2006-07-07 07:11:26 · 8 answers · asked by sukemonia 2 in Sports ➔ Baseball
According to wikipedia, there are an uneven number of teams because if there were 15 teams on each side instead of the 16/14 split, the odd number of teams in each league would force the team not playing against another team in their league to either rest or play against the team from the other league, which they don't want to have to do every week.
2006-07-07 07:21:24 · answer #1 · answered by doranen 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
When Arizona and Tampa Bay were going to be admitted to the NL, the White Sox wanted to shift to the Central Division in the new 3 division format. They were saying that the later start times for their games while members of the AL West was costing them money. In order to keep peace, Bud Selig proposed that he would be able to move the Brewers to the NL and opening a spot in the AL Central. However, that would have meant that the NL would have 17 teams and the AL 13. Somehow, the Devil Rays agreed to become a member of the AL East, thereby giving MLB it's current alignment.
2006-07-07 07:15:43 · answer #2 · answered by Awesome Bill 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The only reason for the imbalance is that the total number of Major League teams isn't divisible by four. If they had an even split, say 15-15, then there would have to be interleague play throughout the season.
2006-07-07 08:34:34 · answer #3 · answered by Baseball Fanatic 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Trust me. There will be no expansion in MLB for a long time. With Washington now established there are no prime markets for expansion. In fact baseball would be better off contracting around four teams--the talent is diluted enough already--then both leagues can have the same amount of teams and they could end the ridiculous scheduling they now have.
2006-07-07 08:05:20 · answer #4 · answered by Craig G 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well there are 30 teams in the MLB, and if they do 15 and 15, there will allways be either a team not playing or interleague play, so they did 16-14 so they could keep play in ones own league.
2006-07-07 07:48:06 · answer #5 · answered by EJ 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They're cheating...I'm kidding....It's easier to schedule games when there is an even number of teams...If you'll notice ALL pro sports leagues(NFL,NBA,MLB,NHL) have an even number of teams...When/if MLB expands again it will add 2 teams to the AL...
2006-07-07 07:19:17 · answer #6 · answered by jack 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They will probably add some expansion teams later.
2006-07-07 07:15:03 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
N.L is older than the A.L
2006-07-09 08:47:30 · answer #8 · answered by ypina 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋