Interleague Rivals Weekend Wraps Up Successfully

By Joe Pietaro
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Updated: June 29, 2008

Subway and Freeway Series’ Finales Both Gems

For all the things wrong with Major League Baseball’s Interleague play, weekends like this past one can make them all go away and give the fans what they want. The purists of the game will say that it’s all for money, and while that may be a part of the reason, pleasing the fans was the main objective. These are the games that they want to see, and the last scheduled date for Interleague match-ups was filled with rivalry contests for the ages.

Out at Shea Stadium, the Mets took the battle of New York, four games to two, with a solid 3-1 win over the crosstown Yankees behind lefty Oliver Perez. Out on the left coast, the Angels were able to make a 1-0 lead stand after being shut out in the previous two games. Not to be undone, the Chicago Civil War came to a close with the South Siders sweeping after being swept.

It is hard to knock the two leagues meeting for regular season contests when you have this much excitement. How do you explain the White Sox winning three at home from the Cubs after losing the previous weekend set at Wrigley? Or the Mets drubbing the Yankees in the Bronx, 15-6, on Friday afternoon then laying an egg in a 9-0 nightcap in Queens?

Still not enough to convince you? Then the middle game at Chavez Ravine may help, when the Dodgers beat the Angels without the benefit of a base hit. This was only the fifth time since the modern era of baseball (1900 on) that a team has been able to win while being no-hit. In this instance, the two Angel pitchers that combined on the effort did not receive credit for the elusive no-hitter because the road team only pitched eight innings. Bizarre to say the least, but the fans definitely got their money’s worth.

Other rivalries that we enjoyed in the last weekend in June were San Francisco-Oakland, Cincinnati-Cleveland, Washington-Baltimore and St. Louis-Kansas City.