Baseball question - Padres

Hi

Looking forward to watching a baseball game when we%26#39;re in San Diego in April.

I noticed when checking out the Padres website that there is an American League and a National League (which the Padres are in)

Knowing nothing about Baseball, what is the difference between the American League and the National League.

Are teams in the the National League still worth watching or is that a second rate competition.

Hope I don%26#39;t offend any Padres fans, but as I know nothing about these two leagues hoping someone can shed some light on it.

Baseball question - Padres

They are the same caliber teams. It is just a way to divide up all the teams and arrange the games and competition. At the end of the season the champions of each league play each other in the World Series.

Baseball question - Padres

Thanks riffsmon for clearing that up.

One difference is that in the American League the pitchers don%26#39;t have to hit the ball, they get another person on their team, called a designated hitter, to hit it for them. In the National League our pitchers are required to hit for themselves. Pitchers generally are not good hitters, they spend their time practising their pitching not their hitting. Their batting averages are usually really bad. When one team from either the AL or the NL visits the others ball park they have to abide by the home teams rules, so you will see pitchers who never hit having to go up to bat.

Guess those might be details that you probably wouldn%26#39;t care too much about, but.......

Enjoy the game.

thanks katdiego for replying.

Very interesting about the pitchers not having to hit the ball themselves - we know nothing about american baseball so any info is great.

Can%26#39;t wait to be in the ballpark ourselves.