Take Interleague Play (Please)

Jason Michael Barker

The interesting thing -- I was going to say "great thing" or "horrible thing," but couldn't decide which it was -- about interleague play is that even one weekend of it reminds you both why it's such a good idea and a bad idea, all at the same time. Take Friday evening for example, when I took in the Mariners-Cubs tilt at Safeco Field.

Right off the bat, I was loving interleague play. For once, my Mariners were getting a break from such teams as the Athletics, Yankees and Red Sox -- bring on the 24-34 Chicago Cubs! In another week they'll take on the last place San Diego Padres. Viva la interleague play!

Then I remembered that the Angels, trailing Seattle by a mere game in the AL West -- they might be tied by the time you read this -- get to play games against the Brewers, who are even worse than the Cubs, and the Pirates, who when you get down to it really are a worse team than the Cubs. Damn you, interleague play!

But no matter. As I took my seat and examined the starting lineups, I was once again reminded why interleague play is good. Taking the mound for the Cubbies? None other than heralded pitching prospect Mark Prior, the so-called "Greatest College Pitcher Ever" who ripped through the upper minors this season on his way to Chicago. If not for interleague play, when would I get a chance to see him in person? Ditto fan favorite Sammy Sosa, who I've only seen once (last year's All-Star Game).

Easy come, easy go. Prior struck out Ichiro leading off the bottom of the first and proceeded to fan ten more Mariners, including Ichiro a second time. By the time he left the game after working seven innings of four-hit, shutout ball, I was mumbling under my breath at Bud Selig's bastard creation. When Sosa and Fred McGriff homered in the sixth and eighth respectively to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead, I was steaming mad at the ridiculous spectacle.

And when Antonio Alfonseca set the Mariners down on 13 pitches in the ninth to earn his tenth save, I was cursing openly at this terrible abomination of a once pure sport. Damn you, interleague play, and the havoc you hath wrought! Had Lou Piniella reverted to his National League managerial roots and attempted a double switch, I might have rushed the field.

It's like this every year, though. For every great match-up between top teams like the Red Sox and Diamondbacks, fans in other cities are treated to the wonder that is the Phillies and the Tigers. Playing in an American League park means both Erubiel Durazo and Mark Grace get to start for Arizona. It also means the Dodgers are forced to start offensive dynamo Dave Hansen as their designated hitter, as happened Friday night. Monday, the Cardinals used Miguel Cairo. You can't make stuff like this up.

As I've written before, I liked interleague play when it first started. Having lived in Seattle all my life, it was excited to see teams like the Dodgers and Rockies come to town with such players as Mike Piazza and Larry Walker. Bravo for the National League West! The promise of rotating divisions each year was exciting as well, though of course we've had to wait until this year for it to actually happen. For me, the wait has been too long, and interleague's appeal is long gone.

Disliking interleague play for its lack of novelty ignores a more important issue of a balanced schedule, or lack thereof. How can you possibly have two clubs -- the Angels and Mariners, for example -- competing for the same American League West title when they don't even play the same schedule over the course of the season?

Sure, this same conundrum exists with the wild card thanks to an unbalanced schedule, but the wild card itself is already such an abomination that the unbalanced schedule is little more than a blemish on an already imperfect landscape.

Then there's the fact that despite changing the interleague schedule around this year, Major League Baseball still can't get things right. Among the Mariners interleague foes this year are San Diego and Colorado. Excuse me, I thought the AL West was matched up against the NL Central this year? Fear not, the Angels have six games with the Dodgers to balance their games with Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Milwaukee.

Perhaps this is just what you get when you match a four-team division up against a six-team division, but hey, that's Major League Baseball for you. I still think expansion to 32 teams is in order, with four, four-team divisions in each league and no wild card, but that's for another time. Besides, I hear Bud Selig might fine me for suggesting the addition -- rather than the contraction -- of two teams.

In short, interleague play has outlived whatever usefulness it may have once had. The arguments against it are numerous, and I haven't even mentioned the unfair punishment of American League clubs when they take their DH-ing ways to National League parks. The arguments for it are... well, I'm not quite certain what the arguments for it are, other than that Selig thinks it generates fan interest, which leads to more money.

I'm not saying it doesn't generate some fan interest. But until they figure out a way to clone Sammy Sosa and involve him in each and every interleague contest, the benefits aren't enough to justify screwing with the schedule any more than it already has been.

about the author

Jason Michael Barker built his home out of baseball books, from Baseball Prospectus to Ball Four to Win Shares. You can huff and you can puff but don't blow his house down at jmb@strikethree.com.

Custom Search