Once again interleague baseball is underway, and once again the complaints are flying left and right over scheduling issues. From the so-called experts at ESPN to some of the managers in the ballclubs, for another year the appeal of interleague play is dying amongst the players, although the fans never seem to get enough of it. Attendance always goes up during these matches, because they offer something out of the ordinary in the year. For example, instead of the Yankees playing the same division rivals, they now get to play the Los Angeles Dodgers of the National League for a couple of games. But the scheduling complaints continue.
Directly from ESPN’s Jayson Stark:
1) The Dodgers play 12 of their 15 interleague games against teams that made the playoffs last year (Yankees, Red Sox, Angels) -- and the other three games against a team (the Tigers) that didn't get knocked out until the 163rd game. Some fun.
2) The Red Sox play home-and-home with the Phillies, make trips to Colorado and San Francisco, and play 12 games against last year's playoff field.
3) The Phillies play 12 games against last year's playoff teams, 15 games against teams that currently have a winning record and nine games against the Red Sox (six) and Yankees (three), while three of the other four teams in their division play no games against those two juggernauts.
4) The Reds dodge the entire 2009 playoff field, and their five interleague series are against teams (Cleveland, Kansas City, Seattle, Oakland) that are currently a combined 42 games under .500.
5) The Rangers also play zero games against last year's playoff teams and zero games against teams that currently have a winning record -- a significantly easier schedule than either the Angels or A's.
6) Besides series with the Blue Jays and Rays, the Padres' other nine interleague games are against Seattle and Baltimore (46 games under .500). Compare that to the current record of the interleague opponents of the Rockies (23 over) and Dodgers (40 over). And the Giants have to play 12 of their 15 interleague games against the Red Sox, Blue Jays and A's.
I shall admit this now, Mr. Stark has a few good points. However, here’s my counter-argument. The season (despite complaints) is 162 games. Check that again, 162 games a season. This isn’t the NFL and their meager 16 games or the NBA and their better-done 82 games. A mere one-tenth of their season involves interleague play. And here is the other kicker, the teams with tougher schedules are higher-profile, high-winning teams. When you are the top, the schedule becomes tougher, and this is truth with every single professional sport, and extends to the NCAA. Of course the recent champs of their division and/or league is going to have it a bit tougher than lower-profile teams with mediocre records the season before (Sorry Reds). It has always been this way.
Interleague play has never destroyed a team’s chances of making the postseason since its so early in the year. After interleague play is done for example, there is still an entire half of baseball to play to catch up in the standings. So, even if some teams get a little more shafted in interleague, guess what, there is still a lot more baseball to play. Nonetheless, I am going to make a proposal to Major League Baseball that they are never going to read. For starters, the inter-state rivalries should continue, because the biggest numbers are drawn from those games (Yankees/Mets, Marlins/Rays, White Sox/Cubs, Athletics/Giants, Reds/Indians, Dodgers/Angels).
Here is where the schedule is going to differ. 12 games out of the year, we should run on a totally random lottery system exactly like the NBA Draft, except removing all the odds. In my opinion, with this random lottery, the playing field is totally level and gives everyone an equal shot for a decent schedule. All the small market teams have an equal chance of taking on the Yankees. Two ways to maneuver this lottery:
1) One team moves to the American League, so each league has 15 teams each (I propose the Milwaukee Brewers, which I am not mistaken has history in the American League. They would move to the American League Central)
2) We draw from each side, and the two remaining teams in the National League We draw three lottery series, as each team in the series gets two games at home each.
So I decided to do a mock lottery system to pick out the first Lottery Series of the 2012 Baseball Season. This is exciting. Here we go:
1) Red Sox vs. Giants
2) Rays vs. Pirates
3) Angels vs. Diamondbacks
4) Indians vs. Astros
5) Blue Jays vs. Brewers
6) Royals vs. Dodgers
7) Mariners vs. Reds
8) Athletics vs. Marlins
9) Twins vs. Nationals
10) Yankees vs. Braves
11) Rangers vs. Rockies
12) Tigers vs. Mets
13) Cubs vs. White Sox (oops)
14) Padres vs. Orioles
15) Non-Interleague: Phillies vs. Cardinals
Repeat process three times. Now, each team gets two home games against the opponent. That’s 4 games a series, and 12 games total. Add the inter-state rivalries, team rivalries, and World Series rematch and we have nearly the whole bulk of the interleague schedule without much potential of unfairness. And, extra Cubs/White Sox games. We all win, right?
Round 2
1) Mariners vs. Cubs
2) Nationals vs. Rangers
3) Indians vs. Diamondbacks (Funny story, originally it was Yankees vs. Braves again)
4) Padres vs. Angels
5) Braves vs. As
6) Orioles vs. Brewers
7) Dodgers vs. White Sox
8) Mets vs. Rays
9) Yankees vs. Giants
10) Royals vs. Phillies
11) Tigers vs. Rockies
12) Blue Jays vs. Reds
13) Twins vs. Marlins
14) Red Sox vs. Cardinals
15) Astros vs. Pirates
Now for those complaining that these series are no good, guess what, the solution would be for MLB to construct the schedules, which would lead to better-looking games, but back to the unfairness that was the original basis for complaining in the very beginning of the article. So your pick is this: do you allow the tougher teams to gain their tougher schedules, or do you revert to a lottery system? Or, do you ultimately destroy interleague play altogether? Me, personally, I prefer a lottery system mixed in with some scheduled rivalry games made by MLB. But hey, what do I know? I just watch the game.
Bottom Line: Schedule complainers, shut up. As long as the attendance numbers remain high, we shall keep the interleague play. While some complain over the loss of magic concerning the AL not meeting the NL until the All-Star Game and the World Series; this inter-league competition happens in the NFL all the time and look how well they are doing. Interleague was a great idea, and can become even better and more unpredictable with a lottery system. And with this lottery system, the smaller market teams all have an even shot at gaining home games against America’s favorite teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies, Dodgers, and Cubbies. The tough schedules occur not just in baseball, but in allllllll professional leagues.
With my idea, the Nationals one day can actually host the Yankees and the Royals could host the Phillies in the same exact year.
Just a suggestion though.
Sources:
Wikipedia
ESPN.com
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