There are a lot of options for Willie Randolph to plug in as the DH. Carlos Beltran, Jose Valentin, Julio Franco, Damion Easley. Maybe Shawn Green when he’s activated Sunday.
I hate the question, not so much because I hate the DH, but I despise interleague play. I have been against it from the outset and I don’t buy a word MLB says about how successful it has been.
Outside the Yankees going to new NL parks, is there really an interleague draw outside the city rivalries? Anything you can come up with is a stretch.
I don’t like it because it was a panic move after the strike with the lame reasoning it is to pump up attendance. MLB always releases these attendance numbers during interleague play, but they conveniently overlook two things: interleague play starts when the weather warms up and school is out.
I’ve always looked at it as a gimmick. Most of all, it isn’t fair. The Mets get the Yankees twice, every playoff team, and an extra series with the Dodgers. Quite simply, it’s not the same race for every team.
The season used to be a marathon race, one of integrity because every team had the same schedule. Not only is interleague play not fair, but it also screws up the scheduling.
It is part of Bud Selig’s legacy, and as far as I am concerned, not a good one.
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In the early 90s my brother got me into a focus group for MLB and they were putting out feelers for the wild card and inter-league but I kind of got the feeling they had already made up their mind.
Maybe there could be a seeding with the rivalry game. Like if the Mets have to play last year’s team with the best record in the AL they get to play the team with the worst also.
Hi John –
I have a question about Bud Selig and the structure of the Commissioner’s Office. What is/are the criteria and/or qualifications for that office – are they set out in writing or is it more informal than that? What is the term of office for Commissioner of Baseball and how is he/she selected or elected?
I’d like to know – if you don’t know the details, could you please let me know where to begin to look?
One thing I do know is that George W. Bush was ‘in the running’ for Commissioner of Baseball during his time with the Rangers, but obviously lost out in some way to Bud Selig, and we all know what happened after that.