Texas Rangers make strong argument in favor of interleague play
Despite their obvious struggles, the Texas Rangers have dominated the senior circuit.
It’s no secret that many Texas Rangers fans hate interleague play. In fact, Rangers TV broadcasters Dave Raymond and C.J. Nitkowski voiced their disdain for it during the weekend set against the Nationals. But those that don’t like it do have a few valid arguments.
The rules favor the National League
If you look at the very core of interleague play, it’s quite obvious the NL gets the upper hand. Their pitchers generally hit a little better than the AL pitchers. They’re used to it. So, when the game takes place at a National League park, it makes sense that the home team has the advantage.
Pitchers on NL teams typically take batting practice far more often than the American Leaguers do. Sure, many of them still have low batting averages, but they still have more experience with it.
Then, the rules swap to have a DH when the AL team plays at home. While this would in-theory give the American League team the advantage, it really doesn’t. Yes, the AL team’s designated hitter might have a little more experience. However, the National League team still gets to place a player far more experienced than their pitcher into the lineup. So this comes out as more of a wash than an advantage for the AL.
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As for Texas, their pitchers offer no exception to this trend. They have a staff batting average of just .091 and an OBP of .231. They haven’t even really offered the prototypical pitcher advantage of the sacrifice bunt much, either. The pitchers have accounted for just one of the team’s nine sac bunts in 2017.
Amazingly though, Texas has wrangled three NL teams with better-hitting pitchers. The Nationals, Padres and Mets all have better averages from their pitchers than the Rangers. That likely surprises nobody, but maybe reflects that the Texas pitching staff is better at pitching than the NL teams that Washington, San Diego and NY have faced.
Nobody wants to see pitchers hit
Other opponents to interleague play like to paint with a broad brush. They immediately assume that watching Bartolo Colon hit entertains nobody. I for one, beg to differ. The guy has home run power and yet, can bring the comedy all within one game. Who wouldn’t love that?
Opponents also forget how much fun we had last season watching Yu Darvish crank one out. Social media blew up over it, Japan lost their minds and the Rangers saw one of the best overall performances in team history. Why? Because the guy pitched AND hit Texas to victory all in one game. You can’t do much better than that.
Obviously, opinions vary. Perhaps it seems like the majority favors going back to the old way because of the old adage, “the squeaky wheel is always the loudest.” Maybe a silent majority sits back and just savors the good. They quietly sip their cold beverages in their comfy chairs as they watch guys like Mike Hampton, Zack Greinke, Don Drysdale, Dontrelle Willis and Carlos Zambrano slug like a DH. Without speaking, they let these guys speak for them.
As for the Rangers, they seem to enjoy it. They’ve played 12 of the 20 games they’ll play against National League teams already. Amazingly, they’ve already guaranteed at least a .500 interleague win percentage.
How to bring it back
Regardless of the opponent, wins are always entertaining. In the end, that’s all it should be about for teams. That’s why we should start a new petition. Allow me to officially mark this as the beginning of a grassroots campaign to fill the Rangers schedule with NL teams next season. Let’s reverse it to 142 NL games and 20 AL games.
Next: Rangers flash their spunk by shutting down the Nationals
They’ll win some 120 games next season and flat-out dominate. At the end of the regular season, commissioner Rob Manfred will decide to cancel the 2018 World Series because the Texas Rangers will have had their way with the National League. They’ll be proclaimed the greatest baseball team of all time and the city of Arlington will immortalize them by bronzing Globe Life Park. What wouldn’t be entertaining about that?