PENNANT RACE BASEBALL VS. INTERLEAGUE PLAY
Today I’m going to take a brief look at the comparision between what Interleague Play does to MLB’s season long schedule and what Pennant Race Baseball might have to offer.
MLB says that the current season is too long and by giving the fans a taste of some local AL/NL rivalries they are giving its fans a better product. A closer examination of this idea will help us to see if it’s true. I’ve looked at the teams that make up MLB’s AL and NL and come up with 8 rivalries that qualify as “local” rivalries. These contests would not be on the schedule if Interleague Play did not exist. They are: STL/KC; WAS/BAL; TB/FLA; OAK/SF; CHW/CHC; NYY/NYM; TEX/HOU; LAA/LAD. That’s 16 teams out of 30. Not bad. But with their 6 meetings, these teams play each other 48 times.
The Interleague portion of MLB’S yearly season lasts 3 weeks. That’s 18 days of baseball; 14 games each day equals 252 games. 48 games is only 19 % of the Interleague games played each year. The rest of the Interleague schedule has little competitive value. Remember, if you’re looking at the impact that Interleague games have on the standing, they are the weakest of three types: a game between division rivals changes that division’s standings by 1 game (the winning team goes 1/2 game up; and the losing team 1/2 game down); a wild card game affects the standings 1/2 game in two divisions in one league; an interleague contest affects two divisions 1/2 game in TWO DIFFERENT LEAGUES.
Here’s something else to consider. If there were Pennant Race Baseball, and MLB consisted of 4/8 team divisions instead of the current 3 divisions, several teams would be playing each other more. Traditional and new regional rivalries would develope from the heat of yearly pennant races. Some of these teams include: PHI/PIT; STL/LAD; SF/CHC; DET/TOR; CIN/NYM; LAA/MIN; TEX/KC; FLA/TB (TB switches from AL East to NL East); BAL/WAS (WAS switches from NL East to AL East; and is again “the Washington Senators”); BOS/MON (Montreal would be an expansion team in the NL East); CLE/NYY; COL/HOU.
MLB’s refusal to consider season-long Pennant Race Baseball makes their season meaningless and boring. It is for this reason that they need the gimmick of “local” rivalries, that amount to nothing more than exhibition games, to increase fan interest. Fans never complained about baseball’s rhythmic (beginning, middle, and end) 162 game season when Pennant Race Baseball was the basis of each and every game. Rivalries that form from exciting pennant race action will quickly result in fans forgetting Interleague Play.
American League
AL East W L GB
- Cleveland 28 18 —
- Boston 28 19 1/2
- New York 30 21 1/2
- Tampa Bay 22 20 4
- Detroit 23 22 4 1/2
- Toronto 27 28 5 1/2
- Baltimore 23 26 6 1/2
- Kansas City 19 22 6 1/2
AL West W L GB
- Texas 20 22 —
- Los Angeles 20 22 —
- Minnesota 17 19 —
- Seattle 21 27 -2
- Oakland 20 26 -2
- Chicago 17 24 -2 1/2
National League
NL East W L GB
- Philadelphia 35 17 —
- Atlanta 32 23 4 1/2
- Florida 26 23 7 1/2
- Pittsburgh 23 21 8
- New York 30 30 9
- Cincinnati 20 21 9 1/2
- Washington 20 26 12
- Houston 13 31 18
NL West W L GB
- Philadelphia 35 17 —
- Atlanta 32 23 4 1/2
- Florida 26 23 7 1/2
- Pittsburgh 23 21 8
- New York 30 30 9
- Cincinnati 20 26 9
- Washington 13 31 12
- Houston 13 31 18
NL West W L GB
- Milwaukee 24 16 —
- San Francisco 29 23 1
- St. Louis 23 22 3 1/2
- Colorado 30 32 5
- Chicago 20 22 5
- Arizona 21 27 7
- Los Angeles 25 33 8
- San Diego 21 30 8 1/2
Yesterday’s National League Results
Yesterday’s Phantom Results
- CLE 5 PIT 2 (11) (Exhibition)
- LAA 7 NYM 3 (Exihibition)
- BAL 7 WAS 4 (Exihibition)
- BOS 12 MIL 3 (Exhibition)
- TB 2 FLA 1 (Exhibition)
- MIN 5 SD 4 (Exhibition)
- DET 9 COL 1 (Exhibition)
- OAK 2 SF 1 (Exhibition)
- CHW 8 ARI 2 (Exhibition)
- SEA 2 PHI 0 (Exhibition)
- NYY 10 CHC 4 (Exhibition)
- CIN 2 TOR 1 (Exhibition)
- ATL 4 TEX 2 (Exhibition)
- STL 5 KC 4 (Exhibition)