Crosstown Classic To Be Cut, Possibly In Half, In 2013
By Chuck Sudo in News on Jul 11, 2012 2:00PM
To us, interleague play lost its luster long ago. (Shocking, we know, in a city with a baseball rivalry as intense as Cubs-White Sox.) But with the Houston Astros moving to the American League next season and up to 20 interleague games written into baseball's current collective bargaining agreement, rivalry series like Cubs-Sox and Yankees-Mets would be either cut to one three-game series or four games split between ballparks.
MLB players union president Michael Weiner said Tuesday during a question and answer session that it simply wasn't fair for one team to play six games against an opponent that their division opponents didn't.
"The Mets, for example, would say `Why do we have to play the Yankees six times every single year when some of our division opponents are playing teams that aren't traditionally as strong? We understand we've got to play the Yankees every year. That's OK. Why should we play six?"'
Hey, it isn't our fault the Mets aren't as good as the Yankees, or the Cubs as good as the White Sox. But what was once an exciting novelty—teams in both leagues playing against each other in regular season games that matter—has long lost its luster. None of the games in this year's Crosstown Classic sold out, on either side of town. Part of that can be attributed to the Cubs' rebuilding plan and White Sox fans penchant to stay home. But the games aren't as unique anymore, so maybe this is a good thing.
The one chance for the Cubs and Sox to play six games against each other will be when the NL Central and AL Central draw each other in interleague play: once every three years.