Recently a few managers have come out against interleague play, stating the uniqueness has worn off, and that interleague play is tired.\u00c2\u00a0 I disagree.\u00c2\u00a0 I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s great that some interleague \u00e2\u20ac\u0153traditions\u00e2\u20ac\u009d have stuck around, like Cubs\/White Sox, A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\/Giants, and Marlins\/Rays.\u00c2\u00a0 Ok, so maybe Marlins\/Rays isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the most exciting matchup, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still the battle of Florida.\u00c2\u00a0 What is tired is when there are matchups like Tigers\/Rockies, Nationals\/Mariners, or Twins\/Astros.\u00c2\u00a0 These teams have nothing against each other, they have no history.\u00c2\u00a0 Blue Jays\/Nationals might have some appeal, as the battle of Canada versus the team America stole.\u00c2\u00a0 But really, the rotating games don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have appeal except for the ability to see your team play in a ballpark you might not normally visit.\u00c2\u00a0 I was able to travel to Pittsburgh to see the Tigers and Pirates battle it out.\u00c2\u00a0 I had been to Pittsburgh before, but being able to see my team in an NL park was special.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d feel the same way if the Tigers played the Dodgers.\u00c2\u00a0 I haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been to Dodger stadium yet, and one day I will, but it would be great to see my team there.<\/p>\n
So let me get to my point.\u00c2\u00a0 My point is, interleague play can still be exciting for the fans, and can keep the managers in the game with a few tweaks. \u00c2\u00a0First, pair off the teams for a rivalry.\u00c2\u00a0 Those are listed below.\u00c2\u00a0 These should be a home and home series every year<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 Feel free to argue the matchups, but I think they fit fairly well.\u00c2\u00a0 Most of these matchups are already in place.\u00c2\u00a0 Wikipedia provided some info that I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t aware of, like Seattle and San Diego playing a home-and-home series every year.<\/p>\n Natural Rivalries:<\/strong><\/p>\n White Sox vs. Cubs; Reds v. Indians; Dodgers v. Angels; Yankees v. Mets; Giants v. A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s; Cardinals v. Royals; Astros v. Rangers; Marlins v. Rays; Orioles v. Nationals<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Created\/Historic Rivalries:<\/strong><\/p>\n Blue Jays v. Phillies-Why not?\u00c2\u00a0 Joe Carter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s walk-off home run in 1993 provided one of the more dramatic moments in World Series history.<\/p>\n Red Sox v. Braves- Former Boston versus current Boston.\u00c2\u00a0 Imagine the throwback uniforms these two teams could wear.<\/p>\n Twins v. Brewers- According to Wiki, this series occurs already because of their AL rivalry back in the day, so we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll keep it.<\/p>\n Tigers v. Pirates- These are two of the most historic teams in baseball, so why not?\u00c2\u00a0 The alternative is to swap with the Cards\/Royals matchup.\u00c2\u00a0 Tigers\/Cards is a very nice historic rivalry (see 1968 and 2006).\u00c2\u00a0 Then, we could create the Cocaine Series of Royals\/Pirates.\u00c2\u00a0 Ok maybe that wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go over so well\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.We could call it the battle of the small market teams instead?<\/p>\n Mariners v. Padres- These two teams share a spring training complex and already have the series, so why take it away?\u00c2\u00a0 Another option would be Mariners\/Brewers, since the Pilots moved from Seattle to Milwaukee to become the Brewers.\u00c2\u00a0 But that would leave Twins\/Padres, which really has no rivalry feeling to it.<\/p>\n That leaves Arizona and Colorado without a rival.\u00c2\u00a0 They are already NL West rivals so let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s keep that going.\u00c2\u00a0 The other option would be to add another rivalry for Arizona and have them play Tampa Bay in the 1998 Expansion Team battle.\u00c2\u00a0 Then, Colorado could play an extra few series against Florida in the 1993 Expansion Battle.\u00c2\u00a0 But really, that gives the Rays and the Marlins an extra rival each, while historic teams like the Yankees only get one?\u00c2\u00a0 So, Arizona and Colorado might get screwed out of a rivalry, but they can rival each other.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure it screws up some tiebreakers, but that isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the point of this argument.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about creating matchups the fans can get behind.<\/p>\n Second, and the most major point, is change the rules for interleague play.\u00c2\u00a0 The novel idea of interleague play is seeing teams that you wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t normally see, so why not see a game you wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t normally see?\u00c2\u00a0 I say, if the game is in an AL park, eliminate the DH and have the pitcher bat.\u00c2\u00a0 If the game is in an NL park, give them the DH.\u00c2\u00a0 Fans might embrace interleague play more if there is something different about the game.\u00c2\u00a0 And think about how the mangers would respond?\u00c2\u00a0 This would be a move all about the fans.\u00c2\u00a0 Imagine going to Yankee Stadium and watching CC Sabathia hit.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, you can see this when the Yanks and Mets are at Citi, if CC pitches, but think about being a fan in your home park watching this.\u00c2\u00a0 Cub fans love when Carlos Zambrano pinch hits, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a novelty that a pitcher is a pinch hitter.\u00c2\u00a0 But image Big Z as a DH.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not that unique to Cub fans watching Big Z come to the plate, but think about being in Wrigley cheering your AL team and having the opponents bat their pitcher as a DH.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, this sort of stuff can happen in interleague now, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about being home and watching something different.\u00c2\u00a0 Baseball has many issues that need to be addressed, but if I ran baseball, this would be the first issue to fix; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a no-brainer and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s simple to do.\u00c2\u00a0 Bring me a pitcher batting to Comerica Park!\u00c2\u00a0 Think of it as this:\u00c2\u00a0 the Yankees invade Citi field, with their own rules.<\/p>\n So why not do either of these?\u00c2\u00a0 If you institute the DH at NL parks for interleague games, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something different for the fans to witness.\u00c2\u00a0 The rivalry is fun and I think in some cities it would take on the significance of Red Sox\/Yanks, and Cubs\/Cards.\u00c2\u00a0 This just might make interleague play more exciting.\u00c2\u00a0 I get the argument that putting a DH in an NL city goes against tradition, but interleague play goes against tradition, doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Recently a few managers have come out against interleague play, stating the uniqueness has worn off, and that interleague play is tired.\u00c2\u00a0 I disagree.\u00c2\u00a0 I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s great that some interleague \u00e2\u20ac\u0153traditions\u00e2\u20ac\u009d have stuck around, like Cubs\/White Sox, A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\/Giants, and Marlins\/Rays.\u00c2\u00a0 Ok, so maybe Marlins\/Rays isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the most exciting matchup, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still the battle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":709,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2703,524,1897,5425,532,14807,14808,14809,3266,4405,3870,463,1917,458,11110,1578,2752,14810,5255,1108,14811,74],"class_list":["post-14459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-blue-jays","tag-cardinals","tag-cubs","tag-dodger-stadium","tag-dodgers","tag-dramatic-moment","tag-joe-carter","tag-mangers","tag-mariners","tag-matchup","tag-matchups","tag-nationals","tag-orioles","tag-phillies","tag-rivalries","tag-rivalry","tag-royals","tag-team-america","tag-team-play","tag-tigers","tag-uniqueness","tag-white-sox"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t