It’s no secret that I don’t like interleague play. It’s a gimmick that throws the schedule into chaos for the sake of letting the Yankees play the Mets six times.
If that’s an exaggeration, it’s only a slight one. The selling point of
interleague play is the eight or nine “natural rivalries” that are
played out each season, with the rest of the interleague schedule built around
them. Whatever nonsense is spread about allowing fans in cities of one league
to see the stars of another is just smoke and mirrors, because in some places,
it will take 30 years for the entire other league to make a visit.
I wouldn’t mind as much if MLB would just admit that interleague play exists
for the natural rivalries. Ratchet it down, make interleague just those games
each year and force everyone else into two matchups built around those two
weekends. MLB would rather sell the idea that interleague is hugely popular,
publishing context-free attendance figures–four of six interleague series are
on the weekend again, all are in June, and the natural rivalries will drive
the attendance gains–as part of the perpetual misinformation campaign.
My bigger problem is with how interleague play screws with the schedule. We
already have a problem in that the heavily unbalanced schedule creates
different paths to the wild-card slot. Now, interleague play creates the
possiblity of a wide gap between the schedules of teams in the same division.
Think it doesn’t matter? The Mets get six games with the Yankees every year;
the Marlins get six with the Devil Rays. If the NL East race stays this close,
that could make a huge difference.
Here’s a breakdown of what the teams still harboring hopes of being relevant
this year will be dealing with over the next three weeks. (Records through
Sunday were used. I got caught up in draft stuff and got this out a bit late.)
AL East Opp. Pct. Non-Common Series Yankees .479 Padres, Diamondbacks, Mets (2) Red Sox .506 Padres, Giants, Phillies, Braves Orioles .478 Diamondbacks, Giants, Braves, Phillies
Pretty similar schedules, as all three teams get a crack at the Rockies, and
there’s not a ton of difference between playing the Mets or the Braves and
Phillies, at least by record. The Red Sox are slightly disadvantaged by
missing the Snakes.
AL Central Opp. Pct. Non-Common Series White Sox .495 Braves, Marlins, Cubs (2) Twins .456 Mets, Diamondbacks, Brewers (2)
Getting the right 1998 expansion team makes most of the difference here. This
is certain to be a good race down to the wire, just as it was last year, and
just as it is each year, the natural-rivalry rule gives an edge to the Twins.
It’s a smaller gap than in past years, but I’d still rather play the Brew Crew
six times than the Cubs.
AL West Opp. Pct. Non-Common Series A's .541 Reds, Cardinals, Cubs, Giants (2) Angels .537 Brewers, Cubs, Astros, Dodgers (2) Rangers .566 Cardinals, Reds, Marlins, Astros (2)
Are you kidding me? Compare the figures for the A’s and Angels to those of the
Yankees and Red Sox, and then decide if the wild-card race is affected by
interleague play. The Rangers’ figure is one of the highest I’ve seen in the
three seasons I’ve looked at this. If they can get through June and still be
above .500, I’ll be very impressed.
NL East Opp. Pct. Non-Common Series Marlins .470 Indians, White Sox, Rangers, Devil Rays (2) Phillies .507 White Sox, Twins, Royals, Red Sox, Orioles Braves .493 White Sox, Royals, Indians, Orioles, Red Sox Mets .529 Twins, Royals, Indians, Yankees (2)
The Marlins play the Devil Rays, the Mets play the Yankees, and the Phillies
and Braves split up their unnatural rivals of the past few years. When the
Mets get good again, they’re going to want to rethink the three home dates
with the Yankees every year. Playoff dates bring in more money.
I didn’t list them above, but I should note that the Expos have an interleague
series in Seattle. Was there any doubt? I mean, there’s just no way that you
could have the Expos get to a million travel miles this year without sending
them entirely across the country for one freaking series. Was there no other
solution for those games? The Expos couldn’t have played, say, the Tigers,
with the Marlins getting shipped to the Northwest? No, that might have been
fair to the Expos.
I’d say someone at MLB should be ashamed, but that ship has sailed.
NL Central Opp. Pct. Non-Common Series Reds .512 A's, Rangers, Indians (2) Cardinals .468 Rangers, A's, Royals, Mariners Astros .521 Mariners, Angels, Rangers (2) Cubs .566 Angels, A's, White Sox (2) Brewers .511 Angels, Mariners, Twins (2)
Should I have listed the entire division? The Pirates have been pretty bad
lately, and every time I watch them, Lloyd McClendon irritates the hell out of
me. (“Runner on second, no one out?” “Bunt!” “Runners
on first and second, no one out, pitcher can’t find the plate?”
“Bunt!” “Can’t find my car keys?” “Bunt!”
“Peace in the Middle East?” “Teach them all to bunt!”)
The Cubs match the Rangers for a historically difficult interleague schedule,
albeit in 12 games instead of 18. They and the Pirates are the only two teams
who play both the Angels and the A’s in interleague. The Cardinals get the
benefit of one traditional series with the Royals and a chance to rekindle
their heated rivalry with the Mariners.
(Aside: the three most random interleague matchups: Mariners/Expos,
Mariners/Cardinals, Twins/Diamondbacks.)
In contrast to the Expos’ schedule, which on a map would look something like
one of those Family Circus comics where Billy runs all over the yard looking
for where the dog buried Bil Keane’s soul, the Brewers had a fun little
weekend. On a day when 18 teams had to travel for their interleague matchups,
when 12 of 16 National League teams had to get on a plane (and two more did so
on Monday), the Brewers had to get all the way to Anaheim…from San Diego.
The Expos get a road trip to Seattle for no apparent reason in the middle of
the worst schedule ever. The Brewers get to traipse about 90 miles on one of
the biggest travel days of the season.
I’m just sayin’…
NL West Opp. Pct. Non-Common Series Padres .434 Yankees, Devil Rays, Mariners, Royals Dodgers .554 Orioles, Yankees, Angels (2) Giants .505 Devil Rays, Orioles, A's (2)
Everybody plays the Red Sox and Blue Jays, but the Padres catch the Devil Rays
and two of the worst teams in the AL while the Dodgers are playing the Orioles
and the Angels. That’s a staggering difference, and one that could help the
Padres take control of the NL West this month.
A vibrant, relevant, challenging regular season is where baseball’s greatness
lies. With every decision in the past decade, the game’s caretakers have moved
it further from that, and closer to the “warmup for the playoffs”
that defines the other sports’ regular seasons. A scheduling gimmick that adds
little to the season but detracts a lot from the fairness of it is perhaps the
nadir of this thought process.
It’s time to dump interleague play, before some team wins a division because
of the ridiculous unfairness it creates.
—
Below, I’ve included everyone’s record through Sunday and their interleague
schedule.
Yankees 35-20 Col, SD, @Ari, @LA, NYM (6) Red Sox 33-23 SD, LA, @Col, @SF, Phi, @Atl Orioles 25-27 Ari, SF, @LA, @Col, Atl, @Phi Blue Jays 25-32 LA, Ari, @SF, @SD, Mon (6) Devil Rays 21-33 SF, Col, @SD, @Ari, Fla (6) White Sox 30-24 Phi, Atl, @Fla, @Mon, Cubs (6) Twins 30-26 NYM, Phi, @Mon, @Ari, Mil (6) Indians 25-29 Fla, @NYM, @Atl, Col, Cin (6) Tigers 25-31 Atl, Fla, @Phi, @NYM, Ari, @Col Royals 20-34 Mon, NYM, @Atl, @Phi, Stl, @SD Angels 33-23 Mil, ChC, @Pit, @Hou, LA (6) A's 31-24 Cin, Pit, @Stl, @ChC, SF (6) Rangers 30-24 Pit, Stl, @Cin, @Fla, Hou (6) Mariners 21-34 Hou, Mon, @Mil, @Pit, SD, @Stl Marlins 32-25 @Cle, @Det, ChW, Tex, TB (6) Phillies 29-26 @ChW, @Min, Det, KC, @Bos, Bal Braves 28-28 @Det, @ChW, KC, Cle, @Bal, Bos Mets 28-28 @Min, @KC, Cle, Det, NYY (6) Expos 18-37 @KC, @Sea, Min, ChW, Tor (6) Reds 34-22 @Oak, Tex, Cle (6) Cardinals 32-24 @Tex, Oak, @KC, Sea Astros 30-25 @Sea, Ana, Tex (6) Cubs 29-26 @Ana, Oak, ChW (6) Brewers 27-27 @Ana, Sea, Min (6) Pirates 24-29 @Tex, @Oak, Ana, Sea Padres 31-25 @Bos, @NYY, TB, Tor, @Sea, KC Dodgers 30-24 @Tor, @Bos, Bal, NYY, Ana (6) Giants 28-28 @TB, @Bal, Tor, Bos, Oak (6) Diamondbacks 22-35 @Bal, @Tor, NYY, TB, @Det, Min Rockies 21-34 @NYY, @TB, Bos, Bal, @Cle, Det
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