Sacrilege!

Why am I being subjected to the gimmick of interleague baseball, this mockery to the rich, segregated tradition of baseball? Why is the intrigue of a potentially great World Series match-up between the Red Sox and Braves being ruined in May? Why am I seeing one of the front-runners of the NL East on the sacred sod of Fenway Park before the Kansas City Royals? How could I possibly be entertained by watching John Smoltz face David Ortiz when a showdown between Big Papi and Odalis Perez would be more, uh, pure?

I’m telling you, this interleague thing is just the passing fancy of Bud Selig and his owner cronies looking to make a buck. The attendance records that have been broken since interleague play was instituted 10 years ago are a sham.

They can only pull the wool over the fans’ eyes for so long.

Pretty soon, they’ll see that the American League and National League weren’t meant to play each other during the regular season.

Every World Series in the last 10 years has been tainted because the Mariners played the Padres in June. When the Red Sox beat the Cardinals in 2004, I couldn’t help but feel a little empty inside because Jeff Suppan threw one under Dave McCarty’s chin on June 19th. Come on, you felt it, too.

Every All-Star Game has been rendered pointless because now we can see Jose Reyes go deep off Mariano Rivera before Memorial Day. Why do you think they had to give home field advantage in the World Series to the winner? Because interleague play drained all the drama out of a Gil Meche/Marcus Giles confrontation in the sixth inning of the Midsummer Classic.

Baseball used to be unique, and it was unique because of its schedule. It’s charm lies in the fact that a Marlins-Pirates game in June can turn out to be the most spine-tingling tilt of the season. Who needs the manufactured drama of a three-game subway series at Yankee Stadium? Who needs Mets fans ridiculing Yankee fans because their $200 million Rolls-Royce roster is breaking all of the city’s lemon laws? Who needs White Sox fans rubbing their two-year title drought in the face of Cubs fans? I want to debate how the Red Sox’ reworked rotation will stand up against Kevin Millar, Jay Gibbons and the Baltimore Orioles.

I’m going to write Bud Selig. No, cancel that, I’m going to write Bob Costas.

He’ll understand. He must lead the charge. Giving the fans what they want is dangerous. Just ask the NFL.

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