Interleague play is anathema. It robs the World Series of a special, magical, unique aura that is created when the two best teams in baseball square off for the greatest title in sports. One can accept divisional play, which allows a team that loses more games than it wins to make the playoffs. One can accept the wild card, which provided both World Series teams in 2002 and allowed a team with an inferior record to win the World Series. But interleague play should not be accepted. It steals baseball's most special feature that made it vastly different and superior to other sports. Teams that played for the championship played each other only for the championship after the regular season has ended.
In 1999, the Yankees faced the Atlanta Braves in the World Series but the two teams had met in July, with the Braves winning two out of three. In the first game, Roger Clemens faced Tom Glavine and lost, neither Yankees starter El Duque, Orlando Hernandez nor Atlanta starter Greg Maddux was involved in the decision in the second game, a game that went to the Braves, and Andy Pettitte started and won the last game of the series for the Yankees, beating Odalis Perez. Except for Perez, the others all started a game in the World Series.
Americans have short memories, at least that is what the politicians tell us, but baseball fans have long memories. The 1999 Yankees-Braves World Series lacked the anticipation of stars facing stars they had never before faced. Maddux had faced O'Neill, Jeter, and Williams while El Duque had faced Chipper Jones, Bret Boone, and Brian Jordan in the regular season. Of course it was for the championship, which makes it the most important event of any year, but the edge was lost.
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