MLB: Interleague Too Much

There are plenty of critics out there who don’t like the baseball season being so long. They say 162 games is much too long. It causes each and every game to be rendered practically meaningless. And, in truth, it’s really only the die hard fans who watch each and every game that their team plays.

But you know what? I like the 162 games. I like the grind of it all. I like the steady march toward September and October. But you know what I don’t like? Interleague play. Well, I don’t like how many interleague games are played.

I understand that New York gets excited when the Yankees play the Mets. I know the Cubs and the White Sox like to play each other. So do the California teams.

But the rest of baseball doesn’t care to play teams outside their league. And, in actuality, playing teams from the opposite league actually makes each of the games even less meaningful. Plus, it causes unfair advantages and disadvantages.

Some teams have to play really good teams from the other league, while other teams play really bad teams. And the overall advantage has to go to the National League since pitchers have to hit when the games are in the National League parks. National League hitters are better hitters because they do it every fifth day. And National League managers are more accustomed to managing with the pitchers hitting.

Look, I kinda like a few interleague games. But here we are smack in the middle of interleague play, and i’m sick of it. It just isn’t baseball. It’s not traditional baseball. And every reason why I love the 162 game season is just about the reason why I hate interleague play. It’s just not right. And, again, it makes the games even less meaningful, which is exactly what baseball doesn’t need to do.