![\"WHGB11\"](\"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/wp-content\/WHGB.png\" "\\"WHGB11\\"")
Fenway Park always radiates with history, yet Boston\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s latest home series had an extra special quality to it.\u00c2\u00a0 The Chicago Cubs were in town for the first time since the 1918 World Series.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\nFenway Park always radiates with history, yet Boston\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s latest home series had an extra special quality to it.\u00c2\u00a0 The Chicago Cubs were in town for the first time since the 1918 World Series.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
The two teams came off the field on 11 September 1918 with Boston celebrating their third World Series win in four years.\u00c2\u00a0 Red Sox fans would never have believed that their team would wait 86 years to taste such sweet victory again.\u00c2\u00a0 Cubs fans would have been even more incredulous at the thought that by 2010 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and counting \u00e2\u20ac\u201c their team still hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t lifted a trophy to put that World Series defeat to rest.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
And who would have thought the sides would wait until 2011 before meeting again in Boston.\u00c2\u00a0 Watching the Cubs and Red Sox playing at venerable Fenway was a real treat, particularly on Saturday when they wore retro 1918 uniforms.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
We have interleague play to thank for that series.\u00c2\u00a0 On its own, it is a decent argument in favour of the format that was introduced in 1997.\u00c2\u00a0 However, there are still plenty of arguments against it and they always get a vocal airing when interleague play comes around each season.<\/p>\n
Prior to 1997, American League and National League teams only met in the World Series, with players from both leagues also meeting in the All-Star Game.\u00c2\u00a0 The division of the teams into two leagues is a legacy of baseball\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s past that in many respects no longer seems relevant.\u00c2\u00a0 They play by slightly different rules, but for all intents and purposes, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all MLB in the end.<\/p>\n
Consequently, only allowing two teams from \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcrival\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 leagues to face each other every year would be unnecessarily restrictive.\u00c2\u00a0 In an age when we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re all used to having more choice than we can cope with, not taking advantage of a fuller range of different match-ups would be foolhardy.<\/p>\n
A possible 2011 World Series between Texas and Philadelphia wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be the least bit undermined by their recent interleague series.\u00c2\u00a0 If anything, it adds an extra layer of intrigue.\u00c2\u00a0 Fans could look at the series just gone with visions of it being a possible prequel to the World Series, while if that does transpire then there will be a short, but not insignificant, recent history to refer back to.<\/p>\n
Interleague play should be something special, something unique to add an extra feature to the MLB regular season.\u00c2\u00a0 The question is whether that uniqueness is being lost?<\/p>\n
Most teams play 18 interleague games in a season and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s possibly at least three games too many.\u00c2\u00a0 The timing of the games also could be improved.\u00c2\u00a0 Playing them altogether, or in two distinct blocks, would make them stand out as events during the year.\u00c2\u00a0 The recent splash of three games make no sense, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no time for a build up and the teams immediately head straight back into normal play. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only the occasional unique contest, such as the historic Cubs and Red Sox set, that avoid becoming just another series.<\/p>\n
And then you come to the actual fixtures.\u00c2\u00a0 The interleague rivalries were part of the big plan, allowing teams in places such as New York, the Bay Area and Los Angeles to face each other.\u00c2\u00a0 However, now these teams meet six times every year and, again, it becomes just another part of the season.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Others have noted the unfairness that interleague play adds to the schedule and how this will be exacerbated if the number of playoff teams increases to ten next year, as seems inevitable. \u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
With the playoff expansion likely to take place, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a good time to make a wider assessment of the MLB schedule.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m all for keeping interleague play so long as it produces unique contests more consistently than at present.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Breakfast time baseball<\/strong><\/p>\n Checking MLB.com over breakfast is a daily ritual for me.\u00c2\u00a0 Normally it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a case of being able to catch up on all of the games that had taken place while Britain slept, but occasionally we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re treated to some live breakfast-time baseball.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n We don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get to enjoy it all that often, but every now and then a west coast game runs on for longer than normal and is still in progress as the kettle boils and cereal is sleepily poured into a bowl here in Britain.<\/p>\n I was able to munch down my cornflakes last Tuesday morning while watching the A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s playing the Angels.\u00c2\u00a0 The game was originally scheduled to start at 7.05 p.m. local time in Oakland, making for a less-hospitable 3.05 a.m. start here.\u00c2\u00a0 However, a 1 hour 25 minute rain delay meant that the game didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get underway until 4.30 UK time.<\/p>\n The A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s were trailing 4-3 as I logged on at 7 a.m. and my initial delight at having a live Oakland game on at breakfast time soon turned into thoughts that it might not be such a welcome surprise after all.\u00c2\u00a0 Watching your team lose to a fierce division rival before you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had time to finish a cup of tea is hardly getting your day off to a good start. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, it seemed that my walk to work would feel longer than usual.<\/p>\n Thankfully, my fears were soon allayed in dramatic fashion.\u00c2\u00a0 Coco Crisp got on base with a single, stole second and was then driven home by Daric Barton to tie the game and send it to extras.\u00c2\u00a0 The Aussie Grant Balfour got three strikeouts to shutdown the Angels in the top of the tenth and Mark Ellis grounded-home the game-winning run in the bottom of the frame.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n A come from behind, walk-off win over breakfast: is there a better way to start your day?\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n