Interleague Play: Good or Bad?

[smoovethug]

Good for the fans because they get to see players and situations that they won't normally get to see. I'm excited about seeing Verlander tomorrow and Sabathia when the Phils go to Cleveland. It was exciting to see Thome's return to Philly. It's fan-friendly and gives fans who otherwise could care less, a reason to tune in or buy a ticket to go see a game.

Bad for baseball because of the unevenness. Outside of the "natural rivalry" the matchups are pretty arbitrary and some could even say unfair. Phils play KC, while the Mets play the Yanks?

[Tavish]

i mean, while the mets are playing the yanks, the phils are playing the royals. doesnt sound too fair to me. thoughts?

Are you talking about the Royals that took 2 of 3 from the Phils?

[Ursa]

Outside of the "natural rivalry" the matchups are pretty arbitrary and some could even say unfair. Phils play KC, while the Mets play the Yanks?

Again with the unfairness. I flat out do not get this - how is playing a three game series any more "unfair" than NY and Boston playing the weak Tampa Bay 18 times each??? Is the AL East "fair" when it is a stone cold guarantee that one of those two teams will win it 95% of the time, no question?

[jswede]

Again with the unfairness. I flat out do not get this - how is playing a three game series any more "unfair" than NY and Boston playing the weak Tampa Bay 18 times each??? Is the AL East "fair" when it is a stone cold guarantee that one of those two teams will win it 95% of the time, no question?

When discussing IL those who oppose talk about the "bad" or "boring" matchups. Or even that "there's no rivalry - they shouldn't be playing". There's plenty of bad and boring matchups within the leagues and within the divisions that make IL plenty interesting for me. Seeing a rematch of the 1912 RSox/Giants WS with Barry 1st time at Fenway this weekend is great, for example. A hell of a lot better than yet another RSox series with Tampa or Baltimore.

[Snakes Gould]

Outside of the "natural rivalry" the matchups are pretty arbitrary and some could even say unfair. Phils play KC, while the Mets play the Yanks?

Again with the unfairness. I flat out do not get this - how is playing a three game series any more "unfair" than NY and Boston playing the weak Tampa Bay 18 times each??? Is the AL East "fair" when it is a stone cold guarantee that one of those two teams will win it 95% of the time, no question?

because the yankees and red sox are are in the same division. they should play the same teams, the same amount of times. with the phillies and mets in the same division, they should play the same teams, the same amount of times. thats what im talking about.


and yes, the royals not only took 2 outta 3, but stomped us pretty good doing it.

[dclark0699]

I could like it with some changes.

If you are going to do interleague play...just have one division play another division. So every team in the division plays the same teams. The only problem with this is the NL Central (6 Teams) and the AL West (4 Teams)...but it could be worked around.

[bluejkrew]

Interleague play sells tickets, so it's great for baseball in that sense. I'm sure they'll eventually find a way to make the schedule more even for teams in the same divisions. AL teams should learn how to play without a DH (and vice versa), cuz they'll need to in the WS anyways so the experience is good for them.

[os_gamejunkie]

Interleague play sucks. I don't care what anyone says, it favors the national league. When teams play in the A.L. park, the N.L. team gets to add a DH. Don't tell me that N.L. teams don't have at least one really good bat on the bench that each manager wishes could be in the lineup everyday-so playing in an A.L. park shouldn't hurt an N.L. team. But, playing in an N.L. park does hurt an A.L. team. Firstly, A.L. pitchers now have to bat-a skill they don't work on as much as N.L. pitchers do, if at all. Secondly, the A.L. team now has to take a starting bat out of the lineup. In some cases, this is an A.L. team's best or near best bat. For example: If Cleveland plays in an N.L. park, Travis Hafner has to ride the pine or he has to play 1st base. Either way, Cleveland loses because either Hafner sits or he brings his 2nd rate glove to the field. There are many other examples like this. True interleague play takes place in the world series.

You can say interleague sucks, but your reasoning is wrong. Sometimes is benefits a NL team sometime is doesn't. Most of the time a bad NL team will DH their best player and put a defensive replacement in the lineup instead. Also, just because a pitcher plays in the NL doesn't mean they can. Some are good and some are not regardless. Zambrano and Willis are good, Randy Johnson is not. In fact, I think Sabathia had a 2-hit game this year.

[bravesfan42]

I like interleague play. Let the fans see some different matchups.

[Syler]

I actually like interleague play. I, as a Mets fan, like seeing guys I don't usually see like Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, and tonight, Johan Santana(Egh).... What I don't like is that the Mets play Oakland while no one else in our division plays an AL West team