IBC

LEAGUE-SWITCHERS
OF THE WEEK

Uh-oh. Interleague play is back. So here's everything you need to know about the 2008 interleague schedule:

ï TOUGHEST SCHEDULE -- The Reds' 15 interleague games are against the Indians, Red Sox, Yankees and Blue Jays.ï EASIEST SCHEDULE -- The Indians' 18 interleague games are against teams currently a combined 32 games under .500: the Reds, Rockies, Padres, Giants and Dodgers.

ï TEAMS WITH NO "RIVALS" -- Braves, Phillies, Pirates, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Tigers.

ï TEAMS WITH THE STRANGEST "RIVAL" -- Every interleague "rivalry" has a geographic connection except one. That's the Padres and Mariners, conveniently located 1,064 miles apart the last time we checked.

ï NL TEAMS THAT PLAY TEAMS FROM ALL 3 AL DIVISIONS -- Nationals, Marlins, Diamondbacks, Padres, Giants.

ï AL TEAMS THAT PLAY TEAMS FROM ALL 3 NL DIVISIONS -- Red Sox, Yankees, Twins, Royals.

ï MYSTERY WE'D LIKE CLEARED UP -- The AL East is matched up with the NL Central this year. So how come the Cubs don't play either the Red Sox or Yankees?

ï YANKEES-RED SOX INTERLEAGUE CONTROVERSY WAITING TO HAPPEN -- Instead of a matchup against the Cubs, the Yankees get three games against the Padres (currently 11 games under .500). The Red Sox, on the other hand, get three against the Diamondbacks (currently 10 games over .500).

ï BEST INTERLEAGUE ITINERARY -- Between June 2 and July 6, the White Sox have to play only three series on the road. One of them is the grueling journey up Lake Shore Drive to Wrigley.

ï TIME-ZONE TOURISTS -- Thanks to the joys of interleague play, the Indians get to play in all four time zones in just 15 days in June. They'll zigzag through Cleveland (ET), Denver (MT), L.A. (PT) and Chicago (CT).

ï MOST GEOGRAPHICALLY GOOFY INTERLEAGUE ROAD TRIP -- The Nationals go from Pittsburgh to Seattle to Minnesota next month. Hey, anybody in that schedule office got a map?

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/column...page=rumblings

I want to know why the Cardinals also get so many games against the shitty KC Royals? Because of their Rivalry? Lame.

I thought Interleague was gonna be great when I was a younger fan.

Now I wish it would go far far away.

Get back to the balanced schedule.

Way too much money in it. The Giants are drawing 30,000 fans to a game against the White Sox, they definitely would not be drawing 30,000 against any NL West opponent besides the Dodgers.

So is there a solution to scheduling problem?

Balanced interleague schedule?

Can you make interleague happen year round on a balanced schedule?

I know there's a lot of money in it.. And I like the "Battle of Ohio" as much as any Ohio baseball fan. But the scheduling problems are pretty shitty. I kinda think the Reds are at a huge disadvantage compared to some of there other NLC counterparts.

I dont know though, it may not matter. Reds are starting to click a bit.

Looking like perhaps 6 wins in a row, Cliff Lee has given up 4ER so far. Volquez, his usual 1 ER, so far. He's been pretty filthy the last few innings too. Maybe the ALE will catch the Reds at a bad time.

Cards always get 6 vs KC because of the Rivalry.

Reds wrote:So is there a solution to scheduling problem?

Balanced interleague schedule?

Can you make interleague happen year round on a balanced schedule?

I know there's a lot of money in it.. And I like the "Battle of Ohio" as much as any Ohio baseball fan. But the scheduling problems are pretty shitty. I kinda think the Reds are at a huge disadvantage compared to some of there other NLC counterparts.

I dont know though, it may not matter. Reds are starting to click a bit.

Looking like perhaps 6 wins in a row, Cliff Lee has given up 4ER so far. Volquez, his usual 1 ER, so far. He's been pretty filthy the last few innings too. Maybe the ALE will catch the Reds at a bad time.

You certainly could, at least roughly. The unbalanced schedule isn't so much related to interleague play as it is to a desire to jacking up division games, which also make more money. Frankly I'm in favor of any system that maximizes games like Red Sox/Yankees or A's/Giants and minimizes games like Royals/Orioles or Brewers/Nationals.

Yeah I know. Pisses me off quite frankly.

The Reds face 15 games against Murder's Row in the ALE, 3 against a tough CLE team who almost went to the WS last year.

Meanwhile, the Cards - historically over the last decade a much better team than the rest of the NLC - get to pad up to 6 wins in the W column against a KC team - a team as historically bad if not worse than most teams in baseball over the past decade.

I'm not crying foul, but there's something wrong with that. All I'm sayin is I'd like the Cards to play the same ALE teams + KC for 15 games. Balance the schedule, if it can be done.

Since there's an unbalanced number of teams, 1 more in the NL. Can 1 team rotate throughout the season palying their Interleague matchups on a balanced schedule? I dont know - but Interleague sucks the more it goes on. It just gets worse and worse, and the novelty has worn off for me.

So when the Indians were bad was it unfair the Reds had to play them 6 times a year? Was it only fair for the Cardinals in 2003 when the Royals were in contention for the Wild Card until the middle of September? Interstate rivals that played each other in the World Series in one of the most controversial games in MLB history. And last time I checked, the Royals were a pretty good team this year.

Cardinals play 3 games against a Tampa team that's LEADING the AL East. The Reds play the 3rd place team in the Yankees. You must've took some classes at the Bren school of logic