The Demise of Interleague

The year I started to watch baseball was the year Interleague Play started. At the time I didn't understand how big of a deal it was. It began with me liking the idea that a few days a year The Yankees got to play the Mets. As I grew older I realized how entertaining it was to watch the Subway Series because some of some of my high school friends were Mets fans. It was a different experience because all of my junior high friends were Yankees fans so there was no arguing or trash talking. We will either meet as a group and watch the game or came to school the Monday after and made fun of the Mets for losing the series. I saw the morning edition of First Take that yesterday's attendance (32,911) for the Subway Series was at an all time low for the Subway Series. The big issue is that this is the first time the Subway Series was being played on a weekday, the series was always a Friday-Sunday affair , this new format where there is an Interleague game everyday has killed the entertainment of Interleague Series like The Subway Series, Freeway Series, Bay Bridge Series and Windy City Series. I always attributed Interleague with the beginning of summer since it is always played somewhere between Late May and the end of June. The fact that any American League team can play any National League team at any time of the year has taken that excitement away. I have heard that the popularity of InterLeague play started to go down in the past few years so Major League Baseball decided this was the best way to deal with it. It's a change I have to get used to because I figured once they realigned the teams so each division has 5 teams that was going to lead to more changes. The Subway Series was a chance to watch Jeter vs Piazza, the Yankees rotation vs Maddux, Smoltz and Glavine. The beauty of today is we have the Angels and Dodgers and Orioles and Nationals, four teams that are being talked about so much they should all be playing at the same time so at least there is some buzz. Interleague is no longer a special event that I can look forward to this season or any season after but one thing Bug Selig or whoever is responsible for making the schedule for next season might want to set the most popular Interleague Series in the same weekend that way the attendance for those teams like the Yankees, Mets, Angels and Dodgers can have a higher attendance.