The American and National Leagues are part of Major League Baseball. The AL allows a designated hitter, resulting in more scoring. The number of teams and composition of divisions have changed over time. The DH rule was adopted in 1973 to add more offense. The absence of a DH in the NL results in different strategies. During interleague games, DH usage depends on the home team. There is debate over which league has an advantage in interleague play.
The American and national leagues are part of Major League Baseball (MLB), the highest level of professional baseball in North America. There are two major differences between the leagues: Different teams play in each league, and the American League (AL) allows teams to use a designated hitter (DH). The use of the DH in the American League also results in more scoring and generally higher offensive stats than in the National League (NL).
Team numbers
Since 1960, the number of major league teams has increased from 16 to 30, as expansion teams have been added six times. The number of teams in each of the leagues has varied as teams have been added and have not always been equal. From 1998 to 2012, for example, there were 14 American League teams and 16 National League teams. In 2013, however, the Houston Astros were scheduled to move from the NL to the AL, giving each league 15 teams and making them equal for the first time since 1997.
One reason the leagues have often had unequal numbers of teams is because, for many years, the AL and NL teams never played each other in non-exhibition games except during the World Series, the games that decide the major league championship. league. This meant that each league always needed an even number of teams, so that there wasn’t an inactive team every day. In 1997, interleague play began to be held during the regular season, eliminating the need for an even number of teams in both leagues.
Composition of the alloys
The AL and NL have teams throughout the United States and are divided into East, Central, and West Divisions. The AL also has a team based in Canada, the Toronto Blue Jays. As teams have been added and moved to different cities, the number and composition of league divisions have changed. For metropolitan areas that have two teams, such as New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles/Anaheim, the teams have traditionally been in opposite leagues.
The designated hitter rule
In 1973, the American League added a rule that allows a team to use a designated hitter, a player who does not play fielding defense but instead takes the pitcher’s place in the batting order. This rule was adopted to add more offense to the game, because pitchers typically are among the worst hitters on teams—they’re valued for their skills as pitchers, not hitters. As a result of the DH, American League teams, on average, score more runs per game, have higher batting averages, and hit more home runs than NL teams, though that isn’t always true for individual teams.
Strategy
The absence of a DH in the National League results in slightly different strategies used in the NL. For example, NL managers often use pinch-hitters to beat pitchers late in games. When this occurs, the pitcher must also be replaced if and when that team returns to play defense. Many times, the pinch-hitter will stay in the game to play a defensive position and the new pitcher will fill in for another player in the batting order; this is called a double switch. Another effect of not using designated hitters in the National League is that NL teams often keep more non-pitchers on their rosters than AL teams, because NL teams sometimes have to use more pinch-hitters to hit pitchers in a game, rather than using only a DH.
Interleague game
During interleague games and the World Series, DH usage depends on which team is the home team. When an American League team is the home team, the DH is used by both teams. If a National League team is the home team, neither team may use a DH. There is some debate as to whether AL or NL teams have an advantage in interleague play, with some people arguing that American League pitchers are at a disadvantage when forced to bat, because they are unaccustomed to and rarely practice it. . Other people say AL teams have an advantage because they employ regular designated hitters who are usually among their teams’ best hitters, and NL teams usually have to use backup players as designated hitters when the DH rule is in effect. During the first 15 years of interleague play, AL teams won slightly more often, about 52 percent of the time.
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