Interleague

Opinion: If they're really going to mix the American League and National League with interleague play, grumble, grumble, the baseball bigwigs finally have to make a call one way or the other on the designated hitter rule. (And here's one vote for nixing it.)Fact: College athletic directors, supposedly waging war on campus gambling, held their recent convention in, um, Las Vegas.Opinion: John Daly is a tormented soul, but he deserves no pity for failing to finish his second round at the U.S. Open.

SEATTLE Darren Oliver threw the first pitch in interleague history, way back in 1997, back when the prospect of mingling the two leagues in regular-season play was still exotic and enticing. Oliver pitched for the Texas Rangers then (facing Darryl Hamilton of the San Francisco Giants) and pitches for the Los Angeles Angels now. On Thursday, the eve of the 11th go-round of interleague play, he summed up the general view of ballplayers regarding its ever-declining allure. "I think it's died down," Oliver said.

May 25, 2006, East Rutherford, N.J. -- New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner today named himself manager and traded All-Star shortstop Derek Jeter for a minor-leaguer after a 7-6 loss to the New York Mets.*Well, there's Reason No. 1 to like interleague play, not that any of the purists would admit it. Steinbrenner is so obsessed with the Mets, he's going to go completely bonkers in 1997 and every other season the crosstown rivals meet.Tradition? Who needs tradition? The Yankees' imminent demise should ensure that the Orioles reach the postseason for about 12 consecutive years, depending on how long Steinbrenner remains owner.

The Orioles just completed a two-game sweep of the defending World Series champions, their latest attempt to prove that a rebuilding club doesn't have to hit rock bottom before bouncing back to its collective feet. Think that was tough? Now they'll try to take down the ghosts of their interleague past. Sort of makes the Boston Red Sox seem a lot less formidable. Since interleague play began in 1997, the Orioles have posted the worst record among American League teams at 79-114. "We haven't really had a good record in a lot of things the last 10 years," second baseman Brian Roberts said, "so I don't think it really matters who you're playing."

What will interleague play look like in the 21st century?Nobody really knows.The current system -- which matches teams in the parallel geographical division -- probably will stay in place for the duration of the current labor agreement with the players, but could give way after the 2000 season to a system that allows for more varied interleague competition.That was the way it was originally envisioned. The owners had hoped that interleague play would enhance regional rivalries and give more fans the opportunity to see the sport's greatest stars.

Baseball's four-year-old labor dispute remained unresolved last night, as a mutually agreed-upon midnight settlement deadline passed and both sides prepared to spend another winter under the rules of the previous collective bargaining agreement.Owners made no effort to save a proposed contract as midnight passed, but put off a decision to OK next year's schedule without interleague play.Interim commissioner Bud Selig failed this week to persuade the Major League Baseball Players Association to agree to changes in a contract proposal that was hammered out by management negotiator Randy Levine and union chief Don Fehr, leaving the industry in limbo and apparently canceling a 1997 experiment with interleague play.

As a card-carrying baseball traditionalist, I humbly offer this advice to the rest of my fraternity: Don't lose your voice screaming about the pending arrival of interleague play.It's too late.The war is over.We lost.They won.And it's OK.My preference would be no designated hitter, no wild cards, no interleague games, no pointless expansion. But I have learned that it doesn't really matter what kinds of obscenities the owners visit on their game.They can't touch the game itself. And that's what matters.

The grainy image of Babe Ruth, supposedly calling his home run at Wrigley Field during the 1932 World Series, should get plenty of airplay this week in anticipation of the first regular-season meeting between the New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs. The three-game series at Wrigley next weekend is what interleague play should be all about -- a modern convenience that allows new-age fans to enjoy a delightful break from the ordinary and grudging traditionalists to relive some of the greatest moments in baseball history.

No doubt, the Atlanta Braves still are smarting from the way they were dismissed from last year's World Series without so much as a single victory, but they didn't have to wait long for a rematch. Through the miracle of interleague play, the 1999 World Series will be played out in miniature this weekend when the Yankees return to Turner Field for another battle of baseball's reigning titans. The roles will be slightly reversed. The Braves clearly are the dominant team in baseball at the moment, owning the best record (35-17)

It is a new development, but it is not a new concept. Interleague play was proposed five decades ago by baseball showman Bill Veeck. It came up again in the 1970s, when a young baseball owner named Bud Selig helped devise a limited interleague proposal that was blocked by the National League. And it finally was adopted a year ago as an elixir for baseball's post-labor public relations problems.Now, it is upon us. The Orioles play the Atlanta Braves in a showdown of the two best teams in baseball this weekend.