Tuesday, November 11, 2008

It takes two

Here's an idea. Let's expand Major League Baseball to 32 teams, get rid of divisions, but have 4 leagues of 8 teams each. Here's a possible alignment, with a nod to the bulk of the 20th century and a return for two cities with a prominent part in baseball history:

American League

New York Yankees
Chicago White Sox
Baltimore Orioles
Oakland Athletics
Boston Red Sox
Detroit Tigers
Cleveland Indians
Minnesota Twins


Continental Association

New York Mets
Florida Marlins
Tampa Bay Rays
Washington Nationals
Toronto Blue Jays
Colorado Rockies
Brooklyn Juniors
Kansas City Royals

National League

Los Angeles Dodgers
San Francisco Giants
Cincinnati Reds
Chicago Cubs
Atlanta Braves
Pittsburgh Pirates
Philadelphia Phillies
St Louis Cardinals


Federal Association

San Diego Padres
Anaheim Angels
Louisville Roses
Texas Rangers
Seattle Mariners
Milwaukee Brewers
Houston Astros
Arizona Diamondbacks

We can even have interleague play, on a balanced basis. Two games against each of 24 non-league teams, and 16 games against each of 7 league opponents, makes a total of 160 games in a season. And four pennant races to follow. Not division titles, but honest to goodness league pennants.

In the postseason, take your pick of four or eight teams, and any way you like to arrange a draw. We can finally lose the wildcard and its unfair comparison of teams with wildly differing schedules.

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