It's Not Special Anymore

As many of you know, I'm not a big fan of interleague baseball games. Back in 1997, there was supposedly a big "clamor" for it by baseball fans all over America, as said by commissioner Bud Selig. (I didn't know one fan who was dying to see it happen.) He talked about these "surveys" that were taken that American baseball fans absolutely wanted games between the NL and AL teams in the regular season. (Making more money wouldn't have anything to do with this now, would it?)

This weekend is "Rivalry Weekend" in baseball (to take a cornball, cutesy-pie phrase that ESPN uses ad nauseum to describe college football and basketball games it seems almost EVERY weekend, and I bet Fox will use it at some point on Saturday), and we have to suffer through the endless nonsensical hype that is the first Mets-Yankees interleague series.

Yes, it's the first of two series the New York teams will play this year. I see no good reason it has to happen twice a year. It's only done twice for one reason: money. It guarantees both teams three sellouts (both the Mets and Yankees requested six games between them each season).

Seeing it from a neutral perspective, it just six more games played not just outside your division but outside of your league. Games against your division rival or possible wild card rival are FAR more important. It maybe special for the fans and media (who play this "Battle of New York" BS to the point I want to vomit), but face it, it has a short shelf life. If it's so damn memorable, who won the season series last year? The tabloid papers will have the special sections, matching up each team by position, who has the advantage and their fearless predicitions. Ho-hum.

Interleague also play havoc with the team schedules, especially their travel schedules. It also creates an unfair schedule, because some teams have either easier or harder schedules based on who they are supposed to face this year outside their league. (The Red Sox face Atlanta six times this year, because of this Mets-Yankees six games a year crap. MLB figures Atlanta is the Red Sox "natural" rival, because the Braves once played in Boston.)

The Mets and Yankees have faced each other so many times the past ten years (and in the 2000 World Series), it's no longer any big deal. The only way to bring back anything special to it is have them face each other every other year, or some other way like that. Playing each other less would make it more interesting.

No matter who much the media plays it up, "The Subway Series" just isn't any big deal anymore.