Is there a need for both AL & NL Leaders anymore ?
 

With the new balance schedule, and all teams playing the other 29 teams in both leagues, is there a need for both NL & AL Leaders in Bave, HR's RBI's, etc. or should there just be a MLB Leader in these categories since the leagues are basically the same now with the DH and schedule.

There is more profit in twice as many league leaders and accolades during award season. People go see winners play and buy merchandise from winners. More teams can hype star players when there are twice as many leaders and awards.

That’s about all I can think of anymore.

Teams still play over twice as many games against teams in their own league than in the other league. I think it's 46 interleague games and 116 intraleague so still a big enough difference to make it worth identifying separate league leaders, at least in my opinion.

I think over time the awards should be phased out. Just like in the NBA, the NFL, and the NHL they have 2 Conferences (like the 2 leagues in the MLB) and the play more games within their conference and they all have 1 award.

Now that the DH rule is gone I think they they should follow the other leagues. Also many times the award winners in the 1 league would not have even cracked the top 3 in the other league awards so it is kind of funny.

On the other hand it may never change since many player contracts have incentives on winning certain awards so they do not want to risk losing that money so the Players association may fight it

I hope not. I'd like to think some traditions can still continue.

I don’t like the trend toward one league with two conferences. I don’t like inter-league play. I liked it when each league was run separately and each thought it better than the other. Different rules. Different umpires. Different styles of pitching.

The World Series is not nearly as compelling as it once was because of inter-league play. How the Reds would match up against the Red Sox in 1975 was compelling because no one really knew. There was a mystique to seeing the two leagues play each other. It’s also why the All Star game is a big yawn nowadays.
And what's the point of having two teams in Chicago and Los Angeles if they're playing the same schedule?

There’s no rivalry between the leagues anymore. And I think baseball is worse off for it.

All due respect but that seems like an extreme reaction to inter-league play. You never know how the World Series is going to go no matter who is playing. It's the World Series. Enough of them have been played to know that it's hard to predict what will ever happen during it.

No one would have predicted the 1914 Braves would win and playing an unknown American League team in the series isn't what made that victory special. It was what they did to get there at all.

I could go on to unlikely events in other World Series but we're all pretty familiar with baseball history.

In spite of ALWAYS BEING A FAN, I never really liked inter-league play and it, IMO, does make separate league leaders moot.

Even though, you never know how a World Series will turn out, I thought it was purer form when the two teams had not faced each other previously.

...and get rid of the damn ghost runners...


Aside from that, I'm cool with other rule changes...call me a 'flexible traditionalist'.



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I'm not angry
 

Whenever I reminisce about the old days people seem to think I am an "angry old man". Nothing can be further from the truth. I am just thankful for the era I grew up in. Big difference. Today's kids will feel the same 30 years from now.

I miss the days when there was 2 separate leagues with no inter-league play. I miss buying the American League Green Book and the National League Red Book. Two separate sets of umpires etc. The Mystery of how the World Series plays out ahead of time because the teams didn't meet during the regular season.

Sure a Yankee Met or Cub White Sox regular season series could be captivating, But a Rockies Tigers series not too much so.

Some fans will point out that they deserve to see all super stars in their home park regardless of league. Well National League fans didn't see Mickey Mantle or Lou Gehrig and American League fans didn't see Willie Mays or
Roberto Clemente and the sport thrived.

I am not a complete traditionalist. I do think when the league's went to 3 divisions a Wild card format was needed to keep interest.

Adding the one game playoff in 2012 was a little too much though. To me it is just a one day extension of the regular season.

The year before the Wild card changed hands multiple times the final day of the season making for an exciting finish. MLB, rather than applauding the exciting finish, over reacted and lowered the standard for post season play.

Regards

Angry Old Men reporting for duty. We fully agree with Scott SAllen2556.
We were Angry Young Men, too. We hated the DH from the moment it was conceived.
Don't even get us started on the asinine "new rules"... MLB "dumbing down" for almost
fifty years all levels of what used to be baseball -- in another ten years it'll just be
Major League T-Ball...