France
French Rugby Top 14 (National League)
USAP Perpignan vs ASM Clermont Auvergne
Match scheduled:
Date:: 29-05-2010
Time:18:45 until 20:45
The Final :: French Top 14 :: Match also on France 2 and Canal+ FR / Sportzone will be Joined in Progress
Watch live rugby TV
The NL remained an eight-team league for over 60 years. (For the eight teams, see "Expansion (1887-1899)", above, and "Classic Eight", below.) In 1962—facing competition from the Continental League and confronted by the American League's unilateral expansion in 1960—the NL expanded by adding the New York Mets and the Houston Colt .45s. The "Colts" were renamed the Houston Astros three years later. In 1969, the league added the San Diego Padres and the Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals), becoming a 12-team league for the first time since 1899. In 1993 the league expanded to 14 teams, adding the Colorado Rockies and the Florida Marlins. In 1998, the Arizona Diamondbacks became the league's fifteenth franchise, and the Milwaukee Brewers moved from the AL to the NL to make the NL the 16-team league it is today. (Before the 1998 season, the American League and the National League each added a fifteenth team. Because of the odd number of teams, only seven games could possibly be scheduled in each league on any given day. Thus, one team in each league would have to be idle on any given day. This would have made it difficult for scheduling, in terms of travel days and the need to end the season before October. In order for MLB officials to continue primarily intraleague play, both leagues would need to carry an even number of teams, so the decision was made to move one club from the AL Central to the NL Central. Eventually, Milwaukee agreed to change leagues.[4])
In 1969, as a result of its expansion to 12 teams, the National League—which for its first 93 years had competed equally in a single grouping—was reorganized into two divisions of six teams (respectively named the National League East and West, although geographically it was more like North and South), with the division champions meeting in the National League Championship Series (an additional round of postseason competition) for the right to advance to the World Series.
In 1994, the league was again reorganized, into three geographical divisions (East and West, currently each with five teams, and Central, currently with six teams; from 1994-97 the West and Central each had one team less). A third postseason round was added at the same time: the three division champions plus a wild card team (the team with the best record among those finishing in second place) now advance to the preliminary National League Division Series. Due to a players' strike, however, the postseason was not actually held in 1994.
Often characterized as being a more "traditional" or "pure" league, the National League has never adopted the designated hitter rule that was adopted by the American League in 1973. In theory, this means the role of the manager is greater in the National League than in the American, because the NL manager must take offense into account when making pitching substitutions and vice versa. Overall, there are fewer home runs and runs scored in the National League than in the American, due to the presence of the pitcher in the NL batting order.
For the first 96 years of its coexistence with the American League, National League teams faced their AL counterparts only in exhibition games or in the World Series. Beginning in 1997, however, interleague games have been played during the regular season and count in the standings. As part of the agreement instituting interleague play, the American League's designated-hitter rule is used only in games where the American League team is the home team.
In the 1990s, the offices of American League and National League presidents were discontinued. Additionally, the distinction between AL and NL umpires was erased, and instead all umpires were unified under MLB control. With these actions, as well as the institution of interleague play, little remains to differentiate between the two leagues other than the use of the DH in the AL and tradition.
Through the 2008 season, the Dodgers have won the most NL pennants (21, plus one A.A. pennant), followed closely by the Giants (20) and Cardinals (17, plus 4 A.A. pennants). Representing the National League against the American, the Cardinals have won the most World Series (10) followed by the Dodgers (6), Pirates (5), Reds (5), and Giants (5). St. Louis also holds the distinction of being the only A.A. club to defeat an NL club in the 19th-century version of the World Series.
