pittsburgh: The cities are only 300 miles apart, but they are placed into different divisions? What gives? The NL Central has 6 teams and the NL East has 5, so why doesn't MLB just shift Pittsburgh over to the NL East? This way it still preserves the 16/14 league split which works for Interleague play.|||Complicated answer to this one, I think. When they did the alignment, I assume that the first thing they looked at was sheer geography. This would put Phillie in the East and leave Pittsburgh hanging with precisely the choice that you mention, East or Central. Now you have to look at the traditional rivalries; the Pirates were part of the NL old guard, them, Cards, Cubs, Giants. Those 4 teams won all but 8 of the NL pennants from 1901 to WW II. Cubs and Cards were in the Central, Giants would have been in the East if they hadn't defected with the Dodgers, no brainer...|||I agree with the answer above in that it's because of the '94 realignment. When the leagues were reorganized into three divisions each, they were made as even as possible, and each league had an East, a Central, and a West division. The West divisions each had four teams, and the others five. For the NL, much of the team placement was a no-brainer: The Padres, Dodgers, Giants, and Rockies all fit neatly into the West, and the Mets, Phillies, Braves, Marlins and Expos (before they moved to Washington, though they still fit geographically) were easy fits for the East. Had they put the Pirates in the East as well, that would leave six teams in the East and four in each of the other two divisions, which would not be even enough to be acceptable. As for why they don't move the Pirates now, I guess it's because there isn't really any other compelling reason...|||This way Penn fans get to see the Central and the East teams a lot. Why are the Yankees and Mets in different leagues? That's just how baseball does it.