Interleague Play Is Awesome

Apr 27, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants center fielder Angel Pagan (16) reacts after scoring during the third inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY SportsThe Toronto Blue Jays have their first interleague series against the San Francisco Giants. It is their first of many interleague series.

The Houston Astro’s moving to the American League means there are 15 teams in each league now so there has to be an interleague game played every day.

For one I think it should have always been a given that teams play every other team in baseball. There shouldn’t even be a word for interleague play it should just be an assumed thing that gets done.

Interleague Play is great.

For some reason a LOT of baseball fans don’t like it. That makes no sense to me.

What boggles my mind about so many fans not liking interleague play is would you really rather just watch teams play the exact same teams all year long? Variety is the spice of life.

Whenever the Blue Jays schedule is released for the next season the first thing I do is check to see which NL teams they’re playing. It’s special.

Unless you can just fly or drive anywhere anytime you want you get a rare opportunity to see Buster Posey or other NL players in person at Rogers Centre. You’ll also get to see the Blue Jays play games against ex-Jays you wouldn’t normally see like Aaron Hill when the Jays travel to Arizona in September.

When the Blue Jays go to NL ballparks you get to see their starting pitchers hit! If you have a little hang up about wanting your hitters to get on base then you probably don’t like that.

But if you’re willing to overlook that it is funny and fun to see Brandon Morrow or any AL pitcher try to swing a bat or lay down a bunt. It’s also super hilarious when an AL pitcher manages to get a hit or draw a walk because they almost always make it look awkward.

Your AL pitcher also gets to face a pitcher in NL ball parks so they get a handful of slightly easier games to pitch through than they would in a typical American League game.

If you’re a fan of a NL team you get to see them use an extra hitter with the DH in AL ballparks which is hard to complain about.

With 15 teams in each league now interleague play is here to stay. As far as I’m concerned there’s a lot more to like about interleague play then there is to not like about it.