The fact that there are so few of them that their names, and performances that are exceptional only for not being horrible, come to mind speaks for itself.
No, I wouldn’t rush back to the TV from a potty break to watch Micah Owings at bat, either.
kaylasdad99:
And they do that for whose gratification? Purely their own? Or to provide entertainment to paying customers, i.e., fans?
I’m good with a return to the 1969 borders.
That’ll take care of the “lights at Wrigley Field” problem, too.
You’re the congregant.
Think of the DH rule as Vatican II, Bud Selig as the False Pope, and me as a sedevacantist.
It’s real.
Since interleague play began in 1997, the Cardinals have played the Royals 66 times. They’ve played the Rangers exactly three times.
If baseball is a religion, interleague play is the Mass with folk music.
Sure they do. Ok, I admit that I thought the stats were a bit better (I assumed all had .200+ averages, for example), but I’ll wager if you take 5-7 of the best years the pitcher had on the mound, you might see better figures. If they are over the Mendoza line (.200), they were as productive as many shortstops in the league.
And look at wise and robinsons power numbers. 5 homers a year average on what, 150-200 plate appearance? That’s pretty respectable. Most of those skinny shortstops could never hit 5 in a season.
Look, I picked those pitchers out of my ass, 30 year old stats that they are. Maybe a better example would be Fernando. He was a great hitter when he first came in the league… I’m going to look his stats because the longer he pitched, the worse his hitting became, I’m sure.
I’m a bit mixed on this one.
I have no problem with them currently counting in the standings. The argument that teams can have advantages over others is simply bogus. If the red sox and Yankees are fighting for first place, and the difference is one game, don’t whine to me about skewed schedules. You’ll never have balance, unless each team plays each other team under the exact same circumstances, including same pitchers, Line-ups, weather, day vs. Night, etc. The parameters are endless.
As a baseball fan, I enjoy seeing the Pirates play American league teams. However, this is the one thing that used to make the world series special, so I wouldn’t mind seeing it go back to the way it was. Playing the other league was the reward for being the champions of your league. That is gone now.
There are a few series that I do like, like the ny and chicago series. Maybe sf. And Oakland. Dodgers and angels. But that’s about it. The other match ups could go away tomorrow. The pirates dontnreally have a natural rivalry in the AL, and most teams are like this. I’d pick the orioles for the Pirates, but the league would put the O’s with the Nats, and probably stick the Pirates with the Indians.
So if given a vote, I’d probably vote to get rid of it.
I could have sworn there was seven games played in 2011 alone…
Interleague play is REGULAR SEASON!!! :rolleyes: Or are you (as I suspect) being intentionally dense/dickish?
Fuck the fans. The stats are all that matter. Which is why I love Nate Silver.
The Browns used to have a pre-season double header every year. It was four different teams though. The first one (claimed to be the first pro-football double header) was in 1962 and featured Detroit against Dallas and Pittsburgh against Cleveland. They had one every year through 1971 and sold out every year I think. The stadium held about 80,000 for football.
I once covered a youth league baseball game that included an unusual variation that they called an “extra hitter.” It was basically a designated hitter that was tacked onto the batting order instead of replacing someone in the order. I remember being a little irked because I had whipped up some forms to do the scoring that included the usual nine slots for batters, and now I discovered that I needed a tenth slot for this crazy “extra hitter” thing.
kunilou:
Sure, because there’s a perception - very possibly a correct one - that fans will flock to see local (or, failing that ability, broader-regional) rivalry games more than any other type of interleague matchup. And three times certainly beats the zero times that they played them in the prior 25 years.
I’m not saying that they’ve found the perfect way to distribute interleague games yet, I’m just saying that exposing all the stars to all the fans in some manner is better entertainment business than half the stars being entirely denied to most of the fans (those who don’t live in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, or the Bay Area, and aren’t able to travel much).
I disagree that an unbalanced schedule featuring stronger teams from the other league is the same as having an unbalanced schedule featuring strong teams from within your own division. The Red Sox and Yankees are directly battling for a playoff spot. One can take a spot from the other. It makes sense they would face each other more often. Such is not the case with the Yankees/Mets or Red Sox/Phillies.
Bolding mine. The total difference is 3 games where the Yankees played the weak Mets, the Rays played the even weaker Marlins and the Sox played the much stronger Phillies. Three games is huge in an MLB season.
That’s not a doubleheader. A doubleheader is where two teams play a game; then when it’s over, they play another one.
[Moderating]
This is not the Pit. Personal attacks aren’t tolerated here. Tone it down, please.
No warning.
Thanks,
RickJay
Moderator
no question.
but there are a couple of problems with your particular example.
The Mets and Yankees play every year, I believe. This is demanded by the fans and the league, I suppose gives in. Its a revenue generator, that’s for sure. And the Mets are usually one of the top 5 or so teams in the league vis-a-vis spending, so on paper, at least, the Mets should be pretty good. No argument from me that they stunk, but the schedules are made up before the season starts, and they can’t simply account for injuries, rainouts, changes to pitching rotations, etc.
And didn’t the Pirates take 2 of 3 or 3 of 3 from the Red Sox last year before the all-star break? That had to be an interleague series the red sox were looking forward to, and they were beat by the worst interleague team in history.
So, sorry… the moral of my story is it really doesn’t matter to me. You handle your business on the field, you will be fine. And if the Yankees-Mets rivalry chaps your ass, you should complain to the league. I think it’s a valid complaint, and if enough people pointed out what you have, maybe the Yankees and Mets would cancel their interleague games every year. (don’t hold your breath)
My apologies, 
The second adjective was over the line. :o
While I tend to agree with you, they always billed it as a double header just as the networks now bill those Sunday back-to-back broadcasts as double headers and those aren’t even in the same city. It was two games for one admission charge.