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Regional Rivalries Drive Premiums as Interleague Play Kicks Off This Weekend
Since its introduction in 1997, fans league-wide have debated the pros and cons of annual interleague play. While the average baseball fan might revel in the previously unseen matchup between classic franchises, the purists might dismiss the whole thing as a gimmicky money-making ploy set up by the owners and baseball. Either way, interleague play enters its 15th season and this weekend’s matchups bring some interesting data into the conversation.
The top 4 matchups, based on the series premium over the home team’s regular season price, are Cards vs Royals, Mets vs Yankees, A’s Giants, & Cubs vs. Red Sox (in that order). At a 38% premium, the I-70 rematch of the ’85 Royals/Cards World Series takes the top spot for the weekend followed by the Subway Series in New York with a 22% premium, and the Bay Area series comes in at a close 3rd with a 21% premium. However, the lone non-regional series in the graphic, with the Cubs coming into Fenway for a matchup between two of the MLB most storied franchises is up just 9% in the midst of a Sox torrid hot streak. So, even after 15 years, the jury on interleague play is still out and the debate is sure to continue.
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Here are the road attendance nbmuers (only) for each MLB team for 2008, ranked by average attendance.RNK TEAM – Gms Avg – Pct 1 Boston 81 38,367 84.1 2 Chicago Cubs – 80 36,328 81.6 3 NY Mets 81 35,944 80.7 4 San Diego – 81 35,798 76.5 5 NY Yankees – 81 35,192 78.4 6 LA Dodgers 81 34,709 77.8 7 Cincinnati 81 34,285 76.8 8 Atlanta 79 34,105 75.6 9 Arizona 81 33,945 75.210 Pittsburgh 81 33,700 75.811 Florida – 79 33,340 71.612 Milwaukee – 81 33,236 75.013 Philadelphia 81 33,214 72.714 Washington 80 32,825 71.415 Colorado – 81 32,777 73.216 St. Louis – 81 32,342 75.117 San Francisco 80 32,269 69.718 Houston 81 32,197 72.419 Baltimore 80 31,653 70.020 Cleveland 80 31,026 68.621 Tampa Bay 80 30,342 66.522 Toronto 80 30,262 69.723 Chicago Sox – 81 30,253 66.924 Oakland – 79 29,943 65.225 Kansas City 81 29,926 66.226 Seattle 81 29,822 64.427 Texas – 80 29,765 66.428 Minnesota – 81 29,660 67.629 LA Angels – 81 29,621 65.330 Detroit – 80 29,308 64.7
Come to the National League! I dont mean it as in changing your team to a National luagee team. Its just that the NL has proven itself to be more diverse than the AL this year.The AL West was dominated by Anaheim, the Central has been BORING, and the East has been Tampa-Boston all season.