Rant #987: The Baseball Gods Speak ...

In yesterday's Rant, I talked about the Los Angeles Dodgers playing the New York Yankees for the first time during the regular season at Yankee Stadium.

It would be the first time these foes from long ago--from the days of the Brooklyn Dodgers--were going to play in the House That Ruth Built.

But you know what? Things have a way of working out the way that they should work out.

The rainy weather forced the Dodgers and Yankees to take a seat yesterday. The game was postponed, and today, weather permitting, they will play a doubleheader--a day/night doubleheader--in the Bronx.

Funny, it was as if the baseball gods were looking down at the situation and saying, "No, not yet, as long as we have a say in it."

The baseball gods being purists, they are not into interleague play, where a National League team plays an American League team during the regular season.

These contests were only supposed to be held during the World Series, making that best of seven game series extra special, but in the modern age, it isn't as special anymore.

And no, the Dodgers and the Yankees were not going to play at the House That Ruth Built, but the one that George Steinbrenner constructed.

The House that George built, if you will.

And you know, I am something of a purist when it comes to baseball, so I say, so be it.

Interleague play really isn't my cup of tea either, but now it is not only here, it is being forced by each league having 15 teams.

If all the teams are playing on a given day, at least two teams have to play interleague.

It waters down what already is a watered down schedule, and it is so diluted that it makes these games somewhat ho-hum.

Sure, you have the Yankees and Dodgers, which ties together a lot of history, but at the same time, you have the Toronto Blue Jays and San Diego Padres, which ties together virtually nothing.

I liked it the old way, where American League teams played American League teams and National League teams played National League teams during the regular season.

The only times the two leagues met were during the All-Star Game, where the best of each league faced off against each other, and during the World Series, to determine who was the best team in Major League Baseball.

That is the way I liked it, but in this watered-down age, it was only a matter of time before that system went to the dogs, and it has, and at this point, it doesn't generate the interest that many of these contests once did.

So, at least last night, the baseball gods basically said, "One more day."

I kind of like that thinking, but you can't put it off forever.

Like Ernie Banks used to say, "Let's play two today."

And weather permitting, they will do just that.