Boo interleague play

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ts1227's avatar

ts1227

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Jul 4, 2011 4:53 PM
I see where even some of the teams (players/coaches, not owners) in the rivalries can complain about balance. I'm sure the Mets players love getting plowed by the Yankees 6 times a year, while Philly has no rivalry series at all (and before the Nats came along it was with fucking Baltimore) so their schedule is generally more friendly and doesn't guarantee 6 games against a really good team.
Jul 4, 2011 4:53pm
Heretic's avatar

Heretic

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Jul 4, 2011 4:54 PM
wes_mantooth;820999 wrote:Yeah, I have heard that. Not a fan at all. I am ok with a "rivalry" type series, but what normal fan gives a shit about a cleveland/arizona match up?!

Those transplanted-to-warmer-climates Ohioans!!!! At least there was a big Cleveland crowd at that series.

But I know what you mean. Pittsburgh-Cleveland is good. So is Pittsburgh-Baltimore due to the NFL (as well as this year's Pitt-Boston, due to the playoff rivalry between the Steelers and Pats over the last decade). But Toronto? WTF? Guess they have to play someone... And this feels like the first year in forever they didn't play the Yankees. In the past, it seemed they'd match those two up for early June to mark the exact moment in time when the Yanks would shake out of their early-season blues and start crushing everyone.
Jul 4, 2011 4:54pm
BigAppleBuckeye's avatar

BigAppleBuckeye

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Jul 5, 2011 12:08 PM
Here is my HUGE gripe with interleague play:

The Mets are desperately trying to catch the red-hot Atlanta Braves for a shot at the wild card. While the Mets and Braves have both played the Angels and Rangers this year, the Mets played a total of 9 games against the 1st-place Yankees and 2nd-place Tigers (were leading the division when Mets played them), while the Braves got 9 games with the Orioles (last place), Blue Jays (next to last place) and Mariners (next to last place). How is that fair again??

Not taking anything away from Atlanta, they have a great team this year, but the Mets need all the help they can get here!
Jul 5, 2011 12:08pm
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karen lotz

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Jul 5, 2011 12:24 PM
yeah but at least for the Mariners you can't just say they are in next to last place without looking at it a little more. If they sweep the Braves instead of getting swept, they are leading their division and then what do you say? The Tigers are 4 games over .500 so its not exactly like they are world beaters either. When the Braves started their series with the Blue Jays they were .500. When they started the series with the Mariners they were in 2nd place. Right now the Tigers are in 2nd in their division, should we discredit the great series the Mets played against them because of it?

I'll give you the Yankees/Orioles argument but there is going to be some unbalance to the schedule the way they have it set up.

Shouldn't you be more concerned about the Indians interleague schedule anyway? :)
Jul 5, 2011 12:24pm
Laley23's avatar

Laley23

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Jul 5, 2011 12:27 PM
Unless you can get even scheduling, without having it be a month long thing, you need to get rid of interleague play. I would say uneven scheduling is fine for ONE series with the rivalries going at it.

Tampa-Florida
NYY-NYM
Cleveland-Cincy
LAA-LAD
Texas-Houston
Milwaukee-Minny
Cubs-WSox

ETC. If you dont have a natural rivalry, you get paired up randomly. That would be fine with me.


As for Pronk, he is terrible in the field and was when he played. But his shoulder cant do anything but swing. He cant make awkward stretches with his right shoulder, and cant throw with his left. They are both so fucked up. The muscle in there and the repaired tendons in there have literally been trained to allow a bat swing lol.
Jul 5, 2011 12:27pm
karen lotz's avatar

karen lotz

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Jul 5, 2011 12:30 PM
^^^Exactly. Atlanta doesn't have a natural rival and the closest they would have would be Boston.
Jul 5, 2011 12:30pm
BigAppleBuckeye's avatar

BigAppleBuckeye

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Jul 5, 2011 12:32 PM
karen lotz;821434 wrote:yeah but at least for the Mariners you can't just say they are in next to last place without looking at it a little more. If they sweep the Braves instead of getting swept, they are leading their division and then what do you say? The Tigers are 4 games over .500 so its not exactly like they are world beaters either. When the Braves started their series with the Blue Jays they were .500. When they started the series with the Mariners they were in 2nd place. Right now the Tigers are in 2nd in their division, should we discredit the great series the Mets played against them because of it?

I'll give you the Yankees/Orioles argument but there is going to be some unbalance to the schedule the way they have it set up.

Shouldn't you be more concerned about the Indians interleague schedule anyway? :)

Fair points indeed, but ultimately those 6 annual games against the Yankees -- while great for the city of New York -- puts the Mets at a bit of a disadvantage every year. I think the only way to fix this is for every division team to play the same exact interleague schedule, however, that won't remedy affecting the wild card race.

That being said, I am just whining ... sad that the Mets finally getting over .500 constitute a good season for this franchise :P
Jul 5, 2011 12:32pm
T

thavoice

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Jul 5, 2011 12:35 PM
With the potentila reallignment....

AL 15 teams
NL 15 teams.

You play each team in your league the same amount of times. Balance schedule.
For Interleague play:
If you finished 1-5 in your league the season before you play one series vs the other league teams who finished 1-5.
Same if you finished 6-10 and 11-15.

Then throw in one additional interleague matchup like a rivalry. We dont need the indians home-and-home series and such with the Reds.
That makes 18 interleague games and 144 games vs your own league which is 10 games per each team.

That way you really cannot complain about the schedule. NFL takes 2 of the 16 games in a matchup vs someone who finished the same in their division the year before.

Of course, the team you are matchup up against in teh IL play may be alot better, or worse, than the year before but you cannot control that really.
Jul 5, 2011 12:35pm
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wildcats20

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Jul 5, 2011 12:41 PM
They won't get rid of the home and home with a rival. Won't happen.

Can you imagine the outcry from an American League team if they ONLY get to play a NL team in the NL team's park?
Jul 5, 2011 12:41pm
T

thavoice

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Jul 5, 2011 12:44 PM
wildcats20;821457 wrote:They won't get rid of the home and home with a rival. Won't happen.

Can you imagine the outcry from an American League team if they ONLY get to play a NL team in the NL team's park?
You dont play each interleague team home and home right now, just the so called rivalry ones so I dont see the big deal. If there are years both finish in the same set then they can do a home and home.

I am not opposed to having a home-and-home with a rival but I think more teams cry about how they have to play a home and home against a real good team than having to play a real good team only once irregardless of where it is played.
Jul 5, 2011 12:44pm
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wildcats20

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Jul 5, 2011 12:46 PM
They just need to have 2 TOTAL series for Interleague. You get a home and home with your rival and that's it. If you don't have a natural rival, then you get randomly matched up(like Laley said). JUST don't send them across country, UNLESS the team is on a cross country roadie anyway.

Jul 5, 2011 12:46pm
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karen lotz

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Jul 5, 2011 12:47 PM
wildcats20;821457 wrote:They won't get rid of the home and home with a rival. Won't happen.

Can you imagine the outcry from an American League team if they ONLY get to play a NL team in the NL team's park?
HitRUs would lose his mind if the nonathletic American League pitchers are forced to run the bases unfairly. I mean, they aren't conditioned to run in a straight line!
Jul 5, 2011 12:47pm
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wildcats20

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Jul 5, 2011 12:53 PM
karen lotz;821465 wrote:HitRUs would lose his mind if the nonathletic American League pitchers are forced to run the bases unfairly. I mean, they aren't conditioned to run in a straight line!

I know that's a little sarcastic, but it's true. American League teams would have a FIT if they only played in an NL park.
Jul 5, 2011 12:53pm
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wildcats20

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Jul 5, 2011 12:55 PM
Teams with natural rivals...

Cincy/Cleve
Angels/Dodgers
Giants/A's
Rangers/Stros
Rays/Fish
Cards/Royals
Yanks/Mets
White Sox/Cubbies
Minny/Milwaukee
Nats/Os

So 20/32 teams have a natural rival. 10 teams would get split up randomly, with 2 NL teams playing each other(Philly/Pitt). So that leaves 8 teams(Atlanta, Colorado, San Diego, Arizona, Seattle, Toronto, Boston, Detroit). Make the schedule so that when the Eastern teams have to go out west, they are already out there and viceversa. It wouldn't be that hard for the League office to do it.
Jul 5, 2011 12:55pm
wildcats20's avatar

wildcats20

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Jul 5, 2011 12:56 PM
And I also don't think that the series have to be played at the same time. I think it should be worked into the schedule to fit the best.
Jul 5, 2011 12:56pm
T

thavoice

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Jul 5, 2011 12:57 PM
I like IL play, and I see no reason to NOT have it.

They can clean up the loose ends on it and if they wanna go "totally" fair with a balanced schedule they can either do away with it and paly each team in your league the same amount, or a setup like I posted for 5-6 IL series against teams who finished in the same pod as you the season before.
Jul 5, 2011 12:57pm
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thavoice

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Jul 5, 2011 1:01 PM
wildcats20;821470 wrote:And I also don't think that the series have to be played at the same time. I think it should be worked into the schedule to fit the best.



With 15 and 15 there would have to be at least one IL series at a time. I imagine they may still have 1 weekend where everyone plays IL but it would be more spread out.
Jul 5, 2011 1:01pm
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BigAppleBuckeye

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Jul 5, 2011 1:05 PM
wildcats20;821469 wrote:Teams with natural rivals...

Cincy/Cleve
Angels/Dodgers
Giants/A's
Rangers/Stros
Rays/Fish
Cards/Royals
Yanks/Mets
White Sox/Cubbies
Minny/Milwaukee
Nats/Os

So 20/32 teams have a natural rival. 10 teams would get split up randomly, with 2 NL teams playing each other(Philly/Pitt). So that leaves 8 teams(Atlanta, Colorado, San Diego, Arizona, Seattle, Toronto, Boston, Detroit). Make the schedule so that when the Eastern teams have to go out west, they are already out there and viceversa. It wouldn't be that hard for the League office to do it.


Put this in college football terms: Imagine Buffalo and Bowling Green are fighting for a conference title, but they each have to play their natural rivals (BG gets Ohio State, Buffalo gets Syracuse), AND those games count in the standings to dictate the league title (like they do in MLB). Not exactly fair right?

That is how I feel about the Mets playing the Yankees 6 times every year! :P
Jul 5, 2011 1:05pm
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karen lotz

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Jul 5, 2011 1:09 PM
BigAppleBuckeye;821478 wrote:That is how I feel about the Mets playing the Yankees 6 times every year! :P
I'd say if the Mets were competitive, you would have a point. .500 isn't going to win the NL East anytime soon. They should petition to get moved to the Central where they'd have a shot.:cool:
Jul 5, 2011 1:09pm
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BigAppleBuckeye

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Jul 5, 2011 1:17 PM
karen lotz;821487 wrote:I'd say if the Mets were competitive, you would have a point. .500 isn't going to win the NL East anytime soon. They should petition to get moved to the Central where they'd have a shot.:cool:

I am comfortable with our 1 World Series title since '86 (same as Atlanta) :)
Jul 5, 2011 1:17pm
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karen lotz

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Jul 5, 2011 1:20 PM
BigAppleBuckeye;821497 wrote:I am comfortable with our 1 World Series title since '86 (same as Atlanta) :)


lol, touche.

Although I do have to add that I am extremely uncomfortable with 1 WS title in my lifetime.
Jul 5, 2011 1:20pm
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BigAppleBuckeye

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Jul 5, 2011 1:22 PM
karen lotz;821500 wrote:lol, touche.

Although I do have to add that I am extremely uncomfortable with 1 WS title in my lifetime.

haha, as am I. To make it worse, our last World Series was more than a decade ago, and I can't even enjoy that accomplishment because they lost to the Yankees! grrrrrrr
Jul 5, 2011 1:22pm
wildcats20's avatar

wildcats20

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Jul 5, 2011 1:26 PM
thavoice;821475 wrote:With 15 and 15 there would have to be at least one IL series at a time. I imagine they may still have 1 weekend where everyone plays IL but it would be more spread out.

With realignment, is it a given that it would be 15/15?
Jul 5, 2011 1:26pm
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karen lotz

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Jul 5, 2011 1:31 PM
BigAppleBuckeye;821502 wrote:haha, as am I. To make it worse, our last World Series was more than a decade ago, and I can't even enjoy that accomplishment because they lost to the Yankees! grrrrrrr


Same here actually. Last 2 WS appearances were losses to the Yankees. 96 and 99 I believe.
Jul 5, 2011 1:31pm
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Laley23

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Jul 5, 2011 1:41 PM
thavoice;821475 wrote:With 15 and 15 there would have to be at least one IL series at a time. I imagine they may still have 1 weekend where everyone plays IL but it would be more spread out.

Kind of true. You could also go the way of each team getting 3 days of rest every 14 (15 when IL play happens) series. Kind of like 4 AS breaks in one year. Like the BYE week in football.
Jul 5, 2011 1:41pm