Does Interleague Play Affect Baseball Gaming?

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Submitted on: 06/27/2012 by Matthew Coe

I’m torn on interleague play.

In some instances I think it’s great. I love seeing the Mets vs. Yankees, Cubs vs. White Sox, Reds vs. Indians, Dodgers vs. Angels, and Nationals vs. Orioles. These are all great series for baseball to have each regular season.

On the other hand, I’d make some changes to interleague play such as reducing it to eight games every season, with each team playing a home-and-home four-game series with their geographical rival. But that’s neither here nor there.

Aside from the debates surrounding the topic of interleague play in the real sport, I'm looking to ask a different question: does interleague play affect sports gaming?

The most legitimate criticism of interleague play in the real game is inequalities in strength of schedule. This is at least partially the result of uneven leagues (NL has 16 teams, AL has 14 teams), which Major League Baseball hopes to fix with Houston moving to the AL West next season. But with the “natural rivals” concept in place, two teams in the same division will have a drastically different strength of schedule depending on the strength of their rival in any given year. As much as I love the “natural rivals” concept, maybe it’s time to ditch it?

Now let’s take the same concepts to gaming, do they translate?

In my opinion, these disparities really don’t matter in gaming. With the human elements of player skill and things like sliders, I don’t see that interleague play is a big deal at all. I recognize that it creates the same strength of schedule issues as the real game, but the importance of these inequalities just isn’t as important. I actually enjoy being able to play interleague games in my baseball video game. In video game form I think it retains much of the uniqueness that made it an appealing idea to the powers that be in baseball, oh so many years ago.

I wouldn't like to see interleague play go in video game form, but I am in favor of reducing it in the real game. It's sort of how I feel about the DH. I hate the DH rule in real baseball, but I think it can be a fun idea in a video game. That said, I don't think interleague play has any major affect on baseball gaming when you come down to it.

Sound off OS! Does interleague play affect you or your virtual squad?

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Member Comments

# 21 Sergio88 @ 06/30/12 08:39 PM

2013 Interleague Format

� 20 interleague games per team.
� No more than one interleague series per day in April and over the last five weeks.
� No more than one road interleague series per team in the final five weeks.
� Division-by-division matchups rotate annually.
� Every team in a division will play the same five teams in a corresponding division in the other league, plus four "rivalry" games.
� Only four "rivalry" games per team, likely played home-and-home and back-to-back in this format: Monday-Tuesday in one park, Wednesday-Thursday in the other.

# 22 dickey1331 @ 07/01/12 04:20 AM

I don't like interleague play as I don't like playing without a DH

Do you really care where I sent this from?

# 23 moemoe24 @ 07/01/12 10:54 AM

The thing about IL play is that it's never going away because it makes too much money and that all selig thinks about is how to make MLB prosperous. Cities where the attendance is low all of the sudden flood the gates when the red sox or yanks come to town....that's a lot of money they wouldn't have made otherwise.

As far as gaming goes.... I love IL play because I always play as Texas and never see the nl parks. This gives me a chance to play everywhere and I enjoy that

# 24 pokerplaya @ 07/01/12 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shadia147


	The question is in regards to Video Sports Gaming. And since the conversation is about the DH and Interleague Play, Allow me to answer this way; In The Show, we have the option of turning off the DH or going with it in both leagues. I see no such option regarding Interleague Play. Now, in the Video Game Reality, theres no such thing as Players Unions. I am in fact God for all intents and purposes. As such, being 55 yrs old, I yearn for the days of pitchers having an impact from the plate in the American League. So I turned my DH off. I LOVE IT!! It's early yet, but I have some ptchers batting over .500. It levels the playing field. Of course the CPU hasnt figured out yet what to do with Gonzalez and Ortiz at first base for the Red Sox, or Prince Fielder in Detroit. But I can't wait to see how that plays out. So far as Interleague Play, I wish the Devs gave us the option of turning that off too. Yes, it upsets the balance of the season, but what's more, it cheapens the Post Season. I remember the 1976 World Series when the Reds first went to Fenway. They had never seen the Wall up close, and it definitely affected their heads. It was cool to play someone you'd never played before. How would they do? Could Bert Campaneris steal against Johnny Bench? Was the Orioles pitching staff in 1971 really that good? The appeal was that you saw matchups you'd never seen before. Or you would argue with your friends over how who was better Tom Seaver or Jim Palmer... And yet never actually get to see it happen IRL. It added a mystery to the game. And just for the record, it should be the Brewers going back to the AL, not the Astros.

Only thing I wanna point out about your post is I don't think Boston would have any problem at 1B as Gonzo is obviously a way better hitter AND a Gold Glove first baseman, and its in Prince's contract with Detroit that he can't be made to DH over a very low amount of games, he made sure he would be playing the field IN HIS CONTRACT. That was why the position switch was made this year instead of next year when Victor actually comes back to the lineup to DH -- because Prince isn't coming off first base for nine years.

# 25 JJFurr29 @ 07/02/12 03:14 AM

I don't like inter league play.. As a Marlins fan we were doing great tied for 1st then started inter league play and went 6-18 before finally getting back to the NL vs Philly who we swept

# 26 Iceman87GT @ 07/02/12 05:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JJFurr29


	I don't like inter league play.. As a Marlins fan we were doing great tied for 1st then started inter league play and went 6-18 before finally getting back to the NL vs Philly who we swept

You didn't fall out of first because of interleague play. You were a game out of first after sweeping the Nationals, but then they continued winning while you started losing. you went 3-15 against interleague opponents, they played much better against the AL. By the way the Cardinals are in the NL and they were the first team you played coming back from interleague, you lost 2 out of 3 against them. During your 6-18 streak you 3-5 against the NL (including getting swept by the Braves in games 4 through 6 of that 24 game span). Besides its not like you had to play the Orioles,and the Yankees (1st and 2nd) like the Braves, Nationals, and Mets all had to (and look at that they're all ahead of you).

Interleague wasn't your issue, your team's performance was the issue, besides next year you could be singing a different tune about interleague play.

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