From High N Tight

🪓 THE BRUSHBACK — No More AL, No More NL

Baseball has always been a game of tradition. Passed down like family heirlooms. If you were a Dodger fan, you were a National League fan. If you were a Yankee fan, you were an American League fan.

That was the deal. Grandpa explained it between innings, right after telling you why the DH was either the best or worst thing that ever happened to the sport.

Now with expansion looming, will one of the game’s most sacred traditions get tossed aside?

MLB Commissioners Rob Manfred says with the possibility of baseball expanding to 32 teams - Nashville and Salt Lake City are looking like the frontrunners — it’s time for a geographic overhaul. Brace yourself: the NL and AL could be history.

On paper, it’s neat. Travel gets easier. TV windows line up. Rivalries survive — Yankees still hate the Red Sox, Cubs still hate the Cardinals, Dodgers still hate the Giants.

One possible map: four mega-divisions.

🔵 West Division
Dodgers, Angels, Padres, Giants, Mariners, A’s (Vegas), Diamondbacks, Salt Lake City

🟢 Central Division
Cubs, White Sox, Cardinals, Brewers, Twins, Royals, Tigers, Guardians

🟡 East Division
Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Phillies, Pirates, Blue Jays, Orioles, Nationals

🔴 Southeast Division
Braves, Marlins, Rays, Reds, Astros, Rangers, Rockies, Nashville

Or 8 divisions of 4 teams:

Northeast: Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Phillies
Mid-Atlantic: Orioles, Nationals, Pirates, Blue Jays
Southeast: Braves, Rays, Marlins, Nashville
South: Astros, Rangers, Royals, Rockies
Pacific: Dodgers, Angels, Padres, Diamondbacks
Northwest: Giants, Mariners, A’s (Vegas), Salt Lake City Trappers
Midwest: Cubs, White Sox, Brewers, Twins
Great Lakes: Cardinals, Guardians, Tigers, Reds

But that might mean…no more NL and no more AL according to Manfred.

Old school baseball fans will just love this.

The day the American and National Leagues get bulldozed into history is the day baseball trades in its soul for a travel voucher. And when you tell Grandpa the pennant doesn’t exist anymore? Them are fightin’ words.

By the time it happens, Manfred will be long retired, sipping something fruity with an umbrella in it — while we watch the Salt Lake City Trappers take on the Dodgers on Sunday Night Baseball.