Interleague Play - 20008 - Mission Accomplished!
Our season of interleague play finished its turn on Sunday against the Cincinnati Reds - and I know the Tribe is glad to see it finish up and move back into playing divisional rivals. We had the chance to see the Rockies' ball park and Dodger Stadium - a couple of places we would not normally see and the Padres and Giants visited us in Cleveland. It was good to see Omar Vizquel in the lineup and receive the warm greeting of the Tribe faithful after his many years with the club. I had the opportunity to at least visit with Duane Kuiper, broadcaster for the Giants, and his brother Jeff, producer for their TV show. Duane as you may recall was a member of the team in the 80's and it was great to see him in fine shape and enjoying his job with the team.
But what about this type of play? Are you for or against it? I know from my corner of the world it is interesting to see our team play in the National League format - but I would be just as interested to see more of the Yankees, Orioles, Blue Jays, Red Sox, and Rays in our own division.
Regardless of that what did the figures show? According to MLB.com, a total of 8,893,312 fans attended Interleague games through Sunday, an average of 35,573. One Interleague game remains on July 10 as the makeup for a Yankees-Pirates rainout.
With the continued popularity of Interleague Play, Major League Baseball's cumulative attendance average of 31,687 is up 0.6 percent over the same date during the record-breaking 2007 season. At the current pace, MLB is on track for a fifth consecutive year of record overall attendance.
American League fans again have the most to smile about when they reflect on Interleague Play '08. The AL is 149-102 -- and much of that damage was inflicted by clubs in the AL Central.
The Minnesota Twins (14-4), Detroit Tigers (13-5) and Kansas City Royals (13-5) all cleaned up in Interleague Play. The AL Central was 58-32 overall, with four its five clubs going 12-6 or better. Eleven of the 14 clubs in the AL finished over .500 and only the Mets, Reds and Braves broke .500 from the NL.
So there it is - the fans seemed to have spoken.... They like it and in great numbers! Now it's wait until next year.... In the meantime, plenty of baseball left and into the Central we go....
Baseball is like a poker game....Nobody wants to quit when he is losing; nobody wants you to quit when you are ahead.
But what about this type of play? Are you for or against it? I know from my corner of the world it is interesting to see our team play in the National League format - but I would be just as interested to see more of the Yankees, Orioles, Blue Jays, Red Sox, and Rays in our own division.
Regardless of that what did the figures show? According to MLB.com, a total of 8,893,312 fans attended Interleague games through Sunday, an average of 35,573. One Interleague game remains on July 10 as the makeup for a Yankees-Pirates rainout.
With the continued popularity of Interleague Play, Major League Baseball's cumulative attendance average of 31,687 is up 0.6 percent over the same date during the record-breaking 2007 season. At the current pace, MLB is on track for a fifth consecutive year of record overall attendance.
American League fans again have the most to smile about when they reflect on Interleague Play '08. The AL is 149-102 -- and much of that damage was inflicted by clubs in the AL Central.
The Minnesota Twins (14-4), Detroit Tigers (13-5) and Kansas City Royals (13-5) all cleaned up in Interleague Play. The AL Central was 58-32 overall, with four its five clubs going 12-6 or better. Eleven of the 14 clubs in the AL finished over .500 and only the Mets, Reds and Braves broke .500 from the NL.
So there it is - the fans seemed to have spoken.... They like it and in great numbers! Now it's wait until next year.... In the meantime, plenty of baseball left and into the Central we go....
Baseball is like a poker game....Nobody wants to quit when he is losing; nobody wants you to quit when you are ahead.
Jackie Robinson
posted by Pat Murray at
4:14 PM
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