An MLB Roundtable on Interleague Play

I got to thinking about what I like and dislike about Interleague Play in baseball when I thought of how great it would be to poll some baseball bloggers I know to see what they think. Here are the results. If you like it, please let us know in the comments and we’ll be sure to do this again sometime.

1. Do you like or dislike MLB’s Interleague Play?

Eric Grissom @ PhilliesFlow: Dislike

David Pinto @ Baseball Musings: No, I don’t like Interleague Play very much.  It was fun for a while, but I’d rather see teams get back to playing the teams they are competing against for the league title.

Bill Jordan @ Baseball Reflections: I like Interleague play.

Asher B. Chancey @ Baseball Evolution: I like interleague play a lot.

Jimmy Scott @ Jimmy Scott’s High & Tight: I love it as long as we win.

Ribbie3b of RBI Magazine: I think Interleague Play is great for Major League Baseball.

2. What do you like or dislike about it?

Eric Grissom @ PhilliesFlow: NL teams, generally constructed without a DH, are forced to play DH games against AL teams that are built to have one.  AL teams have figure out what to do with their DH in non-DH games.

The schedule is uneven.  For example, last year the Phillies and Mets were in a battle for the NL East.  The Mets played the Yankees six times and Seattle three times.  The Phillies didn’t play either of those teams.  The Mets played the Yankees as many times (six) as they played the Cubs, Brewers, Diamondbacks or Giants.

Given how infrequently the teams see each other, it creates a challenge to reschedule games if they have to be cancelled or postponed due to weather or other circumstances.  That can lead to playing games in conditions where they should be stopped.

David Pinto @ Baseball Musings: I like that fans of a particular city get to see different teams every so often.  I dislike the assignment of a rival.  I rather the natural rivalry come up every few years.  Given that teams are competing for a wild card and a division title, they should be playing the same opponents the same number of times.

Bill Jordan @ Baseball Reflections: I like the fact that it creates seldom seen match ups and provides fans a chance to see and relate to teams that they normally would not get a chance to witness in their market. It also allows fans to be able to see some stars live who have played their entire careers in the other league.

Asher B. Chancey @ Baseball Evolution: In reality, while the two separate major leagues developed organically as separate, competing leagues, they are no longer separate in any real sense.  

They are clearly run under the same organization, Major League Baseball, and there is complete fluidity in terms of dealings between teams, etc.

So, I don’t think there has been a very good justification for keeping the leagues from playing each other during the season for several decades now.

And one of my favorite things about baseball is seeing different players face off against one another, so this increases the number of players we see go up against each other.

Jimmy Scott @ Jimmy Scott’s High & Tight: I dislike adding an extra West Coast swing to our schedule.

Ribbie3b of RBI Magazine: I like Interleague Play because it gives fans a chance to see players that they wouldn’t normally see and players a chance match up against other opponents that they normally would not compete against. I saw Derek Jeter play for the first time in Philadelphia.

3. In your opinion, should ALL pitchers know how to hit given today’s free agency and how frequently players change teams and leagues?

Eric Grissom @ PhilliesFlow: I think it would be great if all pitchers could hit — but if they have to choose on working on hitting or pitching I hope they spend a whole lot more working on pitching.  I especially think that there are a lot of things that AL pitchers might want to focus on before they get to hitting.

David Pinto @ Baseball Musings: Yes.

Bill Jordan @ Baseball Reflections: Hitting doesn’t seem to be that important for pitchers, especially since so many of them are weak with a bat in their hands. If more started getting better, it would be more of a requirement, but since that is not the case, it’s not as pertinent.

American League teams are not going to take time out of practice to have pitchers practice hitting just in case they change leagues, so the time isn’t really available for this except in the off season.

Asher B. Chancey @ Baseball Evolution:Should all pitchers know how to hit?  I think all pitchers should be expected to hit, given that they should, in theory, have been playing baseball all their lives and are world class athletes.  

Seeing pitchers hit .083 over the course of a season is inoffensive, I think, but I do think that when a pitcher goes up to the plate, he should be digging in and taking it seriously. 

One of the pivotal moments for the Phillies in their march to the World Series was one amazing at-bat by Brett Myers against C.C. Sabathia in the playoffs.

Jimmy Scott @ Jimmy Scott’s High & Tight: All pitchers do know how to hit.  They just can’t do it.  A more relevant question: Shouldn’t all hitters know how to bunt?

Ribbie3b of RBI Magazine: I think hitting is just an added bonus to having a great pitcher. Pitching and defense wins games. As long as a player can get the job done on the mound I wouldn’t care how bad he is at the plate.

4. Are you in favor of a good hitting pitcher, like Arizona’s Micah Owings or CC Sabathia, being used a pinch hitter or a pinch runner if he’s fast?

Eric Grissom @ PhilliesFlow: I would almost never use those guys to hit or run unless 1) the game was on the line and 2) they were the best hitter or fastest runner I had available.  I don’t think I would put them up there in a situation where I was just trying not to burn a bench player.

David Pinto @ Baseball Musings: Yes.

Bill Jordan @ Baseball Reflections: I am in favor of them being used as a pinch hitter, but pinch running is probably too dangerous to have one of a team’s valuable pitchers doing.

Since pinch runners are usually counted on to steal a base or run as fast as they can towards the catcher, injury could easily happen and I would imagine most teams don’t want that in their rotation or pen.

Asher B. Chancey @ Baseball Evolution: I have no problem with pitchers hitting, and I have no problem with pitchers running the bases.  But when you have a guy who is essentially the lynch pin of your staff (like Sabathia) for whom one freak injury could be the difference between making the playoffs or not (see Chien-Ming Wang), then I think pinch running him unnecessarily increases the odds of tanking your team unnecessarily.

On the other hand, with a mediocre starter like Owings, using him as a pinch runner for your catcher with two outs in the ninth is getting value out of a roster spot being taken up by a struggling player, so it is probably a good idea.  

There is a risk every time a guy takes the field, and you just have to decide what you are risking before you send a guy in to run the bases like that.

Jimmy Scott @ Jimmy Scott’s High & Tight: Of course.  They’re in favor of it too.  We all want to compete and we all want to succeed.  Rick Ankiel couldn’t pitch, so he became a hitter.  Your love for the game can outweigh conventional wisdom.

Ribbie3b of RBI Magazine: I think Sabathia would be on my roster over Owings without a doubt.

5. Should the DH remain in the AL? Should it be added to the NL?

Eric Grissom @ PhilliesFlow: Whenever they vote on Crash Davis’s constitutional amendment to ban the designated hitter I hope they let us all know.  Count me in.

David Pinto @ Baseball Musings: It should be a strategic decision by the home manager before each game.  If he has CC Sabathia pitching and the other team has a poor hitting pitcher, make force the other team to use the pitcher as a hitter.

Bill Jordan @ Baseball Reflections: Yes and No. I enjoy the quirks that the two different leagues have. It creates for interesting line-up changes and the like.

Obviously, I have never lived without the DH, and while I am a fan of historical happenings in baseball, I don’t necessarily mind the position, although I don’t think anyone who plays it should ever win the MVP.

It also creates an opportunity for older players to stay in the game longer because they are able to just play half of the game. At this point, it has been in the league so long, that it is hard to see why they would take it out.

Asher B. Chancey @ Baseball Evolution: I am agnostic as to whether there should be a DH or not.  Frankly, I enjoy seeing guys play into their forties, and if the DH keeps them around a season or two or three longer, so be it.  

But, I will say this: major league baseball needs to either have a DH or not have a DH, and make it the rule across the board.  It is crazy that half the major leagues play by a different set of rules than the other half.

Jimmy Scott @ Jimmy Scott’s High & Tight: I like the disparity.  Yes, I know it’s two different sets of rules for two leagues playing the same game, but it does create jobs for guys like Frank Thomas and Edgar Martinez and David Ortiz, guys who are fun to watch. 

But it’s a fun topic to debate.  I think, sometimes, debating an issue is better for the game than the issue itself.

Ribbie3b of RBI Magazine: I am not exactly sure what would work out the best here. The pros and cons are almost equal to both leagues. I do however think the rule should be the SAME for both leagues.

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