This weekend the Cincinnati Reds have their long awaited rematch from the 1970 World Series against the Baltimore Orioles. My memories of that series are... yea, I wasn't really around then. This is series marks the Reds playing at all of the American League parks. Great.
Look, I see the appeal to Inter-league play. Battle of Ohio is cool. Being able to see the Yankees play the Reds is definitely an attraction. The Reds had their first non-opening day Monday sell-out because of it. Money is to be made. Besides, the more teams that play each other, the less we have to hear about Red Sox versus Yankees. So that's a plus
I guess my gripe is that other than when we play the Indians or a marquee team like the Yankees or Red Sox, it's just another game. Sure, the Texas Rangers were in the World Series last year, but I wouldn't be clamoring to get tickets because the Rangers are in town.
More than any other pro sport, baseball has more tradition in the US than any other sport. There are a lot of things that make it unique. The DH Rule, 7th inning stretch, and not playing the other league. That's what makes it cool. I know that there are 162 games and that people might not want to see the Astros 14 times a year, but that's baseball. The fact that the team we play in the World Series may be the only time we play that team is pretty cool. And adds to the lore of baseball.
But in a world that likes to change things just because they feel like it, it was only a matter of time until inter-league play happened. And now there is talk of realignment and going from 2 leagues and 3 divisions to 2 leagues and 2 divisions. That's got an old school feel to it, and really makes winning a division mean a lot. I would be a big fan of realignment. Why should the Reds be in a 6 team division and the Rangers be in a 4 team one? So it'll be interesting to see how that pays out.
Just don't talk to me about an 18 game schedule.
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