For the Phillies, The Injustice of Interleague Play
by David S. Cohen on Jun 25, 2010 11:46 AM EDT
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PrintWe all know that historically the Phillies have been awful at interleague play. Their 8-7 record so far this year is quite remarkable given the trends from the past.
What makes the 8-7 record even more remarkable is how difficult the Phillies interleauge schedule has been, especially when compared with the interleague schedules of the Phillies' NL East division-mates.
Here are the AL teams that the Phillies and each of their NL East rivals has faced (each instance of a team name represents one 3-game series):
Phillies: Red Sox, Red Sox, Yankees, Twins, Indians, Blue Jays
Braves: Twins, Rays, Royals, White Sox, Tigers
Marlins: White Sox, Rays, Rangers, Rays, Orioles
Mets: Yankees, Orioles, Indians, Yankees, Tigers, Twins
Nationals: Orioles, Indians, Tigers, White Sox, Royals, Orioles
Without getting into numbers, the Phillies face an obviously more difficult schedule, as they face two division leaders plus the Red Sox twice and the good-but-unfortunate-to-be-in-the-AL-East Blue Jays. Only the Mets also face two division leaders, but the Mets have the luxury of facing the Indians and the Orioles, the two worst teams in the AL. The Marlins and Braves have tough schedules, no doubt, but they only have five series, not six, against AL teams.
The difference is more obvious when you go to the numbers. Just looking at winning percentage, the Phillies are facing the toughest AL opponents. Here are the NL East teams ranked based on the combined winning percentage of their AL opponents in interleague play:
Phillies: .545
Braves: .527
Marlins: .521
Mets: .500
Nationals: .401
Facing the toughest AL opponents, the Phillies have been fortunate to play above .500 ball. But, they've been bettered by the Braves, who have gone 7-5 (not to mention their 2-1 record against the Pirates the May 21-23 weekend the Phillies started interleague play against the Red Sox), and the Mets, who have gone 11-4.
With the Phillies currently locked in a tight battle with the Braves and Mets at the top of NL East standings, these differences in AL opponents are significant.
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I mentioned this last week when we were discussing the Phillies heartbreaker against the Twins— that while our poor play in games like that one would be something I would look back on if we missed, I also would be looking at the inequities of the schedule that aided the Braves and Mets on their way. As much as I enjoy interleague play (I liked having the opportunity to see the Red Sox, a team that I rooted for in law school play without travelling all the way to Boston), I do not like the fact that the schedule is unequal.
i am guessing you werent complaining about these interleague differences
in 2007 when the mets played the yankees twice and you played them 0 times, and i am pretty sure you guys had only 5 series that year.
different teams get screwed different years, not only by interleague schedule but also by the unbalanced schedule that leaves the NL east facing the scrubs of the central and west only two series a year. complain to bud selig.
of course it's relevant.
It relates to the exact issue David’s complaining about. Just because it contradicts what you want to believe doesn’t mean it’s not true.
John Olerud, Hall of Famer. Got a nice ring to it.
keep reading...
What was “unfair” for the Mets in 2007 is “unfair” for the Phillies in 2010.
Also don’t forget that in many of these seasons the Phillies have played the Yankees for three AND the Red Sox (the Yankees’ near equal or superior) for three or six games.
http://www.thegoodphight.com
2007
Phillies and Mets both had 15 interleague games. Phillies faced an average .504 opponent; Mets faced an average .537 opponent. Neither has anything to do with this year, of course, but they do prove the larger point here — the unbalanced interleague schedule does not put teams on equal footing, even though they are competing against one another for the same title.
As for your last four words, about complaining to Bud Selig, if your idea of a blog is that you shouldn’t write about things that you could otherwise write a letter to Bud Selig, then I’m not sure exactly what you want us posting here. Pictures of our favorite Phillie hitting a home run followed by OMG?!?!
by David S. Cohen on Jun 25, 2010 1:46 PM EDT up reply actions
i was just adding we should complain to bud selig
and i am not saying it is relevant to this year, was just getting at the bigger point that this brings up – interleague is unfair
then
We agree.
Let us celebrate this arrangement with the adding of chocolate to milk.
http://www.thegoodphight.com
i got brownies
we can rewatch the braves getting swept
Brownies and chocolate milk is a bit overkill to me. With brownies, I’ll take my milk straight-up.
by David S. Cohen on Jun 25, 2010 2:23 PM EDT up reply actions
That’s hardcore, dude.
Remember the Phitans
by RememberthePhitans on Jun 25, 2010 2:41 PM EDT up reply actions
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." A. Bartlett Giamatti
…says the crying and whining Philly fan….
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." A. Bartlett Giamatti
No Philly fan here....
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." A. Bartlett Giamatti
Hey, why’d you delete my well placed obscenity?
by FuquaManuel on Jun 25, 2010 10:53 PM EDT up reply actions
Obscenity must appeal to a prurient interest. Your comment was probably just invective. Unless it tended to arouse, which I am recalling, it didn’t. That’s why telling a cop to fuck off is not disorderly conduct (under the obscenity portion of the D.C. statute, anyway). A good summary is here:
http://aclupa.blogspot.com/2010_05_01_archive.html
Now if a Braves fan (or someone else, for that matter) experienced sexual arousal as a result of you telling him to fuck off or to fuck himself, then it might be a different matter. THEN you have obscenity. Otherwise, it’s just profanity/invective. You can send a check to me for the equivalent of one credit hour of tuition at Penn now.
Of course, go ahead and try your luck and see what telling a cop to “fuck off” gets you. I suspect a taser in the testicles might be a likely starting point, but your mileage may vary. For this, you can send me a check equivalent to one credit hour of tuition at the University of Life. The cash value is equal to the amount it is worth to you to avoid a taser discharge to your testicles.
Remember the Phitans
by RememberthePhitans on Jun 26, 2010 12:52 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
A continuation of the play. Go to the line and shoot 1.
Remember the Phitans
by RememberthePhitans on Jun 26, 2010 1:42 AM EDT up reply actions
Cohen v. California
When J.D. Drew showed up wearing a pin that said “Fuck the Draft,” the Phillies should’ve gotten a clue.
http://www.thegoodphight.com
one fan’s vulgarity is another fan’s lyric.
by Wet Luzinski on Jun 27, 2010 9:43 AM EDT up reply actions
A thinking fan would be able to hold two ideas in his head simultaneously. The first is that interleague play is unfair. The second is that it is unfair on a rotating basis. Because of the unfairness of it this year, it is not surprising that a Phillies fan would raise the issue this year. I just removed my profanity-filled diatribe from this post to make it more likely for you to see, and more importantly, be willing to admit your error. It was creative invective that I was quite proud of, so I’m making a big sacrifice here. Let’s all be big about this and sing kumbaya, ok?
Remember the Phitans
by RememberthePhitans on Jun 25, 2010 5:54 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I don't think I'm the person...
you meant to reply to, but I think you are very nice to remove your diatribe. I’m sort of sorry I missed it, though.
Yeah, the Braves got the 6 games against Boston and 3 against the Yankees last year… When we complained about it, y’all accused us of whining, so really, we are just returning the favor.
Kumbaya, my Lord, Kumbaya….. ;-)
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." A. Bartlett Giamatti
I think you mean “yinz”
Remember the Phitans
by RememberthePhitans on Jun 25, 2010 7:35 PM EDT up reply actions
That’d be Pittsburgh.
My little Dutch grandmother from Central PA combined them: “You-inz”
http://www.thegoodphight.com
I know all about yinzers. Just joking.
If your GM is dutch, have you experienced the joy that is hog maw? Scrapple? Pigs feet souse? Chitlins? I’m 2-4 on that list, sadly.
Remember the Phitans
by RememberthePhitans on Jun 25, 2010 8:46 PM EDT up reply actions
yeah, I can’t seem to remember anyone here accusing the Braves or their fans of whining about interleague.
We accuse you of whining about nearly everything else though, because, well, you do.
by FuquaManuel on Jun 25, 2010 10:57 PM EDT up reply actions
to be fair...
Only the Mets also face two division leaders
The Rays were in first when we played them.
"Infield hits are sexy, because they require technique."
-Ichiro
Also to be fair...
The Phillies play three more home games than any other team in the NL East, so let’s call it even.
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