Is Interleague play in MLB fair?

I think this question comes up almost every year. To be perfectly honest my first inclination is to say no this practice, as currently implemented, is not fair. For one thing the teams in one division do not play equal competition. For example in the AL East the New York Yankees have played interleague games against the New York Mets twice, Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks, and the Los Angels Dodgers. The Boston Red Sox have played interleague game against the Phillies twice, the Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angels Dodgers, Colorado Rockies, and San Francisco Giants.

That seems pretty similar, but the record s of the teams the Red Sox faced equals out to 248 wins and 204 loses, while the Yankees opponents have a collective record of 212-213. That is a wide disparity. Even though the American League teams almost always beat up on the National league teams in this style of play.

From 1997 to 2009 the National League has only won more games then the American four times. In recent years The American League has beaten up on the senior league by a wide disparity. Including an overall record of 138-114 in 2009. Based on those numbers I think it is safe to say that interleague play in its current format is completely unfair.

If Major League Baseball wants to continue this practice that have to find a way to make it more even. The teams in each division should play teh same teams for m a division in the other league, much the way the NFL does its scheduling. Of course since the MLB has its two leagues with 14 and 16 teams and a NL division with six teams, and a AL division with just four, accomplishing that would be extremely difficult.

Related Links:

•The Business of Major League Baseball
•MTR Baseball.com