Again, unless someone is purposely being a jackass and playing with semantics it's the same as conferences in the NFL, NHL, and NBA.
All NFL teams play under the same set of rules. All NHL teams play under the same set of rules. All NBA teams play under the same set of rules. NL and AL teams do not play under the same set of rules.
It's both. There is one league that is Major League Baseball. Within that one league, there are two leagues, American and National. It is poor naming on the part of baseball, but it's both.
Baseball is unique in a lot of ways. All NBA, NHL, and NFL teams also play on uniform fields, MLB teams do not. It's just one of the quirks of baseball. There are some other things to consider. One is they play of one championship, not two. Also, all teams are subject to MLB rules and things like fines, suspensions, etc. Luxury tax and revenue sharing are not paid to either the AL or the NL, they are paid to MLB. The CBA binds all teams in MLB. It's one league.
Not too long ago, Hockey did not play on the same "field"....the boston Garden and the Aud in Buffalo were slightly smaller ice surfaces....just an FYI to all you fans out there
There are 2 leagues/conferences (National and American) under one umbrella league (MLB). This is a semantics argument.....
That's all correct, but until all 30 teams play under the same rules, it's still two leagues we are talking about here.
That much is true, but again, it's just semantics. In the real life application of the word, it is one league and the AL and NL should really be named the American Conference and National Conference or something similar. The reason for the poor naming is obvious, because it did USED to be two separate leagues, but like the AFL/NFL merger they combined in 1903. They just kept the name.
This makes no sense. Expansion teams are sanctioned by MLB NOT the AL or NL. The Brewers were even moved by MLB from one to the other to accommodate this. More evidence of one league.
This is my opinion as well. I think this thread is unnecessary, but so it is and so it shall be. As DotTHR said, the naming irregularity comes from the ancient merge. They could have renamed the leagues after they came together, but they evidently opted not to.
I have to disagree with you here Cakes. It's MLB and there's one champion at the end of the season. They also share a recordbook, commish, all-star game ... This is a silly argument you're making.
There is no record book. Let me ask you a question. If there is only one league, why do some teams play under one set of rules and others play under a different set of rules?
What do you mean there's no record book? You know what I mean when I speak of a recordbook and MLB has one set of accepted records held by players that played in both the NL and AL. Please point me to the National League or American League website.
I can't vote in this poll because both options are accurate. There is one league and it is called Major League Baseball. There are two leagues- National League and American League. Not mutually exclusive. If I vote for option one, it implies that I don't think that there are two leagues called the National and American leagues, respectively.
