Stop Complaining About Interleague Play

Why is baseball the only sport where people complain about interleague play?  First off I think that interleague play is overrated.  Sure, some of these series used to be big rivalries, and some of them still are big rivalries, but for the most part MLB is just making a big deal out of nothing.  As a Cardinals fan I enjoy watching the Cards Royals "rivalry" every year, but it is definitely nothing compared to the Cards Reds rivalry or the Cards Cubs rivalry.  If the Cardinals were to get swept by the Royals this weekend I would be disappointed, but I would also be disappointed if Seattle swept the Cardinals.  These games such as Cards Royals or Giants A's are not getting the fans excited every year because the games are not really any more important than any other game.  In fact some of these games are less important than normal games.  Sure, if the Giants had back to back series with the A's and the Rockies, they would want to do well in both series, but the Rockies series is much more important than the A's series, even though the Giants and A's have the "extremely competitive" Bay Bridge Series.  MLB should stop making such a big deal out of all these "rivalries" that they have and just set up some games every year that will be fun for the fans.  Interleague play should be used to get teams out of the normal routine of seeing the same teams day in and day out, and create some interesting matchups that fans do not normally get to see.

People who are complaining about how unfair interleague play is also need to stop.  Sure some teams are going to have harder opponents than other teams, but it does no good to sit around and complain about it.  MLB does not have time to sit around and make sure that every team has a perfect schedule and that every team will get to face opponents with the same record.  It is a nearly impossible task, so stop complaining about it.  One of the biggest complaints this season is the matchups between the NL Central and the AL East.  The Brewers are stuck playing the Rays, Red Sox, and Yankees, while the Cardinals are playing the Rays, Orioles, and Blue Jays.  Sure, maybe this is a little unfair, but is it really a big deal?  Boston just got back over the .500 mark, and the Orioles, the worst team in the AL East, are only five games back of the first place Rays.  Is there really that big of a difference in these teams records that we just need to throw interleague play away.

The only real complaint that I have about interleague play, are the amount of games that are played.  Most teams have about fifteen interleague games, with some teams having up to twenty some years.  This is about 10% of a team's schedule.  I think the number of interleague games should be cut in half, with teams playing three interleague series instead of six.  The teams could play their "rivalry" series and then two other series that MLB sets up.  I think that this would solve a lot of the complaints about interleague play because it would not be such a factor in the MLB season.  MLB should definitely not throw away interleague play, but they could make some changes to make it a little better.  The main thing that needs to happen though, is that people need to stop trying to get rid of interleague play, because although it is not perfect it is still interesting to watch and MLB should keep it.  And to be honest, it is not really that big of a deal.