Since interleague play was introduced back in 1997, there has been discussion about whether it's a good thing or a bad thing.
To be truthful, I have mixed emotions for all the same reasons that some people love it and others hate it.
I like that you get to see teams and players that you haven't seen before. For example, this year the Cardinals fans got to see Ichiro last week when they faced the Mariners. The St. Louis fans haven't seen this amazing hitter play live before, and they may never see him again in their city.
Interleague play also creates opportunities for players who switch leagues to face their former team, like Manny Rodriquez did this year, now playing for the Dodgers but he was back in Fenway for the first time since he left the Red Sox in 2008.
Some of the match ups are competitive and fun for fans, like the Subway series between the Yankees and the Mets and the Freeway series between the Dodgers and the Angels. There is also the potential for the most recent World Series teams to meet in a re-match.
But, on the negative side, some match ups that might seem intriguing for fans, are really not. Like the Cardinals playing the Royals. In my opinion, this is not the exciting series that MLB schedulers think it is. Yes, these teams met in the 1985 World Series that many believe was decided on a controversial call in the Royals favor, but that was 25 years go. If there really was a rivalry, it's long over. And, unfortunately, mostly due to their payroll, the Royals are rarely in contention for a play-off spot, while the Cardinals are usually at or near the top of their division. So, these series doesn't usually yield high drama.
Other purists have argued that teams from each league should not face each other in the regular season at any time before the World Series. It should be the best in the National League facing the best in the American League at only one time of the year, during the World Series.
Then there is the matter of the designated hitter. Ok, that's a whole discussion unto itself if you ask me, but for the purpose of debating interleague play, let's just say that the American league players dislike interleague play because their pitchers might get hurt swinging a bat, when they haven't done it before. The National league players could care less about their opponents pitcher getting hurt and simply see an easy out when an American league pitchers comes to bat.
If you look at other sports, like the NBA and the NFL, they have interconference play and no one seems to debate it. In the NBA, the teams that meet in the Championship series will have faced each other earlier in the season as all teams play opponents in their own conference as well as all of the teams in the other conference. In the NFL, AFC teams play NFC teams during the regular season.
So if I had to make a decision, I guess I am in favor of interleague play, IF it's done right, with a good interleague schedule that allows a sensible rotation of teams and IF it doesn't detract from the key match-ups within each division.
Discuss.
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