-=> Quoting Greg Caliri to Alan Hess <=-
 -AH> Interleague play was a bad idea, and is nothing but a
 -AH> stupid gimmick owners
 -AH> thought would improve attendance.  Right - other than
 -AH> intracity rivalries,
 -AH> who really cares?  Expos vs. Tigers,  Astros vs. Brewers,
 -AH> etc. - big deal.
 -AH> Teams that are drawing well draw, teams that aren't don't,
 -AH> regardless of
 -AH> opponent.  Hopefully, interleague play will die a quick,
 -AH> unlamented death.
 GC> 
 GC> At first I thought it would be great.  And it would have been
 GC> great in the era of 16 or 20 teams.  Before the massive volume
 GC> of TV broadcasts, I **NEVER** got to see any National League
 GC> players when I was growing up in the 50s and early 60s. CBS'
 GC> "Game of the Week" was not broadcast in cities like Boston,
 GC> although we could pick the games up with a fuzzy picture from
 GC> Portland.  It would have been nice to see Willie Mays or Hank
 GC> Aaron or Sandy Koufax in their prime.  Never got the chance
 GC> unless they were in the World Series.
 GC> 
 GC> OTOH, I now have Red Sox season tickets.  Very few people here
 GC> are excited over interleague play.  To make room on the schedule
 GC> for the home games against Florida, Philadelphia, and Atlanta,
 GC> they had to knock out games with other teams - like the Yankees
 GC> and Seattle.  I have a night season ticket plan - Mon-Fri nights
 GC> only -- and we only have ONE game against Seattle on the plan.
 GC> We (groan) have the misfortune of all three against Philadelphia.
 GC> 
 GC> And, you will only get to see a particular team from another league
 GC> once every six years.  No traditional rivalries will be built.
 GC> 
 GC> "Traditional Rivalries" - they do exist.  Yankees-Red Sox.
 GC> Dodgers-Giants.  Braves-Dodgers.  Even A's-Royals.  Even
 GC> (newer one) Blue Jays-Tigers.   But the Red Sox and the
 GC> Phillies?   Gimme a break.  Every few years they talk about
 GC> NFL alignment, and some sportwriters with a block bring up
 GC> the "traditional rivalry between the New York Giants and 
 GC> New England Patriots".  There is no such rivalry -- the Pats
 GC> have their rivals in the Bills and Dolphins.  The Giants have
 GC> theirs in  the Eagles, Redskins, and Cowboys and wouldn't give 
 GC> those up to play New England or Buffalo or even the Jets year
 GC> after year.  
 GC> 
 GC> It would have been a great idea 25-30 years ago.  Now it is
 GC> just a promotional (short-term, I hope) experimental gimmick.
I think you two are talking "sour grapes"...try living in a city that
didn't/doesnt have a 100-year history of major league ball.  Or one that
didn't let a team get away because they were too indifferent.
I can assure you that the public will benefit from the exposure to the
differences in the structure of the game.  National League pitchers have
to bat, and run the bases, in addition to pitching.  The extra drain
on them is telling.  I suspect that even Randy Johnson would feel the
effects...especially considering the bck spasms that blew his control
for a while last night.  
The interleague play will allow us to see players that we would otherwise 
never see.  We will know who the players are (or some of them) from BOTH
sides of the ballot for the AllStar team.  Above all, the public is showing
renewed interest in the game...there were 55000+ at the KingDome last night,
to see The Big Unit confront some of Baseball's best hitters.  
The bottom line is - as you say - the money that increased attendnce 
enerates
and that increased attendance will stay as long as the quality of play 
oesn't
suffer.   I sincerely expect to see NO vacant seats in Denver's Coors Field
when Ken Griffey Jr anmd Randy Johnson come to town, in late August.  That 
ea
MEGAbucks to the owners...
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
--- mil failte, caraid
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