Today marks the beginning of the 14th season of interleague play. Where as in the past few seasons, these games between teams from opposing leagues has been lacking in intrigue, the 2010 interleague schedule doesn’t need any extra hype from the advertising wizards.
Aside from the usual interleague pleasantries (i.e., renewed histroic rivalries, watching American League pitchers try to bat, having National League Managers try to figure out who to put into the DH spot, ect.), the most anticipated matchup for this week has to be the Dodgers head east to take on the Red Sox. Naturally, no one seems to be too concerned with the actual games in this series, only the fact that this will be the return to Fenway for Manny Ramirez. That’s right, on June 18, ManRam will return to the sight of his former home for the first time since he played himself out of Boston back in ’08. Ramirez’s departure from the Red Sox nation was unprecedented and, if you ask any Boston fans, it was unforgivable, too. With that in mind, Joe Torre may want to take advantage of the DH position and stick ManRam there, as opposed to take the risk of having him stand out in left field and get pelted with a steady diet of plastic beer bottles and cotton-candy sticks.
The other intriguing matchup for this year also features the Dodgers and Joe Torre’s former club, the New York Yankees. When the Yanks head out west on June 25, it will be the first time in 29 years that Torre has managed a game against his former club. These two historic franchises are both at the top of their respective divisions and both are loaded with star power, which should make for three interesting nights in the L.A. basin.
Another matchup worth mentioning would be the renewal of the Subway Series with the Yankees vs. the Mets. The first game of this classic rivalry opens tonight at Citi Field and features two of the most dominant pitchers in the game today: C.C. Sabathia and Johan Santana. The Mets are in desperate need of wins and there is no better team to get them against than the Yanks.
Hopefully all of the marquee matchups live up to the hype and make this a memorable interleague season.
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