In
sports, the
concept of moving teams from one
league to another or one
division to another to provide
geographic or
competitive balance, or to allow for easier
scheduling of games by having an even number of teams within a league.
Most sports' fans don't mind realignment too much, as long as their team's arch-rival stays within their division. Baseball fans, though, get violent when such a thing is proposed, especially if it involves switching teams from one league to another, since many National League fans do not consider the American League game to be real baseball because of the designated hitter rule.