Is Interleague play good or bad in the MLB?
539625
I think it can certainly be a good thing... fans located in areas with teams in both leagues get to see these teams play each other in meaningful games.\n\nGrowing up as a Met fan, every year they would play the Yankees in the "Mayors Trophy" game...just one game out of the season...but the regulars wouldn't play that much... We wanted to see Tom Seaver go out there and blow the Yankees away, but of course, the Mets weren't going to waste a pitching turn by Tom Seaver to win such a 'meaningless' game.\n\nAt first, I was against interleague play, but it didn't take long for me to change my mind...\n\nPlayers used to play for one team, or in one league, their whole career... or at least for many years at a time. Players because identified as an "American Leaguer" or a "National Leaguer". The only time they would ever meet (except the World Series) was in the All Star game... and at that time, there was a genuine rivalry between the NL and the AL.  Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Johnny Bench, Billy Williams, Ernie Banks, Tom Seaver, Bob Gibson, Fergie Jenkins, Ozzie Smith, Pete Rose... these guys were all "National Leaguers".\n\nBrooks Robinson, Carl Yastrzemski, Frank Howard, Frank Robinson, Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar, Vida Blue, Reggie Jackson...these guys were all "American Leaguers" (even though Frank Robinson came up with the Reds). \n\nIn NJ, where I grew up, we got to watch Met and Yankee games, so we got to see players from both leagues... there was also a Saturday afternoon "Game of the Week" on NBC, in addition to "Monday night baseball", also on NBC. (No cable at that time)\n\nWhen you're used to identifying players with a particular league, you don't like to see the leagues play each other, besides the W.Series and A.S. Game.\n\nBut today, the way players (even great ones) switch teams and leagues, it really doesn't matter...there's really no division of players the way there used to be... \n\nso yeah, I think Interleague play is good for baseball... \nin spite of the fact that the majority of 'inter league' matchups are pretty lame.\n\nthere aren't any such things as "National Leaguers" and "American Leaguers" any more... Randy Johnson has been a star for Seattle and Arizona... is he an A-Leaguer or a N-Leaguer? There are plenty of other examples of future Hall of Famers who split their careers between the two leagues.\n\nThe last real "American Leaguer" was Cal Ripken, Jr.\n\nAssuming he doesn't go to the A.L to DH (I doubt he will), Barry Bonds might be the last of the "National Leaguers".\n\nI'm not counting on Pujols to spend his whole career in St. Louis, as great as he is.
16783
I like playing head to head leagues because it's more personal to a face a different owner each week.\nYou need to have a balance of both, but good relief pitching always seems to be in short supply.\nKeep up with player news from around the league, especially injuries so you can pickup backups of injured player to strengthen weak spots on your own roster.
502122
I just had the same thing go down in my league.  I played them both, and I had the same thought, but why not play them.  They were both aces, so you hope that they have a pitchers duel, and both have 10 Ks and no ER.  You hope that at least one guy gets the win, but sometimes it could be a split if it's tied when they get taken out.  Just play them and hope for the best.
431693
Seattle is a good team and I want to see them do good so Ichiro can get a lot of ppostseason experience. But them switching I don't think will happen because there is 14 teams in the AL and 16 in the NL, so switching leagues would make the AL smaller, and the AL West would only have 3 teams, so talk about an easy division (Texas, Oakland, Los Angeles).
1086212
I have a theory:\nDuring the game, between pitches, people have time to talk to one another, about baseball of course, about how the players and doing, about these two teams, about other teams, but also about life.  Baseball is slow enough to give you time to enjoy life, to have a few stress-free hours of talk and beer and peanuts and nothing.  However, there is another side to game.  A good baseball game, with two evenly-matched teams, is great fun to watch, full of fast defensive plays and breath-holding moments.  The plays are fast enough that you can relax while waiting for the next great moment, but they are there and they are thrilling!  Plus, in that last inning, when everyone's on their feet, holding their breath, praying silently, there is no more exciting time in sports!  The tension is just so thick in the air!  I think it is the duality of the sport that makes it so great. \n\nPlus good baseball fields are wonderful places to be.  I grew up in Boston, and there is no greater structure on earth, as far as I'm concerned, than Fenway Park.  (Although Philly's new field, where I live now, is also quite beautiful).  How can you dislike a game that occurs in such a beautiful place?
542050
every stat has its importance...it's very hard to win a league if you are the bottom (get a 1) in any category.  There's a reason beltre is a free agent...his 9SB don't make up for his average and lack of production.  All the good SB guys are taken.  Your best bet is to try to trade for someone like Hanley Ramirez...
980272
Without seeing your team and knowing your league settings...it is really difficult to say.  One thing you need to remember though...having a good team in fantasy leagues just means that you have...well a good team.  It by no means guarantees you of wins during the course of the season.  Fantasy consists of quite a bit of luck also and any manager that tells you different is full of you know what.  \n\nMy Yahoo rating is 79% over 6 seasons in both private and public leagues in baseball and football in both H2H (head to head) and roto leagues.  I have had loaded teams fail to make the playoffs and teams that I have no confidence in whatsover...win the championship.  While having good players certainly help your odds of winning....you are still at the mercy of lady luck.  \n\nHang in their bud....luck eventually will come your way.  If this is your first year playing fantasy games...then consider it a learning experience.  Your second go around will be much better overall.
251572
No, this is actually a losing strategy.  Speedsters aren't necessarily good for  average.  Closers aren't necessarily good for ERA or WHIP.  Especially in the case of closers, to get the good ones, you have to use your high draft picks.  You are better off picking better position players, (infield, especially SS, 2b), since there isn't a lot of depth, compared to others (OF, 3B, CL)
1079398
No no no no no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I think it is just all part of the game.Everyone has been mad before about a bad call against their team but everyone has also seen a bad call made that helps there team so it kind of evens out and all.This sounds really evil and I'm not like that but also, with replays there would be less fights.I know that's a good thing because they try to make baseball a family sport but I think everyone gets interested in that.Like when a manager goes out to argue with an umpire about his call, the crowd just goes crazy.I think the whole thing is just part of the game.
536159
I like interleague play.  My only complaint is that they should move one of the NL teams to AL, balance out the leagues and then play it like the NFL does with interconference games.  I'm a huge Met fan.  Is it fair when you are battling a team like Florida that they get 6 gms a year against TB and we get 6 gms against the Yankees?  They should have five teams per division per league, have 18 games against division foes and then 6 apiece against everybody else, including rotating interleague play, so that for example everyone in NL East plays everyone in AL East 6 times.
573913
Usually teams play within their own league - American or National.  Interleague Play is a point in the season (normally May/June where the teams play against teams in the other league.  Usually it involves cross-town or local rivalries (Mets v. Yankees, Cubs v. White Sox)or teams that are historically associated (Boston Red Sox v. Atlanta Braves who formerly were the Boston Braves).
657136
Roto leagues are the ones that started this all. They run season long - instead of being reset each week.\n\nOkay - so we have cumulative stats from the start of the season.\n\nThen, for each stat (ie, HRs, RBIs, Wins, Saves...) the teams in the league are sorted by how they did in that stat. Then they are given points based on that order.\n\nSay you have 10 teams. The team with the most HRs gets 10 points. The team with the least, gets 1 point. Then the team with the most RBIs (might be a different team than the team with the most HRs) gets 10 points and the team with the least gets 1 point.\n\nDo that for all the stats in the league. And then sum up the points for each stat, and that is your roto score.\n\nSo, some days, you could knock in 10 HRs but your score won't change (if it doesn't give you more cumulative HRs than the team ahead of you) or you could knock in 2 and pass  3 teams ahead of you and score big points.\n\nIt is all based on relative performance, across the league. So you kind of need to pay more attention to every team, instead of the one team you're playing against that week. \n\nIt is a unique experience - maybe try a mid-season leagu to get your feet we.
1101003
no there are to many nl teams that are much better foget the stats but have you seen the ny mets latley
309878
Depending on the side of the ball you come from... Based on the way things are going?  Payroll  Because you can buy a great team and build a winning tradition.  The team may not win the World Series every year but they will always be in contention.\n\nIf you want real stats from a analitical point on players:\n\nTraditionally, statistics like batting average for batters (the number of hits divided by the number of at bats) and earned run average (approximately the number of runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings) have governed the statistical world of baseball. However, the advent of sabermetrics brought an onslaught of new statistics that better gauge a player's performance and contributions to his team from year to year.\n\nSome sabermetric statistics have entered the mainstream baseball world. Among statistics that do an excellent job of measuring a batter's performance, On-base plus slugging (OPS) is the easiest to calculate. It adds the hitter's on base percentage ([hits + walks + number of times hit by pitches] divided by [number of times at bat + walks + number of times hit by a pitch + number of sacrifice flies]) to his or her slugging percentage (total bases divided by at bats). Some argue that the OPS formula is flawed and that more weight should be shifted towards OBP (on base percentage). Regardless, OPS still stands as the most direct means of evaluating a hitter's performance using readily available statistics.
1100268
Japanese players in the MLB are doing quite well!! \n\nIn the Japanese league, the competition is good but not quite as good as MLB. There is a lot of talent!! The Chiba Lotte Marines are looking good again this year.
440792
All teams play 162 games in a season. Also there are divisions in baseball with 4-6 teams in them, and teams play divisional opponents more often. Also, there is the national and american leauges and there are only a couple interleague games each season. If you want to see the schedules, division ranking exceterta check out ESPN, they also have career stats for all teh players.
464883
AL is the better league because it is the most competitive.  All 3 divisions in the AL will be competitive while you look in the NL where the West is up for grabs and probably St.Louis and NY Mets will win their divisions.  In the AL there is more than a couple of teams in each division who can beat you and probably the divisions won't be decided until the final weeks of the season