Home Run Derby

Every season since 1997, Major League Baseball has had Interleague Play. 

But since the AL and NL have a different number of teams, there’s always a bit of a necessary imbalance when it comes to scheduling.  Add to that the doubling up of games between the geographic rivalries … and you get a Grade A Mess.   There’s always  potential for some contending team to be at a competitive disadvantage to another team in its division … because of the resulting imbalance in strength of schedules. 

Players and managers and owners gripe about it …

What’s not fun is when they’re all contenders and your competition doesn’t have to play the same competition you do.  If you play the top teams in the AL and everybody else doesn’t, it’s pretty unfair.
Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves OF (2007)

The unbalanced schedule is not good for baseball … Some teams are getting a so-called lesser opponent, and other teams are playing powerhouses. 
Art Howe, former Oakland A’s Manager (1999)

I believe in my heart that last year the reason why we didn’t win the division is we didn’t play very well in the Interleague games and the Diamondbacks did.
Dusty Baker, former SF Giants Manager (2003)

I used to be for it, but I’m not for it anymore. It’s too easy for discrepancies
George Steinbrenner, NY Yankees Owner (2003)

Let’s see who gets the shaft this season … based upon 2007 MLB Won-Loss records.  We’ll start in the National League Central …

I think we’re going to hear a lot of bitching this season about the Cubs’ feeble 2008 Interleague schedule. 

2008 Interleague Opponents and their 2007 W/L across the top, combined W/L going down, and scheduled 2008 games in the body.

Despite the NL Central being paired with the AL East in 2008, the Cubs avoid playing both the Red Sox and the Yankees.  Instead they get three series with Tampa, Baltimore, and Toronto plus their rivalry home-and-home with the White Sox (who had a down year last season).  Only 3rd place Toronto had a winning record in 2007.  Cub fans will usually complain about Interleague unfairness, but with the Booyah network’s faves absent from the sked, they should be quiet in 2008.

Meanwhile, the Brewers get a trip to Fenway to play the Red Sox and six rivalry games vs. Minnesota.  Prince Fielder might be a vegetarian, but there’s some meat in that schedule for him.

Houston and Cincinnati both have to play the Red Sox AND the Yankees.  Houston gets off easy after that.  Dusty Baker’s Reds aren’t so lucky … all of Cincy’s Interleague games are against teams with winning records.  They play six games against the Indians.  It’s the most brutal Interleague docket of ANY team in baseball.

St. Louis gets a reprieve and miss a date with the Yankees.  But instead, they get a three-game set in Detroit … so not much of a tradeoff there.  The Cards get their usual pair of rivalry series with the lowly Royals, so don’t expect much complaining about their schedule.

One has to wonder if the MLB schedule makers want the Cubs to make the playoffs and have a shot at breaking that 100-year championship drought. 

With the easiest Interleague schedule in the Major Leagues … you have to ponder if it’s more than mere coincidence.

Other Interleague Inequity posts

• NL East
• NL West

This entry was posted on Friday, February 22nd, 2008 at 6:11 pm and is filed under 2008 MLB, Astros, Brewers, Cardinals, Cubs, Pirates, Reds, Stats. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.