Friday, June 30, 2006

Interleague Play

For the past several days, the Major League Baseball schedule has included interleague play. For you non sports fans, let me explain. There are two leagues in baseball. The National League and the American League. There are some differences. The American League does not have the pitchers hit. They use what is called a Designated Hitter. He is a guy that all he does is hit. I have heard Derek Jeter joke that he would go back in the clubhouse and grab some Chicken Parm in between innings when he was a DH.

The National League of course has the pitchers hit. Due to this, the leagues have evolved into different styles of baseball. The American League has more raw power and the National League uses more of what is called "small ball." Small ball may include stealing bases more, bunting more, and using more hit and run situations.

When I first heard that the owners approved a plan for interleague play, about 10 years ago, I was somewhat excited. I was thinking about the times when I lived in Western Pennsylvania and wasn't able to see the Yankees play the Pittsburgh Pirates, and how it would be neat to experience that. I thought also of the regional rivalries...specifically the Yankees and Mets, the Cubs and White Sox, etc. However, what has failed to happen is that new rivalries have not developed. Who care is the Florida Marlins play the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, or Cleveland Indians vs Pittsburgh Pirates? Cleveland and Pittsburgh hate each other's football teams, but as far as baseball goes there is not much enthusiasm in regards to baseball.

If you have followed the last round of interleague play, the National League has been killed! The Boston Red Sox killed the New York Mets, and the Yankees are winning against the Mets tonight as I type this. It is 2-0 at the 7th Inning stretch. I heard on a radio show that a New York sports host was in Boston for the Red Sox/Mets series, and was asked by a fan to "bring the team from New York that CAN play next time!"

I would be interested in knowing what people think of this thing we call Interleague play.

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

You know what I think about interleague.Funny that you mention seeing the Yankees play the Pirates. Sadly this hasn't happened in Pittsburgh yet. It happened in New York last summer, but never once in Pittsburgh. It should have happened 2-3 years ago, but the Yanks didn't come out this way because of the Subway Series. What a joke. The Yankees playing the Pirates would have been great for the city of Pittsburgh and would have generated a great deal of money for the Pirates organization in that three or four game set. However, MLB was more concerned with the Subway Series. And now, I won't be able to see a few of my Yankees play in Pittsburgh for the first time when the All-Star game rolls around. Now if they had a balanced interleague schedule...I would have had that opportunity by now, and believe me, I would've been at least one of the games...if not more. I'll just have to remind Jeet and the rest of our All-Stars to make sure they try a Primanti Bros. Sandwich when I see them in Cleveland on Thursday.

BTW--Marlins beat those Sox. No more 12 game win streak. Thank you Joe Girardi...and Dontrelle Willis.

Friday, June 30, 2006 10:45:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was so wrapped up in my mini-rant that I forgot to add this...

The Met's may be playing well right now for the most part, despite their recent poor play in interleague games. But, we both know that the Yankees are THE New York team. And statistics given within the past few months show that the majority of New Yorkers agree with this sentiment.

If Bud is so concerned with helping the middle and small market clubs as he claims to be...then they should play a balanced schedule.

Friday, June 30, 2006 10:49:00 PM  
Blogger Christian said...

Tracy,

I agree with the economic benefits of having the Yankees play in Pittsburgh. When they played a few games in DC last week, they drew the highest crowd ever for baseball at RFK Stadium.

The Subway series is getting old. I lost a lot of interest in it after the Yanks beat the Mets in 5 games in the 2000 World Series.

The bottom line is that MLB, Fox Sports and some of the owners want the dollars associated with Interleague game. You know that Joe Buck and Tim McCarver will be at the Stadium tomorrow for a nationally televised game. Let's hope they leave Scooter to die on the Hard drive of the producers computer!

Say hello to the Yanks next week for me. If Jay was there you might have a chance to get a bat from Jorge!

Friday, June 30, 2006 10:54:00 PM  
Blogger Dave said...

Interleague adds a different dimension to the season...it acts somewhat as a wild-card in the won-lost equation. One can win but not make any headway because it is not in one's league.

One of the things I like most is seeing how each team adjusts their normal strategy when in the other other's park. We see it in the World Series but that is just two teams at the top of their mountains once a year. It is nice when we see the other teams partake in the adjustments as it adds fuel to debate as to which league is better.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006 10:47:00 PM  

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