As interleague play begins we get to see some fun matchups over the weekend and those of us who follow only one team, get to see different teams play. We get to see pitchers who (really) can’t hit, hit. We get to see pitchers who can (Sabathia) hit. Fans in Boston get to see Cubbie blue on the field for the first time in 93 years. What’s not to like? Attendance rises, excitement builds, and the old argument over which league is better rages on. But, the purists hate interleague play. They say it ruins the competition and makes everything unfair. To them, I say “Are you serious??!!! Go home and don’t speak until I say it’s ok. At which point, if you say anything stupid, you will lose talking privilege for a long time.” I know it’s a mouthful but, let me explain why I say this and why those purists shouldn’t speak up on this one.
The argument goes that the current system hurts certain teams who rely heavily on their DH to produce. The White Sox will be without Adam Dunn for a few games, unless Ozzie opts to put the Big Donkey in the outfield. Poor White Sox. They can still compete without this guy for a few games against teams who have the same number of hitters in the game. When the White Sox made the decision to sign Dunn, they knew he couldn’t play defense and they knew there would be a few interleague games where he would not get to play so how’s that unfair to anyone?
Count Tiger’s Manager Jim Leyland among those who don’t like interleague play. Leyland said, “We play with the DH rules. The American League gets penalized, even though the record’s been decent over the years. We get penalized.” Leyland’s argument is over the 6 games that his team will play in National League ballparks. It’s a somewhat fair argument that Leyland’s pitchers have not been hitting all year but, the combined batting average for pitchers so far is .136. So while pitchers in the National League are more prepared when they step into the box, its not like they fair too well.
The “Natural Rivals” is dumb. I get that the schedule makers want to see Yankees-Mets, or Cubs-White Sox but what’s the appeal of Minnesota-Arizona? It’s unfair to play the same good teams every year while other teams don’t have to play those teams. If San Francisco gets paired up with the Royals every year while the Rockies have to play the Rangers, the division race is not exactly fair. I understand that, and the purists want a balanced schedule, but shouldn’t they also want a balanced schedule all year where teams play everyone an equal number of times rather than playing “divisional” opponents 19 times a year. That’s the true injustice: divisional matchups.
We all know the argument as to why the AL East should be broken up. The Sox and Yankees dominate every year and leave teams like the Blue Jays, and Orioles with nothing to do but argue over who gets to finish in second to last. There’s no consistency in the schedule as is. So why do these purists think interleague play is to blame? Attendance would probably go up if the Braves didn’t have to play 9 home games every year against the Nationals. Fans get bored of seeing teams like the Nationals come to town every weekend (sorry guys, just the truth).
Interleague play is not to blame unfair competition over 162 game schedule. Each team plays about 9 interleague games. Let’s compare that with the 95 games the Cubs play against their division this year. Is the interleague schedule stupid and unfair? Yes, The Reds will play 15 games against AL teams that currently have a winning record. That’s nine more than the Cardinals. Is the regular schedule also unfair? Absolutely. Look purists, stop complaining about something being unfair and go out, sack up, compete, and try to take advantage of whatever “disadvantage” you may have.
The fact remains, the schedule won’t be fair until every team plays every other team an equal amount. Until that happens, baseball will be unfair. But baseball is still not a fair game. Just ask the guy who lined out 4 times yesterday.
Stat of the Day: Padres bullpen catcher Justin Hatcher needed two shots of penicillin last weekend — after getting bit by a squirrel in the bullpen at Coors Field.
-Sean Morash
