Interleague play for the 2010 MLB season is coming to a close this Sunday, but these last series sure do have storylines. Whether or not you agree with Interleague Play, even a casual baseball fan has to be excited for a select few of these final series. Let’s be honest very few people will care when the Nationals travel to Baltimore, sure they are located close to each other, but Strasburg will not be pitching in this series. The three story-lines that jump out to me are:
- NY Yankees @ LA Dodgers: This series is huge for several reasons. The once cross-town rivals have played each other in the World Series 11 times with the Yankees winning eight of them. Then there is the Joe Torre storyline. The greatly loved manager of the New York Yankees during the Yankees dominant stretch during the late 1990s, will host his former team wearing a different shade of blue. Torre’s split with the Yankees wasn’t pretty, but he still remains friends with the core four (Jeter, Rivera, Posada, and Pettitte).
This will mark the first time that he is facing his former employer. And the last major storyline is Manny Ramirez. Ramirez has a huge history against the Yankees when he played for the Red Sox. He was a huge part of breaking the curse. The hated rival now plays for the ex-manager in what is set-up to be a great series (despite the fact that the Dodgers haven’t been playing well of late).
- Chicago Cubs @ Chicago White Sox: Interleague play isn’t complete without the classic cross town rivalry. Neither team is where they want to be in the standings right now, and both teams will look to get on the right track against their rivals. The teams have met 82 times in their history with the White Sox having the slight edge 44-38. The teams have met in the World Series once – 1906 – with the White Sox winning four games to two.
- Philadelphia Phillies @ Toronto Blue Jays***: This series is interesting for two main reasons. First, the game is being played in Philadelphia, but the Blue Jays are the home team because of the G 20 summit in Toronto. Second, Roy Halladay will get to versus his ex-team.
Photo Credit: SilentArchimedes.Wordpress.com
