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WSJ.com Forums :: View topic - The American League vs. the National League
Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 6:38 pm Post subject: The American League vs.
The National League
Welcome to WSJ forums.
The Journal examines how the American League has grown so dominant over the National League.
Readers, do you agree that the American League now dominates baseball?
What reasons would you give for or against?
Share your views on the board below.
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 1:17 am Post subject: Re: The American League vs.
The National League (1 rating)
AL has bigger revenue markets (Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, White Sox, Detroit) and smarter management (A's, Twins)
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 1:40 am Post subject: Re: The American League vs.
The National League (1 rating)
If you have been to a game at Dodger's stadium lately it is the same demographic that attends a bull fight in Tijauna.
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 9:10 am Post subject: Re: The American League vs.
The National League (2 ratings)
The DH is the biggest reason, in my opinion.
More strategy can be built around a stronger, dedicated offense and pitchers can focus on the intense job of being on the mound.
When you consider that they represent one ninth of the batting order, a pitcher having to hit the ball is a significant portion of their concentration that goes to having to swing the bat, run bases, etc.
Also, look at the clear correlation of increased wins for the AL to the DH being put into place in 73.
Little more of an argument is necessary.
I don't agree that budget has the biggest impact (though surely some).
Take Billy Beane as an easy example.
Although the A's are in the AL, he has used smart scouting techniques to recruit good players on a shoestring budget compared to his peers across both leagues.
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 9:40 am Post subject: Re: The American League vs.
The National League (1 rating)
For all the talk about how great the A's management is, the team has been unable to win the pennant let alone the world series during the era of Billy Beane.
And no mention of the Marlins and the Diamondbacks, two NL expansion teams that won the world series soon after their formation (the Marlins twice).
No doubt that the AL is the superior league right now, but I think this article is a bit exaggerated.
To the poster claiming that the AL has bigger markets, the Yankees, Angels and White Sox all share markets with NL teams.
And the Angels and White Sox are arguably not the top team in terms of fan base in those areas (Yankees clearly are in NY).
Philly is a larger TV market than Boston, and Washington D.C.
And Houston are larger markets than Detroit.
So I'm not sure that market size has anything to do with AL superiority.
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:05 am Post subject: Re: The American League vs.
The National League (1 rating)
This whole thing is way overblown.
It is nothing more than manipulating statistics to prove a theory (that the AL is better).
Any fool can pick a period to prove superiority.
Yes the AL has dominated the series over the last 11 years.
But why is 11 years the righ stat?
Why not 7 years. All of a sudden the World Series looks more even (only one more win for the AL).
Look at the '72 to '82 period (yes, AFTER the DH was enacted by the AL).
The NL dominated.
But the AL came back.
This is nothing more than a good run for the AL.
In 15 years we will be having the same argument in reverse and bemoaning the downfall of the AL.
This is the same as the NFL.
Look at the streak of Super Bowl wins by NFC teams in the 80's and 90's.
Everyone believed the AFC was a permanent punching bag for the NFC.
But it reversed itself.
This, too, shall pass.
Last edited by cjanc on Fri Jul 11, 2008 5:53 pm;
Edited 1 time in total
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:26 am Post subject: Re: The American League vs.
The National League (1 rating)
The salary discrepancy between the two leagues is driven entirely by the Yankees and Red Sox.
Eliminating those two teams, and the average salary per team in the AL is $66M, even with the NL.
The Yankees $200M does not seem to be buying too much this year.
The fact is, however, the AL teams invested much earlier in player development, A's, Angels, Indians, Rays, etc.
To compete with marquee franchises of NY and Boston.
This commitment lead to players rising through the ranks together, actually caring for each other, and becoming better TEAMS.
All teams needed to make this commitment to keep up with NY and BOS.
Meanwhile, the marquee franchises in the NL - Dodgers and who?
(Giants? Mets?) are in dissarray, and other teams have not needed to raise their game.
The Cubs could become a leader, but they are 0 for 99 - it may take a couple seasons to change that culture.
Or, if the Dodgers ever get their act together, you will see the entire NL improve.
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:38 am Post subject: Re: The American League vs.
The National League
The AL has had the DH for more than thirty years;
That's enough time to evolve the power emphasis that gives them more of the big hitters.
Coupled with the size of the new ballparks, the offense overall has been ahead of the pitchers everywhere (although this year will produce some seriously reduced offense).
There is a counter-intuitive paradox with the new ballparks: the AL builds pitcher's parks, the NL looks to help the hitters.Fenway Park used to be called "Friendly Fenway".
Now it has the deepest distance from home plate to center field of any major league ballpark.
It would be instructive to younger fans to see what Yankee Stadium looked like before the renovation of the 1970s;THAT was a massive outfield!
The new National League stadiums--in Houston, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati--are home run paradises, but it will take thirty years for the NL to catch up.
The new AL parks in Detroit and Chicago are still more pitcher-friendly.
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:45 am Post subject: Re: The American League vs.
The National League
They havent won a pennant but I think the point is you can field a decent team on a tight budget.
They have been at least in the divisional series 5 of the 11 years and other than the first two years always second or 1st in the AL west.
Again, its the DH that matters.
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:48 am Post subject: Re: The American League vs.
The National League (1 rating)
It's all DH.
Everything snowballs from there, and it will only get worse.
Naturally there is no way for the NL to compete in the All Star game against a team loaded with DH's.
Then, to compound the inequity, Selig and the boys reward this unfairness by giving the winner of the All Star game home field advantage (ergo, an almost unbeatable leg up) in the Series.
Why don't we just put Steinbrenner behind the plate calling balls and strikes?
The DH is just a very upscale retirement community for overage steroid abusers anyway.
Get rid of it, before it further deteriorates the integrity of the great American sport.
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:57 am Post subject: Re: The American League vs.
The National League (1 rating)
The AL is clearly superior.
Compare apples to apples....head to head competition where the NL got smoked this year.
The NL even gets a big advantage when the AL pitchers who don't ever bat have to start hitting.
It's no big deal for a NL team to throw a DH in there when they travel to the AL park.
Not only that, the big boppers who DH all season long have to sit out the games played at the NL park.
The all-star game has become a mockery, despite the new world series home field advantage.
NL futility will continue in the All Star game this year....they have 11 right handers and one left handed pitcher on the entire roster...brilliant!!
Maybe the fans should pick the pitchers too.
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 12:15 pm Post subject: Re: The American League vs.
The National League (1 rating)
The tide may be turning.
This year, 15 of the top 25 in the majors in Runs Created, and 14 of the top 25 in the majors in ERA, are from the NL.
A lot of good players have moved from the AL to NL in the last couple years (J.Santana, H.Ramirez, Teixera, Tejada, Volquez, Haren, Jurrjens, T.Hudson, O.Hudson, Ca.Lee, C.Beltran, Ad.Gonzalez, B.Phillips, R.Ludwick, Glaus).
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 12:45 pm Post subject: Re: The American League vs.
The National League (1 rating)
The first sentence of your story is wrong.
They (AL and NL) do not play the same game.
The NL plays baseball, the AL plays a variation called "designated hitter." This gives the AL a big advantage in games played in their home parks -- NL teams can't afford to carry one dimensional sluggers.
Letting, say, the Dodgers in effect add a Danny Ardoin or a Luis Maza to their batting order in no way compensates for for the Red Sox being able to carry a David Ortiz.
NL teams could have a corresponding advantage in games played in their home parks if their pitchers could hit, but in general, NL pitchers seem to hit no better than their AL counterparts.
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 1:17 pm Post subject: Re: The American League vs.
The National League (2 ratings)
The pitcher is a specialist....the same as a goalie in soccer or hockey or a quarterback in football.
Pitchers don't need to hit...oh, it ruins the strategy of baseball to have a DH, blah, blah, blah....Pitchers hitting makes as much sense as having football players play both offense and defense like the old days.
Gee, that really ruined football when players started playing one position.
Lighten up all you traditionalists and admit that having Jim Thome up to bat or David Ortiz is much more exciting than watching a lifetime .120 hitter lay down a bunt.
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 1:30 pm Post subject: Re: The American League vs.
The National League (2 ratings)
Don't forget when an AL team plays in an NL park it is without the designated hitter.
As much fun as it is to watch Wakefield try to figure out which end of the bat to hold, the AL teams still win.
So don't blame the DH rule.
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