The Cubs and Padres are playing in the only intraleague series this weekend. The first slate of interleague matchups always revives the debate about the merits of interleague play. Is it perfect the way it is? Should it be limited to the natural rivalries like Cubs-Sox and Yankees-Mets? Should it be eliminated?
Maybe this is just me being intellectually lazy, but I like it the way it is. Sure, we have to deal with our share of Rockies-Tigers, Pirates-White Sox and Nationals-A's matchups, but we also get the great rivalries and fans get a good look at some teams they don't typically see. Is Cubs-Twins a blockbuster series? No, but Wrigley fans will get the chance to see Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and whoever the hell pitches for the Twins. And until they get rid of the terrible DH rule, we get to see AL pitchers play defense AND offense every now and then, and we get to see what the Cubs lineup would look like if they played in the AL.
And whether fans say they like it or not, their wallets speak for them: according to the article linked above, "If you subtracted those four rivalries [Cubs-Sox, Yankees-Mets, Dodgers-Angels and A's-Giants] in each of the last three seasons, interleague attendance was still 7.5 percent higher last year, 4.1 percent bigger in 2007 and 6.0 percent larger in 2006."
I think the anti-interleague argument that holds the most water is that it makes the schedule unfair. The Cubs always play the Sox six times, and the Sox tend to be pretty good. The Cardinals play the Royals six times every year, and the Royals tend to be pretty bad. But there are two responses to this complaint:
1) The schedule is already unfair due to the unbalanced nature of it. If the Mets are battling the Brewers for the final wild card spot, the Mets are most likely going to be at a disadvantage playing the Phillies, Braves and Marlins 50 times as opposed to the Brewers battling the Astros, Pirates and Reds 50 times.
2) Other sports--especially the NFL--have "unfair" schedules, too. As pointed out in the same article referenced above, the Jets and Patriots will have 14 similar opponents this season, but while the Jets draw the Raiders and Bengals in their other two games, the Patriots have to face the Ravens and Broncos. And while two games don't sound like a lot, that equates to 20 games in baseball, percentage-wise.
There's no question that interleague play has its drawbacks, but I always enjoy seeing the unique matchups and the intense rivalries. Because they only play six times a year, Cubs-Sox games are even more intense than Cubs-Cardinals. Schedule fairness be damned, I want my crosstown rivalry.
Friday: Padres 4, Cubs 0
Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Five hits, no runs. Two runs in four games. The Cubs have allowed 12 runs in the last four games, and won none of them. Things are going to get better, but that's only because they can't get worse. The Cubs struck out 16 times and Derrek Lee was the only starter who didn't K in the game.
Zambrano couldn't get through five innings in his return from the DL, as he racked up 97 pitches in just 4.2 IP. He gave up a run in the first despite not allowing a hit--he walked two, hit a batter and gave up a sac fly--and though he settled down after that, the Cubs' fate was sealed due to their inability score. Big Z falls to 3-2 with a 4.64 ERA.
Adding injury to insult
Rich Harden strained his back during a side session on Friday, and is headed to the DL. Randy Wells will fill in Saturday, his third start of the year. The injury is supposedly not all that serious, but it's unfortunate that the Cubs lose a starter on the day they thought their rotation was returning to full strength.
The last week of Cubs baseball has been downright painful to watch. Let's hope this is rock bottom.
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