2008 Interleague Inequity – NL East
Posted by: Richie Rich in 2008 MLB, Braves, Interleague Play, Marlins, Mets, Nationals, Phillies
Last season, Chipper Jones griped about the inequities of Interleague Play …
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)
Chipper might not be so chipper about interleague play again this season. Because the NL East has another tough road against the AL in 2008 …
| I/L | BAL | BOS | NYY | TOR | TB | KC | MIN | LAA | OAK | SEA | TEX | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEAM | SOS | .426 | .593 | .580 | .512 | .407 | .426 | .488 | .58 | .469 | .543 | .463 |
| ATL | .514 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ||||||
| NYM | .549 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |||||||
| PHI | .523 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ||||||
| FLA | .451 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |||||||
| WAS | .488 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
The Mets can gripe the loudest with their AL opponents averaging .549 (based on 2007 results. Twelve of their fifteen AL matchups are against winning teams. The Yankees have a 35-25 series advatage, but it’s been split evenly the past three seasons.
The Phillies also have it tough, because for some reason the Red Sox are playing at Citizens’ Bank instead of Wrigley Field. The AL West Champ Angels loom, but at least those games are at Philly. This could have been a lot worse for the Phils.
The Braves get a trip through the AL West and the Great White North.This is what the I/L schedule should look like for all teams. Play the division you’re up against, and one extra series. It could have been a lot worse for Chipper this season.
Washington and Florida get off easy by merits of their rivalry series against lowly Baltimore and Tampa Bay, respectively. But Washington plays three more Interleague games than anyone else in the division. Florida has a cakewalk (Seattle being the only winning team that the Fish will face in Interleague). Then again, maybe Tampa has the cakewalk.
There’s an imbalance here, but the contenders all have a tough road. Thanks to the Yankees, the Mets have the toughest schedule … but the Phillies and Braves have interleague challenges of their own. Somehow the projected also-rans of the division got soft schedules. Did the NFL schedule the NL East?
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