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Why is there very little significance in winning the East or West pennant? (alien.top)

submitted 1 year ago by DonT012@alien.top to c/nba@nba.space

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It seems like a lot of fans like to use the 4-6 argument for Lebron or Finals losses affect a player's legacy negatively more than early round losses. Why don't we celebrate winning the East/West pennant more often? It's almost as if making the Finals is as useful as making the playoffs and getting knocked out in the first round.

Yet in the MLB making the World Series is a BIG deal even if you get swept and blown out each game. It's considered so prestigious that we always say AL or NL pennant. Why don't NBA ever get to the same prestige level on winning the pennant as MLB?

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[–] PonkMcSquiggles@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Historically, the AL and NL were two separate leagues. There was little to no inter-league play, so the World Series was almost like an exhibition - something extra played after the seasons ended. People didn’t really think of the AL/NL pennants as conference championships.

[–] DubsFanAccount@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah this is the best answer. It’s really more that baseball is the outlier in the way they care about pennants. Nobody is all that excited about being an NFC Champion or whatever it is that hockey does. NBA is more aligned to the other sports.

[–] Obvious_Parsley3238@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Interleague play was first introduced during the 1997 Major League Baseball season. Prior to that, matchups between AL teams and NL teams occurred only during spring training, the All-Star Game, other exhibition games (such as the Hall of Fame Game in Cooperstown, New York), and the World Series.

people were okay with this? baseball is so weird

[–] Somaninim0@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Makes you wonder why MLB’s popularity is declining among youth. It’s a sport catering to boomers.

[–] TO_Sports@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

They've been making changes the last few years to speed up the game and its worked, this past year attendance went up throughout the league.

The WBC has been a success and baseball will be in the 2028 Olympics. So hopefully all this helps bring back it's popularity.