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

[SAllen2556]

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.

[packs]

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.

[clydepepper]

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'.



.

[mortimer brewster]

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

[Butch7999]

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...