resolved. The All-Star Game format would need to change in some way. The Baseball Writers Association of America could no longer give an AL and NL version of each award. There would have to be just one Most Valuable Player and one Cy Young Award winner or else there would have to be four.
And – oh yes – somebody would have to figure out what to do about the designated hitter. Hey, nobody ever said this thing is going to be easy.
A FEW STATISTICS (Wednesday’s games not included): Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers has been caught stealing twice. Brett Gardner of the Yankees has swiped one base in two attempts. No other player has attempted two stolen bases…In three games against the Dodgers the Cubs scored only four runs. All came on home runs…The Yankees have drawn 12 walks in four games against the Astros. Five of them belong to Greg Bird…Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen has pitched to 25 batters in the postseason. He has struck out 12 of them…Jose Altuve of the Astros has gone hitless in his first two games in Yankee Stadium. Nevertheless his batting average in the postseason is .448…Over the past two seasons Aroldis Chapman has saved seven postseason games – four for the Cubs and three for the Yankees.
Hall of Fame voter Jay Dunn has written baseball for The Trentonian for 49 years. Contact him at jaydunn8@aol.com
