Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Ready for interleague already?
The realignment of the Astros to the American League this year had one significant domino effect on the rest of baseball: Because there are now 15 teams in each league, interleague play is necessary throughout the entire season.
Back in the "good ole days" of interleague play, games between the two leagues were confined to a couple of days in May and a two-week stretch in June. Now, though, you had a season-opening series between the Angels and Reds (not exactly longstanding rivals) followed by a weekend series between the Royals and Phillies.
And next up, this newfangled new twist comes to Washington, with the White Sox in town to face the Nationals the next three nights.
No, the Nats haven't yet faced three of their four division rivals. But they will face a team from the AL Central during the second week of April.
Then again, it could be worse: At least the Nationals don't have to close the regular season with interleague play. The Tigers and Marlins get to hold that distinct honor.
While acknowledging the strangeness of this predicament, the Nats understand they can't do anything about the schedule MLB assigns them. They also understand they're at less of a disadvantage this week than Chicago, which one week into the season has to forfeit its designated hitter and field a lineup of only eight regulars.
That's especially a problem when your regular DH is a guy named Adam Dunn, who (bless his heart) tried his best to play the field during his time in the NL (including 2009-10 here in D.C.) but is a major liability with a glove on his left hand.
With Paul Konerko already entrenched at first base, Dunn may actually see playing time in left field this week, White Sox manager Robin Ventura told reporters. That image could be worth the price of admission.
Davey Johnson won't have to think about adding a DH to his lineup until late-May, when the Nationals play their first two road interleague games of the season in Baltimore. Prior to that, they'll host the Tigers (May 7-8) and Orioles (May 27-28).
The rest of Washington's spread-out interleague slate: vs. Minnesota (June 7-9), at Cleveland (June 14-16), at Detroit (July 30-31), at Kansas City (Aug. 23-25).
So, what do you think? Do you like this new wrinkle to interleague play? Do you even like interleague play at all?
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76 comments:
I do like the interleague series. I think, perhaps, the scheduling needs to be more congruent for each division but all in all, I like it.
I'm a traditionalist including holding the Crash Davis views on DH, Astroturf, strikeouts, Susan Sontag, etc.
But I have to say I like the increased inter-league play. I like seeing those other teams. It mixes up the schedule a little. I don't really see a downside.
Plus, Dunn in LF will be a treat.
Old and stubborn but I also am not against the increased inter-league play and it looks like scheduling is a little fairer. The Reds and Cards are both good but beating up on Houston last year might have skewed things a bit. With 15 teams in each league it has to be a little more even. Playing with the dh will give us practice for the World Series and I like that we won't use it until May.
Do others here agree with me that the NL has an advantage. I think it is harder to have your pitcher hitting when he is not used to that and also losing that 9th offensive part of your lineup. I wonder where Davey will place our dh when he has to do so? I am guessing it will be Moore or Tracy depending on the pitcher. Do you move Espinosa down to 9th to give your team basically two speedy guys back to back? Or do you just plug the dh in at #7 to keep those first 6 positions in the lineup consistant.
Go Nats!!
Wow, Dunn in LF. Could be interesting, but if he hits, he is still a threat (as we all know). Let's get a win tonight!!!
Historically, Dunn has no had much success in his career against any of our starters in the few times he has faced them. However, he has done very well against R. Soriano and Zach Duke.
Apparently whatever updates the blogroll isn't working again... Here is my post on the White Sox.
White Sox
http://ladyandthenats.blogspot.com/2013/04/summertime-in-april.html
sjm - agree NL has that advantage. The flipside is AL rosters are built to use a 4 man bench with the 5th guy slated as DH (some are starting to vary from that but that has been/is a common model). Where the NL needs all 5 bench guys to have good gloves, the AL can keep a pure slugger among those 5 spots to DH. We're lucky this year w/ so many strong hitters on the bench but a lot of NL teams will have that slight disadvantage of strong glove, mediocre/weak bats off the bench as DH guys.
Dunn has hit .500 against Soriano,in 10 PA's, .471 against Duke in 20 PA, .133 against Haren in 18 PA's
He has faced Gio, Zimm,Clip, and Henry a total of 8 collective PA's. His collective average against them is: .000.
I see him as a PH if the situation comes up to face Soriano.
In answer to Mark's question, I still see inter-league play as a gimmick and a perverse abomination of baseball. But then again, that's how I feel about the DH.
Seamhead, thanks for the thought I'll add relievers to my post.
Interleague in our park fine and dandy!
Interleague in their park where our DH is a bench player vs. their DH who is a regular part of their lineup----nuts, nuts, and double nuts!!!!
Or to quote Jim Leyland, "...their utility infielder vs. our real hitter...".
The amazing thing is that it has been going on for forty years!!!!
All the NL owners who originally passed it are, shall we say, not eating ball park hot dogs anymore!
I don't know if there is any other solution until the day that baseball adds two expansion teams. The adoption of 4 divisions in each league would make elimination of the wild card possible (but don't count on it), and would make interleague play unnecessary (but don't count on that, either).
I'm just grateful it is baseball season again, especially on a beautiful day like today.
I am pumped! The South Side Hitmen (as they used to be known back in the day) are in town. High in 80s. It was jacket weather last week (parka weather on Wednesday) and tonight I am wearing shorts! Baseball in the kind of weather it was designed to be played in. All is right in the universe.
1/2 ST, if they ever go to 4 divisions in each league, they will just make the playoffs more expanded, too.More pplayoff games, more TV, more money, all they way down to how much they charge for parking!
[NatsLady, don't tell anybody, but I really do look at stats, and saberstats almost every day].
I really like to see how individual hitters have matched up historically before each series. For example how has Span done against the CWS?
Baseball Reference makes it easy to check it out.
Ha, turns out Span's done pretty well. (added that to my post.)
Online editing strikes again. Correction:
If memory serves, Mark used to do such match-ups, but they were pooh-poohed as not being useful (which probably falls in the category of you can't please all of the folks all of the time).
really like to see how individual hitters have matched up historically before each series.
Update to the NIDO "Who's Going" tab: It's now sorted alphabetically by insider name, make it easier to find a name you're looking for. Sorry 'bout that, UnkyD.
1a, they do them on the MLB site so there is somewhat of an overlap. I find them interesting, especially with an unfamiliar team. Don't know how useful.
natsfan1a, I pooh-pah many of them, but if it's my decision, Raffy isn't going to face Dunn, foe example.Versus the AL teams that particular stat's value is pretty limited because of little, or no, sample size.
NatsJack - while I agree that it would be great to have all 30 teams following one set of rules, I think its more than one player like Ortiz dictating the dh. The players association has to feel that the dh is keeping certain aging players active and I think it will be a hard sell to eliminate it.
I go through the minor league box scores more often than I should and I think almost all leagues use the dh as well. Our pitchers honestly don't learn (or re-learn) to hit until they reach the big show. Just sad.
Go Nats!!
I like inter-league play, but I think I liked it better how it was done before (I wait until I see the season this way before passing full judgement). I use to see lots of games all over and one of the coolest games I saw was an inter-league game in Pittsburg vs. the Royals. I'm sure your saying, how could that be a cool game?
Well, let me tell you. Pittsburg wore Homestead Grays uniforms and the Royals wore Kansas City Monarchs uniforms; these were to the two power houses of the old Negro Leagues. The scoreboard had "Grays" and "Monarchs" listed as the teams. I even got a Josh Gibson (maybe the greatest homerun hitter in any league) bobblehead on my way in.
Fun Times...
Thanks, Candide. That warms my little indexer heart. Would be awesome if the "drinks owed" tab could also be sorted that way, but seeing as how it changes (what with names being added), that could be a more of a chore.
On topic, constant interleague play = meh, not that they consulted me before changing it. Humph!
Candide said...
Update to the NIDO "Who's Going" tab: It's now sorted alphabetically by insider name, make it easier to find a name you're looking for. Sorry 'bout that, UnkyD.
April 09, 2013 9:19 AM
sjm308--in AAA, aren't the rules the same as MLB, DH depending on the home team's affiliation?
I've recently read interviews from pitchers who have been in both leagues, and most of them don't like the DH. They like hitting because it keeps them in the game and they like to think of themselves as complete athletes (whether they are or not). I remember Mike Morse didn't like DH'ing for that reason, and it seems like it took Dunn a season to adjust to the pace. ]
Can't believe it's been around for forty years. At least there is no slippery slope (like a DH for catchers). Part of me appreciates the vagaries of NL/AL play because it makes you think differently.
I'm still confused as to when you "lose" the DH...And I laughed and laughed when Torre made a double-switch last year and the Yankee outfielders didn't know who was coming out of the game. I'd like to see the DH go away and return to the baseball of my childhood, but as long as we still have it in the NL, I'm OK with it. Just like the different baseball park dimensions, it adds a quirkiness to the game.
NatsJack in Florida said...
Davey has already said that the Nats DH will bat 9th in order to maintain batting order consistency.
Me - I hte that. I noted that in a another post earlier in the week about Davey dropping Tracy in the cleanup spot just because ALR was out. Just stupid and I love Davey, but you bat your player in the best order.
One other think on interleague play. The way it was done before; I alway though the fairer way to do the World Series home field advantage would be overall interleague record by all teams. Keep in mind that record has never directed the HFA in baseball, before this All-Star game stuff it alternated years based on leagues. The reason was said to be travel plan related and knowing aheard of time which league has home field.
As far as I'm concerned they can do away with inter league play altogether.
1)It makes no sense to compete with a different set of rules.
2) If inter league play happens all the time what's the point of calling it 2 separate leagues?
In my youth (a long time ago) there was a certain magic to the world series where your team played a mystery opponent and players you haven't seen all year. Now it's just ho hum.
Good, back to baseball. Gio with a big opportunity tonight!
"If memory serves, Mark used to do such match-ups, but they were pooh-poohed as not being useful (which probably falls in the category of you can't please all of the folks all of the time)."
1a, your memory serves you correctly. Count me as one who used to look forward to Mark's scouting reports for each of the upcoming series as it helped me know who couldn't hit an opposing pitcher and which of the batters from the other teams owned our pitchers. Thinking back to those "old days", more likely than not their guys owned our guys and few of our guys owned any of the opponents.
Oh how I like the present day Nats more so than the 2006-2009 versions!
JD, that "mystery" element is long gone now with modern technology. I watched a bunch of Sox games on MLB.tv so I could scope out our matches.
In the Old System, the Nats would have won the NL pennant and faced the Yankees in the WS, with no WC, no divisional play, etc. That's fun to envision, but those days aren't coming back any more than party lines are (my grandparents had a party line...).
Never liked interleague ever. Don't think I will get used to it.
anyways, dunn gets an ovation tonight? I believe this is his first return since he left as a FA.
Knoxville, I too like the season previews, and if you hunt around, you can find some excellent bloggers (not just me) who still do them. There is an ATL guy--can't recall the name just now--who puts up a ton of stats, heat maps, etc., before every series. To me, that just adds to the fun, for example, seeing if a guy with a big platoon split can overcome it.
Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for my ticket exchange email. Tomorrow (Wed 4/10) is the game I can't go, and I won't be on my computer much either. So, do I understand correctly, if you don't go to a game you can exchange it for Red Carpet points?
NatsLady,
I understand the old days aren't coming back. I am just saying that I for one don't find inter league play interesting and I especially despise the DH rule.
natsfan1a said...
Thanks, Candide. That warms my little indexer heart. Would be awesome if the "drinks owed" tab could also be sorted that way, but seeing as how it changes (what with names being added), that could be a more of a chore.
Done, more or less. I was able to sort the names going down the left side (column A), but things got a little messier when I tried to also sort row 1/2 (names going across) because there the cells in row 1 are merged with row 2 and the names being centered in the cell means they don't sort in predictable order (example: " Ghost of Steve M" sorts BEFORE "Candide," because the blank spaces "alphabetize" first).
I also moved the totals row down several rows to allow for newcomers.
Maybe I'll look at it again later. Meanwhile, there's a truckload of mulch in my driveway that has to be shlepped to the back yard.
Friend of mine is going to game today but he has no idea about parking.
any suggestions? he is coming from Jessup I think.
btw you think pitchers study umpires before games?
The Mule doesn't mind the new geography which inter-league play provides. It is only the DH to which it objects. At least this series is at Nats Park -> playing by N.L. rules. It was unsettling to watch a game using the DH at Nats Park when the Yankees were in town for the last exhibition.
FS--I don't know about pitchers, but catchers do. I read an article about it recently, but can't recall where.
Funny thing I just saw on Baseball-Reference when I looked something up on Jayson Werth: They give his full name, but then after it they have in parenthesis: [werewolf]
"I'm a traditionalist including holding the Crash Davis views on DH, Astroturf, strikeouts, Susan Sontag, etc."
In the earlier screenplay, it was Pynchon, not Sontag.
I know things.
So...yeah, I just read up on last year's hitting stats for the White Sox line up...yowzas...lots of guys in the rotation with 20+ HRs and decent batting averages, and they seem hot so far this season. I hope Gio and JZimm bring their wet blankets and/or Haren is in very different form than he was last Friday...
Faraz Shaikh said...
Friend of mine is going to game today but he has no idea about parking.
any suggestions? he is coming from Jessup I think.
Park in lot W for $10 cash. Short walk to the staduim. You can find a parking map at the Nationals site which includes this lot.
fangraphs wrote up Rick Ankiel's contract rate. You have to wonder if he's injured. He wasn't good last summer, but he wasn't this bad.
Ankiel
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/rick-ankiels-epic-contact-problems/
Do others here agree with me that the NL has an advantage.
NL has an advantage on games in NL parks (where there is no DH), and vice versa -- because the teams are built for their DH (or non-DH) rule.
I don't mind some interleague play -- but I did like it better when it happened all at once (as in prior years). Having 15 teams in each league is silly, imho.
Tcostant, great. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
Does Roy Halladay's arm have too many miles on it?
ERA of 14.73 in his first two starts?
Thanks much, and I just bought you a drink. :-) Our mulch is all spread, but I need to get a planting bed ready for veggies. (Obligatory and kinda sorta related baseball comment: Nice that things are more productive down on the Nats farm compared to when the team first came here.)
Candide said...
natsfan1a said...
Thanks, Candide. That warms my little indexer heart. Would be awesome if the "drinks owed" tab could also be sorted that way, but seeing as how it changes (what with names being added), that could be a more of a chore.
Done, more or less. I was able to sort the names going down the left side (column A), but things got a little messier when I tried to also sort row 1/2 (names going across) because there the cells in row 1 are merged with row 2 and the names being centered in the cell means they don't sort in predictable order (example: " Ghost of Steve M" sorts BEFORE "Candide," because the blank spaces "alphabetize" first).
I also moved the totals row down several rows to allow for newcomers.
Maybe I'll look at it again later. Meanwhile, there's a truckload of mulch in my driveway that has to be shlepped to the back yard.
April 09, 2013 10:51 AM
I love interleague play. I love how teams face teams that they have either never faced before in certain ballparks or have never faced them at all. It calls for different scenarios for teams in both leagues that is just interesting to watch.
On whether getting rid of DH or not: I see two sides to it. From the no DH side; the AL has an advantage with an extra slugger while the NL has to use pitchers instead. From what my dad told me, who played baseball in highs school as a starting pitcher, that pitchers bat. To give all teams the same chances, DH should go away.
From the DH side; there are pitchers who have and will get hurt while batting and base running. To prevent injuries to pitchers, they could put the DH in both leagues. The DH is also beneficial to players who can hit but cant field.
Wonk, I think he is playing injured, isn't he?
I wish it was 1960 and I was at Fenway Park.
I have no idea why interleague play througout the year is such a big deal. What is so strange about the Nats playing an early series like this? Particularly playing at home where there will be no DH. Does it make any difference at all that the Nats play the White Sox before they play the Phillies, Mets or Braves (who are coming in this weekend)? Much ado about nothing.
One problem that the larger mix of possible opponents in April might solve is the risk of playing baseball in sub-40 degree temperatures in early April. Why not schedule the first two series of the year in the warm(er) weather or domed parks of the following teams:
ARI, ATL, HOU, KC or STL, LAA, LAD, MIA, MIL, OAK, SD, SEA, SF, TBR, TEX, TOR. That's 15 locations that are much better for playing baseball in April than Chicago, New York, or even Washington, DC. That's not to say that it's never cold or rains in Atlanta or San Francisco in April, but the possibility of inclement weather marring the first week of the season would be greatly reduced.
Other than tradition, anyone see a problem with this?
Huge fan of interleague play. I wish they would add another 9 games or so to make it an even 30. These games are fun because we don't get to see teams like the Sox or Tigers play very often. I can't tell you how much I am dreading watching the Nats play the Marlins and Mets (although Matt Harvey is already a beast) 30 times. Talk about boring.
natsfan1a said...
Thanks much, and I just bought you a drink. :-)
Seeing as how you owe infinite drinks, I expect I won't actually be collecting until the end of time, probably at The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
The issue of the DH giving poor fielding, good hitting players, and players towards the end of their careers, has a double edged sword. The guys at the end like Papa Ortiz, etc have already made a bundle of dough, in most cases. For each of those guys, along with the no glove/good bat guys there is a deserving young guy in the minors whose way to a 25 man roster is being blocked because they have the misfortune of being controlled by an AL team.
The Werewolf tag for JWerth in Baseball References makes sense. Werewolves stalk their prey. Werth stalks pitchers and pitches!
Section 222 said...
ARI, ATL, HOU, KC or STL, LAA, LAD, MIA, MIL, OAK, SD, SEA, SF, TBR, TEX, TOR. That's 15 locations that are much better for playing baseball in April than Chicago, New York, or even Washington, DC.
And conversely, there should be no baseball played in June, July, or August in Texas, Phoenix, Miami, or anywhere else they have to pull the roof over your head and turn on the air conditioning.
Or any time at all in Philadelphia. Just because.
The only reason to not have inter league play was eliminated back in 1969, when both leagues went to 2 divisions. The tradition was over at that point of having only a World series among the AL and NL champs. We now have 10 playoff teams (5 in each division). It is ridiculous not to have inter league play as it would have been ridiculous to not have it in the NFL back in 1970
DEFINITELY, inter league play is exciting an allows fans of all ages to see the stars live in both leagues
Sec 222,
Your idea has been discussed in the past. In fact we have had April postponements in Montreal due to Snow. As I recall the suggestion was to start in the cold weather cities 2 weeks later.
The fear has always been that a team can start like 2 - 10 or 3 - 9 on the road and it would really deflate their home opener hoopla if they would get off to a bad start.
Anyone know where one could find stats on Interleague play for the past few years based on whether the games were played in the NL or AL parks? It's always been my assumption that the AL teams have a big advantage playing at home because their rosters are constructed to have a very good hitter playing DH, maybe even one of their better hitters, while NL teams are forced to use a bench player -- someone who by definition is not as good as the regulars. In 2010, we had Willie Harris and Christian Guzman DHing. (Remember those ridiculous days of Riggleman, when Morse sat on the bench and Willie Harris was the DH?) At least this year we have Tracy and TyMo.
National League teams have the advantage at home. Not only do the AL pitchers struggle at the plate (not just at hitting but at bunting), but the AL team has to decide whether to play their DH with his subpar defense in the field. So maybe the two advantages cancel each other out.
Mick,
In that case the WS shouldn't be between the AL champ and the NL champ. There should be an opportunity for 2 NL teams to play for the title if they are the best teams.
Going to the game tonight. I usually park in the $5 lot but they made it $10 this season. Anyone know of better parking options?
Joe Seamhead,
The issue is that the veteran DH player makes way more money than the prospect from minors fighting for the 25th spot.
NatsLady @10:40, I just called the ticket office seconds ago about a game-swap. I made a request online to swap ONE of my tickets off of this coming Thursday, plus ONE of my tickets in a different section off of a different game, etc. etc., plus an upgrade. I.e., a rather complicated swap.
The guy I just spoke with (Andrew) told me that I'd be "taken care of," but he didn't give me any indication as to exactly when I'd hear back. I told him I had done the online exchange request early last week, and he kept saying things like, "It'll work out."
Frankly, the rhythm of his discourse led me to believe he was trying to end the call.
So I hope the swap works. The thing that concerns me most of all is that I have no idea whether or not my exchange request actually went through originally, because we don't get any kind of email confirmation that we've made it.
I miss the old season-ticket system, to tell you the truth. I felt like I was dealing with human beings then. Now I'm not sure whom I'm dealing with.
Dave, the lady I spoke to on Friday said she had, in fact, received my request. So they probably have yours. It doesn't seem like this process is saving any time for them.
JD
I did not articulate my point well. On your point, then 2 AFC or 2 NFC could play in Superbowl. I am not all suggesting that. I am saying inter league is a good thing and that the old hypocrisy from Bowie Kuhn in 1969 is that MLB will keep its integrity My point is Kuhn was WRONG about not allowing inner league play on that argument because the so called integrity went out the door by expanding the playoff format.
I am glad MLB has expanded the format
Dave, in the old system where you'd put the tickets you wanted to exchange into an envelope along with a form and either mail it in or drop it in the box at the ballpark, what kind of confirmation did you get that they ever actually received and opened your envelope to process your request? As I recall, none. So where's the difference with this new online system? What they told me at the Season Plan Holders Lounge was that if I didn't receive my exchanged tickets in a timely fashion, I could call my ticket rep and they'd straighten it out. Sounds reasonable to me.
Putting this site in the hands of the CSNet admins versus Mark's wife made be the cause of the slow blog-roll updates Natslady. Just a hunch.
Rich P., if I had done my ticket exchanges the way you describe in the old system, then you're right: I would never know for sure that they got my envelope.
Thing is, I practically never did that. I almost always took my tickets to the Guest Services booth behind section 131 (or a few times to the booth in the east garage) and had a human being actually swap the tickets right there in front of me. I walked away from the transaction with new tickets in hand.
Now that we're all digital, there is no way to do that.
I tend to agree with NatsLady: at least in these opening weeks, I can't imagine that the new game-swap system is saving them any time at all. I get the impression they are absolutely swamped with online requests.
I'll call my ticket rep if my swap doesn't work out, and I'm sure he'll work it out. But I never before had to do that.
Who knows? In an infinite Universe anything can happen.
Candide said...
natsfan1a said...
Thanks much, and I just bought you a drink. :-)
Seeing as how you owe infinite drinks, I expect I won't actually be collecting until the end of time, probably at The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
April 09, 2013 12:10 PM
Did the following phrase happen to be uttered?
"I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that."
Dave said...
I miss the old season-ticket system, to tell you the truth. I felt like I was dealing with human beings then. Now I'm not sure whom I'm dealing with.
April 09, 2013 12:28 PM
Slightly more human than that, 1a! :-)
JD said...
As far as I'm concerned they can do away with inter league play altogether.
1)It makes no sense to compete with a different set of rules.
2) If inter league play happens all the time what's the point of calling it 2 separate leagues?
In my youth (a long time ago) there was a certain magic to the world series where your team played a mystery opponent and players you haven't seen all year. Now it's just ho hum.
April 09, 2013 10:27 AM
I agree with you, JD, and for the reasons you mentioned.
SonnyG10. I of course agree with that and baseball brings us back to such a time. Unfortunately, the real world (which is mostly sickening) plays a factor. In my youth days, only 4 teams out of 18 would make post season. I remember one season my team finish 10-4 and missed the playoffs, I cried like a baby. There were no feel good trophies, only one championship trophy and no runner ups. I miss those days as well and my generation played because we loved this game and respected our opponents. But inter league play I do not think takes us away from that time. I respect both JD and your view and deep down I wish for that time as well.
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