Major League Baseball has two leagues and those two leagues have two different teams that first come to mind. The American League, the dominant league so far this century, has long identified with the New York Yankees. But, as the times have changed, so has the Yankees fate.

The team ended its era of domination poetically with a failed attempt to crawl back into the American League East. The Yankees began their rise to the top of baseball with the acquisition of Babe Ruth in 1920. He became the first in a long list of sluggers to lead New York to 26 World Series titles.

After Ruth came Lou Gehrig, after Gehrig came Joe DiMaggio, after DiMaggio came Mickey Mantle, after Mantle came Reggie Jackson. The list goes on and on and the team kept on until the end of the 20th century.

Since 2000 the Yankees have been in the relatively new position of chasing the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees kept on spending money on bats, collecting a dream fantasy lineup over the seasons. This past season the House that Ruth built saw its final year and ended it with a team that oddly only had a single viable slugger, Alex Rodriguez.

Empires rarely end gracefully and this was not the exception. The team has to do a lot of reverse the culture they have created. They have to stop spending so freely. The pursuit of C.C. Sabathia is an expensive one, even if it is to fix a major deficiency in the starting lineup. The end appears to be near as the Yankees franchise may simply need a full regime change to avoid a messy fall with an expensive roster and suddenly much more competitive.

On the other hand, the National League has long celebrated the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs have built an empire of a different kind. This team has become part of baseball lore as the team that cannot win.

The Philadelphia Phillies may have had an equally painful history, but the Cubs have had more troubles in the last few decades. The failure to make good on the promise of the most balanced roster in both leagues is only the latest in sharp pains to their fans hearts. The thing is that the Cubs actually have a shot of developing a new history of winning.

Chicago can start anew if they simply forget the previous 99 years and think of 2008 as year one of the Cubs chance to make the 21st century a clean slate. The Phillies have been winning since 2001 and took those next eight years to build to an eventual championship.

The Cubs have a lot going for them. They have a stellar lineup with Derrek Lee, Geovany Soto, Aramis Ramirez, and Alfonso Soriano. They have a great starting rotation with Carlos Zambrano, Rich Harden, and three solid three through five guys.

This coming MLB season could see the mighty fall from the national sports consciousness and the loveable losers stick around. See if I am wrong with Yankees tickets for the new stadium or Cubs tickets for a potential third straight season in the playoffs.