Interleague play

Interleague play logo

Interleague play is the term used to describe regular season Major League Baseball games played between teams in different leagues, introduced in 1997. Before the 1997 season, teams in the American League and National League did not meet during the regular season. AL/NL matchups only occurred during spring training, the All-Star Game, other exhibition games such as the Hall of Fame Game in Cooperstown, New York, and the World Series. Unlike modern interleague play, none of these contests, except for the World Series, counted toward official team or league records.

History

Early discussions

Interleague or interconference matchups have long been the norm in other professional sports leagues such as the NFL. Regular season interleague play was discussed for baseball's major leagues as early as the 1930s. In December 1956, Major League owners considered a proposal by Cleveland general manager and minority-owner Hank Greenberg to implement limited interleague play beginning in 1958. Under Greenberg's proposal, each team would continue to play 154-games in the season, 126 of which would be within the league, and 28 against the eight clubs. The interleague games would all be played during a period immediately following the All-Star Game. Notably, under Greenberg's proposal, all results would count in regular season game standings and league statistics. While this proposal was not adopted, the current system shares many elements. Bill Veeck predicted in 1963 that Major League Baseball would someday have Interleague play. The concept did not take hold until the 1990s (at least in part as an effort to renew the public's interest in MLB following the 1994 players' strike).

First games

The first interleague game took place on June 12, 1997, as the Texas Rangers hosted the San Francisco Giants at The Ballpark in Arlington. There were four interleague games on the schedule that night, but the other three were played on the West Coast, so the Giants–Rangers matchup started a few hours earlier than the others. Texas' Darren Oliver threw the game's first pitch and San Francisco outfielder Glenallen Hill was the first designated hitter used in a regular-season game by a National League team. San Francisco's Stan Javier hit the first home run in interleague play, and the Giants won the game, 4-3.

From 1998 to 2001, teams from the American League West played teams from the National League West, etc., typically scheduled to alternate between home and away in consecutive years. However, in 2002, the league began alternating which divisions played which divisions, and thus in 2002 the American League East played the National League West, the American League Central played the National League East, and the American League West played the National League Central. Matchups which had been of particular interest prior to this format — mainly geographic rivals — were preserved. This is expected to be the continuing format of the interleague schedule though corresponding divisions were integrated in this rotation in 2006.

Since 2002, all interleague games have been played prior to the All-Star Game. Most games are played in June, though May games have been scheduled since 2005.

The designated hitter (DH) rule is applied in the same manner as in the World Series and the All-Star Game. In an American League ballpark, both teams have the option to use a DH. In a National League ballpark, both teams' pitchers must bat. Some baseball observers feel it might be fairer to reverse this (in other words, always follow the DH rule of the visiting team instead of the home team), thereby offsetting the home-field advantage.

Through 2009, the American League holds an all-time series advantage of 1,673-1,534 and has finished with the better record in interleague play for 6 straight seasons, dating back to 2004. 2006 was the most lopsided season in interleague history, with American League teams posting a 154-98 record against their National League counterparts. The team with the best all-time record in interleague play is the New York Yankees of the AL at 133-95 (.583).

In 2007, two teams—the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Baltimore Orioles played 6 games with more than one interleague opponent. The former playing both the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim while the latter played both the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Washington Nationals.

As of 2009, the Civil Rights Game is a regular season interleague game; the first such match-up was between the Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds in Great American Ballpark on June 20, 2009.

Records

Wins by league

Year	Best Record	American League	National League
1997	National	97	117
1998	American	114	110
1999	National	116	135
2000	American	136	115
2001	American	132	120
2002	National	123	129
2003	National	115	137
2004	American	126	125
2005	American	136	116
2006	American	154	98
2007	American	137	115
2008	American	149	103
2009	American	138	114
Overall	American	1,674	1,534

Interleague statistics

The following is text of Major League Baseball's policy regarding the compilation of statistics as a result of Interleague Play:

"For the first time in the history of Major League Baseball, Interleague games are to be played during the regular season. Breaking tradition always brings about controversy and the matter of baseball records is no exception.

"It is the opinion of Major League Baseball that there is no justification for compiling a new volume of records based on Interleague Play. On the contrary, the sovereignty of each league's records will be retained, and if a player or a team breaks a record against an Interleague opponent it will be considered a record in that league. In cases where two teams -- as Interleague opponents -- break a league or Major League record, that record will be annotated with the phrase 'Interleague game.' Streaks by both teams and individual will continue (or be halted) when playing Interleague opponents in the same manner as if playing against an intraleague opponent. In essence, records will be defined by who made them rather than against whom they were made.

"The official statistics of both leagues will be kept separately as they have in the past. This means statistics for each team and their individual players will reflect their performance in games within the league and also in Interleague games without differentiation."

Interleague-play leaders

A list of leaders in the following categories is available on the MLB.com website.

• Batting Average (min. 300 at-bats)
• Hits
• Home Runs
• Runs Batted In
• Wins (by pitcher)
• ERA (min. 100 innings)
• Saves
• Year-by-year Stats

Geographical matchups

Several interleague matchups are especially anticipated because of the relative proximity of the teams involved. In the case of each of these "rivalry" matchups, the two teams play six games (home-and-home series of three games each) every year:

• Chicago Cubs v. Chicago White Sox (Crosstown Classic, Windy City Series, or Red Line Series)
• Cincinnati Reds v. Cleveland Indians (Ohio Cup)
• Los Angeles Dodgers v. Los Angeles Angels (Freeway Series)
• New York Yankees v. New York Mets (Subway Series)
• San Francisco Giants v. Oakland Athletics (Bay Bridge Series or Battle of the Bay Area)
• St. Louis Cardinals v. Kansas City Royals (I-70 Series or Show-Me Series)
• Minnesota Twins v. Milwaukee Brewers
  • The Twins and the Brewers were formerly regional rivals in the American League, dating from the Brewers' relocation from Seattle after the 1969 season until the team's realignment into the NL Central for the 1998 season. This match-up also reflects the sports rivalry between the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin. The two metro areas are connected by Interstate 94. However, the term "I-94 Series" is used almost exclusively to refer to the games played between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs.
• Houston Astros v. Texas Rangers (Lone Star Series)
• Florida Marlins v. Tampa Bay Rays (Citrus Series)
• Baltimore Orioles v. Washington Nationals (Beltway Series)
  • Because the 2005 MLB schedule was already set when the Montreal Expos were relocated to Washington, D.C., the Orioles did not play the Nationals during the 2005 regular season. The two teams began playing each other in 2006. Prior to this, a geographical rivalry existed between the Expos and the Toronto Blue Jays.

The two remaining West Coast teams (who share a spring training base in Peoria, Arizona) play annual home-and-home series as well:

• San Diego Padres v. Seattle Mariners

The following eight teams are not paired up as of 2009:

• Arizona Diamondbacks
• Atlanta Braves
  • In recent years, the Braves have developed an unofficial rivalry with the Boston Red Sox. This is possibly attributable to the fact that the Braves franchise was originally located in Boston.
• Boston Red Sox
  • See above notes for Atlanta.
• Colorado Rockies
• Detroit Tigers
• Philadelphia Phillies
  • The Phillies' ballpark is less than 100 miles from Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Phillies were matched with the Orioles prior to 2005.
• Pittsburgh Pirates
  • In recent years the Pirates have played an annual series against the Chicago White Sox, which could count as an unofficial rivalry.
• Toronto Blue Jays
  • As mentioned above, the Blue Jays used to have a rivalry with the National League Montreal Expos, however the team has since moved to Washington, D.C. and forged a geographic rivalry with the Baltimore Orioles

Scheduling

Interleague play used to be scheduled in June and July. Later it was changed to occur only in June. In 2005, the format was changed again. Now, each team plays one series during the third weekend in May and plays the rest of their games in June, usually starting in the second week of June, only playing interleague opponents until the interleague schedule is complete for the year. In the American League, each team plays 18 games; in the National League, most teams will play 15 and some will play 18 games. In some years some NL teams may only play 12 interleague games. When this happens, most NL teams will play 18 interleague games, some will play 15 and a few will play 12. The reason for the difference is that during interleague play, all teams play interleague games at the same time, except for two NL teams that play each other. This is required because the NL has two more teams than the AL.

Arguments

Pros

• Interleague matchplay increases attendance.
• Fans can see players they might not otherwise get to see, especially those who have only ever played in one league, such as Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Brandon Webb, etc...
• Certain geographic rivalries are played out during the regular season that otherwise might not happen for years at a time. The Yankees now play 6 games against the Mets each season every year whereas they would only have gone head to head in the 2000 World Series if not for interleague play. From 1962 until interleague play, the Mets and the Yankees played each other in a single game, the annual Mayor's Trophy Game, which was an exhibition game even though it was played during the regular season.
• It creates matchups that might not have been seen in generations. For example, during the 2004 season, the Giants and Red Sox played each other for the first time since meeting in the 1912 World Series, and the Red Sox had never played at Wrigley Field until 2005. Also in 2004, the Yankees and Dodgers met for the first time ever in the regular season since the latter moved to Los Angeles, and also for the first time since the 1981 World Series; held at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers took 2 out of 3 games from the Yankees. In 2007, the San Francisco Giants hosted the New York Yankees for the first time in the regular season at AT&T Park in San Francisco, in which the Giants took the series 2–1. In 2008, the New York Yankees visited the Pittsburgh Pirates for the first time since the 1960 World Series; Pittsburgh took this interleague series, 2-1.
• It allows for a rematch of the previous World Series. This has occurred in nine of the thirteen seasons of interleague play: 1997 (Atlanta Braves at New York Yankees), 2000 (New York Yankees at Atlanta Braves), 2001 (New York Mets vs. New York Yankees), 2002 (Arizona Diamondbacks at New York Yankees), 2005 (Boston Red Sox at St. Louis Cardinals), 2006 (Houston Astros at Chicago White Sox), 2007 (St. Louis Cardinals at Detroit Tigers), 2009 (Philadelphia Phillies at Tampa Bay Rays), and 2010 (Philadelphia Phillies at New York Yankees).

Cons

• There are many series that are not considered compelling; for example, series between currently poor-performing teams or teams with no historical or geographic connections.
• American League pitchers generally don't like taking batting practice for the opportunity to bat in one or two games. These pitchers are also unaccustomed to running the bases, which can lead to injury and premature fatigue. (For example, Chien-Ming Wang suffered a season-ending lisfranc sprain on his right foot when running the bases during a Yankees-Astros game at Minute Maid Park on June 15, 2008.)
• National League designated hitters (or the position players giving normal position players half a day off) are generally bench players, while American League designated hitters are generally starters.
• With the two leagues not having the same number of teams, and with one division (the National League Central) containing six teams while another (the American League West) has only four (the other two divisions in both leagues consisting of five teams each), various irregularities in scheduling result. Most notably, teams no longer play identical opponents as their divisional rivals, and even where they do, they don't always play them an identical number of times. This can lead to "strength of schedule" disparities like those the NFL has to deal with on a yearly basis. For example, in any given season, one NL Central team might play every AL East team except the (strong) first place team, while another NL Central team plays all but the (weak) last place team. Another scheduling problem is that because the leagues are not equal in size, there always has to be one NL game on interleague days (interleague is done with block scheduling, so all the teams play interleague games on the same day, and all the interleague games are played in one part of the schedule (third weekend of May and much of June)
• The "rivalry" series that consist of six games a year for some teams leads to further scheduling inequities. For example, the recently good Chicago Cubs play the Chicago White Sox six times a year, while their division rival St. Louis Cardinals play the recently poor Kansas City Royals six times a year.
• The World Series and All-Star Game are robbed of some of their mystique that used to result from the two leagues playing completely exclusive schedules during the regular season: in the case of the World Series, the "best in the business" playing the "best in the business" for the only time that whole year.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball rivalries
• Baseball awards
• List of Major League Baseball awards

External links

• Proposals for interleague play prior to 1997
• For head to head listings, choose team and the time period to get full list and results