It's become increasingly clear that baseball has three choices for the
future of interleague play: Start rotating interleague opponents, keep just
those "rivalry" games or forget the whole thing.
On the one hand, last weekend's matchups of Mets-Yankees, White
Sox-Cubs, Indians-Reds, etc., etc., brought us a June 10 baseball-fest with
the third-highest single-day attendance total in baseball history.
But on the other hand, the first round of interleague play also brought
us 25 crowds under 20,000. The Yankees drew a total of 67,929 for three games
in Montreal. The Red Sox drew a total of 43,836 for three games in Florida.
Even those two designated rivals, the Expos and Blue Jays, never attracted a
single crowd over 30,239 in Toronto.
Those are numbers that say just one thing: It's time for a change. But
the commish, Bud Selig, is adamant that he has no intention of ever scrapping
the interleague experiment completely.
"I reject that totally and completely," Selig said. "If you really look
at the interleague attendance, you can see that interleague play still works
beautifully. Attendance is up 16 percent over last year. And we've had some
great series. I was just a spectator in Chicago last Saturday. And the
excitement there was incredible. So it's not even about attendance. It's
about what it does for baseball."
The original intention of the schedule makers was to begin a rotation of
interleague opponents next year, while retaining at least one "rivalry
series" per team. But with realignment still a jumble, Selig now concedes
it's possible that rotation system might have to remain on the drawing board,
at least temporarily.
"I hope we can do it next year," he said. "But at this point, I'm not 100
percent sure."
As a two-time All Star and (more importantly) the first pitcher on the
block right now, Phillies right-hander Andy Ashby has attracted far more
interest than his 2-7 record would ordinarily dictate.
"There's nothing wrong with this guy," said one scout in attendance at
Ashby's start in Baltimore last weekend. "Put him on a new team, get his
delivery straightened out, and this guy will pitch well and he'll win."
Among the clubs most interested: Toronto (for Roy Halladay?), Atlanta
(Bruce Chen?), Cincinnati (Dmitri Young?), White Sox (Bobby Howry?), Red Sox
(for two young pitchers), Yankees (Ricky Ledee?) and Indians (may be too
banged up to have enough to trade).
One of the many misconceptions in the Sammy Sosa soap opera is that Sosa
will wind up as a Yankee because of the tight relationship between George
Steinbrenner and one of Sosa's agents, Tom Reich. But Reich has long been
conscious of the Yankees' championship chemistry and actually steered Mo
Vaughn away from the Yankees during his free-agent tour two winters ago
because of his respect for Tino Martinez. So Steinbrenner's friendship with
Reich won't necessarily mean anything in this case, either. "When the deal
goes down," Reich says, "Sammy will make up his own mind."
Another thing to keep in mind: The Yankees haven't made a deal at the trade
deadline since 1997.
One potential dark horse in the Sosa field: Arizona.
The Reds deny it, but there are increasing indications Jack McKeon is in
trouble if they don't turn it around fast.
Pete Rose wound up being a no-show at the Phillies' 1980 World Series
reunion this weekend. But as close as 10 days beforehand, Rose was still
telling people he wanted to attend the events surrounding the reunion -- and
hoped to sit in a luxury box for the event itself. Then, as word of that got
out, there was a mysterious change of plans. Draw your own conclusions.
It's always fascinating to try to read the mind of Orioles owner Peter
Angelos. But figure this out: Angelos has been telling people he'd rather
lose Mike Mussina to free agency and get nothing for him than trade him. Huh?
One AL executive says he can't see the Red Sox trading for Sosa. "I don't
know if it's worth messing with the chemistry that team has going," he says.
"And I don't know if Sammy is what Boston needs. They need pitching more than
a bat. But if they do go get a bat, to me Juan Gonzalez is a better fit for
them than Sammy. He hits in Fenway, and he's played in the American League."
Despite rampant speculation, there still has been no indication the
Phillies are ready to trade Curt Schilling.
Can't we all just admit the White Sox are for real and go from there? Five
of their last 10 series have been against the Yankees (three series) and
Indians (two series). And the other five were at Toronto, at Seattle, at
Houston, at Cincinnati and home against the Cubs. And their record in that
stretch through Friday was 21-8. Case closed.
Useless information dept.
No American League team has played more games against National League teams
than the Yankees, for obvious reasons. But of their 258 games against teams
from that other league (201 postseason, 57 regular season), only once have
they lost one by a bigger margin than their 12-2 loss to the Mets last
weekend. That was Game 1 of the '96 World Series (a.k.a., the Andruw Jones
Coming Out Party): Braves 12, Yankees 1.
It used to be a blockbuster event when the Indians got swept in any series
at home. But it's now happened twice this year -- to the White Sox this week,
and to the Yankees in May. That's as many times as the Indians were swept at home
in a series of three games or more in the four previous seasons combined. Those
two previous sweeps: by the Red Sox in May of '99 and by the Yankees in June
of '96.
When the White Sox dropped the Indians four games back on Tuesday, it was
the first time they'd been that many games out of first place since May 28,
1994. And when they lost the next night, it marked their first day at five
games out or more since the invention of the AL Central in '94. On the other
side, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's Jim Caple, who is also a columnist for ESPN.com, reports that the Twins had
been that far out for 852 days through Friday.
Who says those AL pitchers can't hit? Not one AL team had its pitching
staff go 0 for interleague play. Best-hitting staff so far: Anaheim (2 for 6,
3 RBIs, only one whiff). Worst: Indians (1 for 14, 11 whiffs, with the only
hit by a relief pitcher -- Justin Speier).
Offensive insanity isn't what it used to be. Friday marked the third day
since June 5 in which no team scored 10 runs or more. We'd gone 48 straight
days in which at least one team had done it before then. On the other hand,
before Friday, we were up to 214 games this year in which at least one team
had scored in double figures. There were only 201 games like that all season
in 1992.
It's a funny game. The White Sox hit five home runs Sunday and lost. Then
they gave up five home runs Monday and won. With the help of the Sultan of
Swat Stats, SABR'S David Vincent, we've determined that they're the first
team ever to achieve that bizarre daily double on back-to-back days.
Vincent also checks in with the news that that Yankees-Mets subway
doubleheader will actually mark the fifth time two teams have played each
other in two different ballparks on the same day. The others: The 1899
Brooklyn Superbas and New York Giants met in each other's parks on Sept. 4,
1899 (with Brooklyn sweeping). The Superbas and Giants met again on Sept. 7,
1903 and split. And in Federal League action, the Brooklyn Tip-Tops and
Newark Peppers split a couple of ferry doubleheaders on May 31 and Sept. 6.
Last Sunday in Denver, the Rockies gave up 18 hits and still beat the
Rangers. But nothing new there. Stats Inc.'s David Pinto reports that this is
the 11th time in the Rockies' crooked-number-filled history that they've
given up 18 hits or more in a win. The next-closest team in that department
is the Indians, with six. And only one other National League team even has
done it more than twice -- the Cubs (with four).
It isn't every day you see Pedro Martinez walk in a run. When he walked
Jorge Posada with the bases loaded to force in the only run he allowed
Wednesday at Yankees Stadium, it was the first time he'd brought in a run
with a bases-loaded walk or hit batter since Sept. 9, 1998 (Tino Martinez)
and only the ninth time in his career.
What a Difference a Year Makes Dept.: The Astros' bullpen through 65 games
this year: 189 innings pitched, 9-16, seven saves, 12 blown saves. The Astros'
bullpen through 65 games last year: Only 141 1/3 innings pitched, 8-6, 19
saves, just three blown saves.
Love those Tigers. They've had two games rained out after they'd begun --
and they were leading those two by a combined score of 8-0. But they've had
five games delayed by rain before they started -- and in those five, they're
0-5 and have been outscored, 52-17.
On the other hand, does any team play to the level of its opposition more
than the Tigers? They've won six series all year. Five are against the
Yankees, Red Sox, Indians, Mariners and Cardinals.
Jayson Stark is a senior writer at ESPN.com. Rumblings and Grumblings will appear each Saturday. | |
ALSO SEE
Jayson Stark archive
Stark: Week in Review
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