Baseball Toaster: Cub Town : Running the Gauntlet

Running the Gauntlet

2005-06-06 14:31

by Derek Smart

As we await the beginning of this main bout of interleague play, I thought it would be interesting to see who in the National League was getting helped and hurt by this June's slate of games. Below is a quick table of the NL teams and the winning percentages of their prospective June AL opponents through yesterday's games. Read it and weep.

TEAM OPP W%
Cubs 0.556
Braves 0.543
Padres 0.531
Dodgers 0.523
Rockies 0.505
D-Backs 0.504
Pirates 0.502
Nationals 0.502
Astros 0.500
Reds 0.496
Phillies 0.495
Brewers 0.489
Marlins 0.484
Mets 0.480
Cardinals 0.478
Giants 0.453

For those of you thinking in terms of the NL Central race, it's bad enough that the Cubs are at the top of the list, but look at where the Cardinals sit. Of course, it would only get worse if I tossed in the winning percentages of the AL clubs these teams played in May, as the Cubs spent three games battling the team with the best record in baseball while the Redbirds feasted Royally.

Much as I love our boys, I still think St. Louis will wind up taking the division handily. However, if the Cubs lose the crown to the Cardinals by a skinny game or two, I'll be looking back on this aberrant practice and cursing the day the schedule-makers were born.

Comments

2005-06-06 14:53:46

1. 84 Cubs

Amen, Derek! And it has been this way for quite a few years now. As much as the "natural rivalries" are fun and make sense from a marketing point of view, they are the only part of the schedule that are inequitable. We play the White Sox twice, they play KC and TB. For the forseeable future, this will be an advantage for them.

After we get this injustice straightened out, how about shipping the Brewers back to the AL where they belong, so that we won't be handicapped in yet another way by having to compete in the only 6-team division in baseball?

Revenue, TV, and Selig be damned - Brew Crew to the AL West!

2005-06-06 16:19:18

2. graciebarn

Think of all the tremendous popularity that would ensue if the All-Star Game became the cumilation (sp?) to All-Star Week, which featured crosstown (or cross-state) matchups for exhibitions. Meanwhile, interleague play would be removed from the regular season.

84, please realize there is a generation out there that has only known the Crew in the NL Central. (Although it probably consists of far fewer fans than preceding generations.) And how could we have them in the West with the Twins still in the Central?

2005-06-06 22:19:38

3. Charlie Hustler

Well... as long as we're playing this game, shouldn't the Royals go to the AL West? Of course, with the unbalanced schedules currently deployed, this would strengthen the AL Central, making the wildcard more difficult for Minnesota and ChiSox, while improving the same aspirations of LA Angels and Texas?

Of course, 15 teams in each league would require an interleague game each day or an idle team in each league daily...