The good, bad, ugly and unbelievable of interleague play
Posted: Monday June 30, 2003 4:17 AM
Updated: Monday June 30, 2003 10:53 AM
The seventh season of interleague play is the books -- well, with the exception of a Sept. 1 make-up game between the Phillies and Red Sox -- and whether you like it or still think of it as a gimmick, it did produce some interesting baseball. The Senior Circuit was the better league for the fourth time, finishing with a 136-114 edge. But what were the biggest stories? SI.com presents the good, bad, ugly and unbelievable.
The Good
Albert Pujols AP
Making George Steinbrenner look foolish. The Boss was actually complaining about the interleague schedule? With six games against the Mets? Thanks to their Subway Series sweep, the Yankees were the interleague champs with a 13-5 record ... padding 2 1/2 games to their AL East lead.
Albert Pujols. Thanks to Sunday's 4-for-6, two-homer finale against the Royals, Pujols finished interleague play a crisp .410 with five homers and 21 RBIs in 18 games.
It isn't going to adversely affect pennant races. Last season, the A's 16-2 mark went a long way toward their AL West title, while the Giants' sub-.500 play cost them the NL West. This season, every team with a winning record played at least .500 in interleague. Last year, four teams that finished .500 or better had a losing interleague mark.
The Braves-Mariners series. There were scores more befitting soccer games -- 2-1, 3-1 and 2-1 -- but it was a World Series feel with championship-caliber play. Pitching at its finest, combined with Ichiro looking like an MVP. This is what interleague is all about.
The Phillies and Orioles in throwback uniforms. Does it get any better than seeing the cartoon bird and the powder blue? Maybe watching Eddie Murray and Mike Schmidt lose an old-timer's home run derby to Rick Dempsey.
The Bad
Adam Bernero AP
Tigers starters. Yeah, too easy. But of Detroit's four interleague wins, only one came from a starter (Mike Maroth). In all, the rotation went 1-12. And Adam Bernero (0-4) and Jeremy Bonderman (0-3) put the Tigers on pace to have three 20-game losers (along with Maroth).
Sammy Sosa's .182 average against the White Sox. Sosa likened the ultra-intense series to the World Series, as if he would know. Forget the corked bat, Sammy's 4-for-22 series with seven K's against the South Siders (who took four out of six) won't help his image.
The Devil Rays. They continue to lower the bar. Tampa Bay's 3-15 mark is the worst in interleague history, as is their 38-68 lifetime record. But take heart, Rays, at least interleague is over. Now the Red Sox, White Sox, A's and Mariners await.
Armando Benitez. He walked the same number of batters in one inning against the Yankees (four) as David Wells has all season.
The Ugly
Eric Byrnes AP
AL pitchers trying to hit. So maybe the DH isn't such a bad thing. AL hurlers went 35-for-266 at the plate (.132) with only 11 RBIs. At least Toronto's Mark Hendrickson saved some face, becoming only the fifth AL pitcher to homer in interleague play. Blue Jays pitchers had the most hits (six), the Devil Rays (zero) the least.
Dodgers vs. Tigers. What happens when the worst offense in the NL meets the worst from the AL? 3-1, 3-1, 3-2. That's 13 runs combined in the three-game series. And this isn't exactly Braves-Mariners. By comparison, there were 51 interleague games in which more than 13 runs were scored. And one team scored 13 runs on 17 different occasions.
Matt Morris. The Cardinals' ace had a 10.18 ERA in four starts against AL teams. Against NL teams this season, Morris has a 2.69 ERA.
Eric Byrnes' cycle. Sure, it will go in the books as the 257th cycle in major league history, and 5-for-5 by itself is unreal. But a cycle? Only because Giants center fielder Carlos Valderrama fell down on a bloop single.
The Unbelievable
Miguel Cabrera AP
A six-pack of 'Stros. Houston became the first team to use six pitchers in a no-hitter ... against the Yankees, no less. It ended New York's major league record of 6,980 consecutive games with at least one hit, dating to 1958.
The Marlins-Red Sox series. What more could you ask for? There were 70 combined runs, the most in a three-game series at Fenway in 53 years. A 14-run first inning in one game, blowing a seven-run eighth-inning lead in another.
That the Pirates and Devil Rays could build up enough animosity in two days to incite a brawl. Oh, the history between those two clubs.
Rondell White, Mariners killer. The Padres outfielder had six hits in 23 at-bats against Seattle -- but four of them were homers, including two ninth-inning grand slams. White has driven in 13 of his 46 RBIs this season against the M's (28.2 percent), helping last-place San Diego somehow take four of six.
Albert Pujols
Adam Bernero
Eric Byrnes
Miguel Cabrera
