Voting aside, what do you think?

Voting aside, what do you think?

Read Part 1 Here.

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Would you rather watch a pitching duel or a slugfest?

Seattle Mariners - 1  Los Angeles Dodgers - 0

On Friday night at Safeco Field in Seattle, Tom Wilhelmsen delivered the Mariners 114^th pitch of the game to Andre Eithier of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Unbeknownst to Tom, Eithier’s sharp hit ground ball to second would complete the 10^th combined no hitter in big league history. Kevin Millwood started the game and pitched six innings before bowing out with a groin injury.

The bullpen was more than satisfactory as 5 relievers delivered the second no hitter inside of Safeco Field this season. (Philip Humber of the Chicago White Sox threw a perfect game against the Mariners back in April) 

A no hitter is quite a feat, especially from six different guys. To have them firing on all cylinders on the same night speaks wonders about the rarity of the moment. It’s a moment so rare that Tom had no idea what he had just been a part of until his catcher Jesus Montero gave him the good news.  

After replaying the highlights and the final out, I let my thoughts drift to the difficulty of the situation. For a combined no hitter, you have to rely on every guy that takes the mound to have good stuff, whether it's just one reliever or the record of five. (Good defense never hurts either). This also seems a disadvantage to the batters because they are seeing a new pitcher every inning (Unless of course certain pitchers don’t have their best stuff).

Then you have the traditional no hitter with the starting pitcher finishing the opposing team off. You would think after seeing one pitcher for an entire game, the offense would somehow figure him out. Obviously this is not the case when a pitcher is just completely dominating but it makes the question all the more relevant.

So what does everyone think? What do you believe is more difficult? A no hitter completed by the starting pitcher or a combined no hitter?

It was 50 years in the making. Tom Seaver couldn't do it, nor could Gooden, Koosman, or even Nolan Ryan. On Friday night, Johan Santana became the first pitcher in New York Mets history to throw a no-hitter.

The 33-year-old former Cy Young Award winner has battled back from potentially career ending left shoulder surgery to put together solid numbers this season including a 3-2 record and a 2.38 ERA.

Before the game, Mets team manager Terry Collins said that he planned to limit Santana to 110 pitches. That promise didn't hold up for long when Santana's pitch count eventually reached 134 before retiring David Freese on a swinging strikeout to complete the game.

Of course, the no-no didn't come without contest. Santana issued five walks, each to a different St. Louis players. In the sixth inning came controversy. Former Mets star Carlos Beltran drilled a ball down the left field line only to have it called foul. Upon review of the replay, the ball went fair over the third base bag and then hit the foul line, making it a fair ball by rule.

Later in the seventh, Mike Baxter took one for the cause by fielding a deep line drive and crashing into the wall shoulder first. He was forced to leave the game but not before recording the out and keeping the no-hitter alive.

The St. Louis Cardinals, who lead the league in batting average, have been plagued by injuries as of late. However they have still maintained a .281 team average before their face off with the Mets. It is not as if Santana no-hit the Mariners and Twins; he no-hit one of the most powerful offenses in the majors.

This is definitely one of the most impressive achievements of the year thus far.

Turn away Cardinals fans, the old Pujols is back!

The Angels fell just short of their ninth straight win, and a series sweep of the Yankees, on Wednesday night as Pujols went 2 for 4 with a pair of singles. This came on the heels of the team's longest winning streak of the season. After the nine game stretch, the Los Angeles Angels are now an even 26-26, including an 18-11 record to close out May.

Much of the Angels' success can be accredited to the great performance Albert Pujols. After a forty game slump, the slugger appears to be back in regular form. Over his last ten games he has hit .375 with 5 home runs and 15 RBIs.

But, of course, the stats are everywhere and I'm sure you've been hearing about Pujols' breakout on ESPN for the past week. So what does this mean for Pujols and the Angels this season?

While many critics were saying that Pujols is aging or headed on a downward spiral after his rough start to the season, his performance in May has shown them otherwise. He has faced slumps before, while none nearly this big, and has emerged each time with a blitz of offensive production. For eleven years, Albert Pujols made the St. Louis Cardinals a winning team and it appears that he will do no differently for the Angels.

With 110 games left to go for Los Angeles, anything can happen. However it looks like Los Angeles baseball fans can start cheering for Albert Pujols.

What's the biggest story around Major League Baseball? -Craig in Kansas City

I'm not sure what the biggest story was when I got your email, but Roy Oswalt signed with the Texas Rangers today for reportedly $5 million for the rest of the season and $1 million more if he makes 10 starts. Oswalt waited through spring training while looking for a satisfactory offer, one that never came. He should be ready by July 1.

What does Oswalt's deal with Texas mean for the Angels? -Mike in Denver

It doesn't help, but Los Angeles has been playing better as of late and it seems like only a matter of time before they start playing up to their talent level. The Angels have won seven in a row and are finally back at .500, not far off the Rays and White Sox for a Wild Card spot.

What does Roy Halladay's injury mean for the National League East? -David in Kansas City

October of last year has to seem like a decade ago for Phillies fans. They went from having one of the best rotations in years to losing in the first round of the playoffs, losing Oswalt to free agency and now putting Roy Halladay on the Disabled List. He left Sunday's game against St. Louis early with shoulder soreness and will miss 6-8 weeks.

Who is the best rookie so far this year? -Sam in Lawrence

Most would say Nationals left fielder Bryce Harper, but Angels center fielder Mike Trout is hitting 20 points higher (.306 to Harper's .286) with slightly better power numbers (five homers and 13 RBI for Trout, four and 11 for Harper), plus Trout plays the more demanding position. Ranger's starter Yu Darvish boasts an impressive 7-2 record but an average 3.25 ERA and less than impressive 1.46 WHIP (walk+hits/innings pitched).

Is it too late in the year for any worst-to-first comebacks? -Tim in Overland Park

It's not too late in the the National League East where every team is above .500. I guess the Red Sox could climb out of last in the AL East, but I don't see that happening. Every other last place team is just, terrible.

Playoff picks? -Cody in Kansas City

(Wild Cards in bold):

AL: Orioles, Tigers, Rangers, Rays, Angels

NL: Marlins, Cardinals, Dodgers, Reds, Braves

That's it for this week. Send your questions for next Tuesday right HERE.

A few weeks ago I wrote about the abomination that is the Designated Hitter.

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig told Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci that there's currently no discussions surrounding the National League's adoption of the DH, but left an interesting nugget at the end:

"I've always said it would take something of a cataclysmic event to get that done," Selig said. "Geographic realignment would be such a cataclysmic event."

Geographic Realignment seemed like a radical idea not too long ago. The American and National Leagues had separate offices, umpiring crews and league presidents.

Then interleague play began in 1997. By 1999, Selig closed down the league offices in an attempt to "unify the leagues," putting everyone under the same roof. The Houston Astros will join the American League next season, making interleague play a full-season event and further "unifying" the two leagues.

If adopting a Designated Hitter in both leagues is the ultimate goal, geographic realignment is the first step in that direction. The distinct differences between National and American League baseball have been slowly decaying since the summer of 1997 and the once radical notion of mass realignment is no longer that radical, unfortunately. The financial reasons -decreased travel costs and higher attendance numbers- will speak louder than tales of tradition.

Here's how it might look:

Oakland A's

San Francisco Giants

Los Angeles Dodgers

Los Angeles Angels

San Diego Padres

Potential rivalries added: A's/Giants, Dodger/Angels

Team helped with travel/attendance: A's: It's 1,725 miles from Oakland to Dallas to play the Rangers. The furthest divisional trip would now be 492 miles (San Diego).

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Seattle Mariners

Colorado Rockies

Arizona Diamondbacks

Houston Astros

Texas Rangers

Potential rivalries: Rangers/Astros

Team helped with travel/attendance: Rangers

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Kansas City Royals

St. Louis Cardinals

Chicago Cubs

Chicago White Sox

Minnesota Twins

Potential rivalries: Royals/Cardinals, Cubs/White Sox, Cubs/Twins

Team helped with travel/attendance: Royals

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Detroit Tigers

Cincinnati Reds

Cleveland Indians

Milwaukee Brewers

Toronto Blue Jays

Potential rivalries: Red/Indians, Brewers/Tigers, Blue Jays/Tigers

Team helped with travel/attendance: Blue Jays

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New York Yankees

New York Mets

Boston Red Sox

Philadelphia Phillies

Pittsburgh Pirates

Potential rivalries: Yankees/Mets, Phillies/Red Sox, Phillies/Pirates

Team helped with travel/attendance: Pirates

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Baltimore Orioles

Washington Nationals

Atlanta Braves

Florida Marlins

Tampa Rays

Potential rivalries: Orioles/Nationals

Team helped with travel/attendance: Nationals

Geographic realignment was nothing but a silly notion a decade ago. Now it might not be the craziest evolution baseball fans see in the next 10 years.

The Major League Baseball Hall of Fame was once a place of grandeur. For decades, the game’s best arrived and were rightfully immortalized into baseball lore. Heroes to many such as Honus Wagner, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, and others set a standard for others to achieve to attain eternal glory. To many, the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame was the greatest achievement in sport—America’s past time forever remembered few who truly were the game’s best. Yet, as the storied Steroid Era reaches its ultimate conclusion, the Hall questions—are players tainted by performance enhancing drugs worthy of entered the hallowed grounds of baseball immortality?

 Today, many of the game’s greatest players are followed by the lingering affects performance-enhancing drugs have had on the game. One of baseball’s young pillars, Ryan Braun, was once one of the young faces Major League Baseball used to spearhead its campaign into a more youthful audience, alongside players such as Evan Longoria, Matt Kemp, and Tim Lincecum. However, Braun tested positive for record levels of synthetic testosterone found in his urine during the 2011 MLB playoffs. Although exonerated, many within the baseball community, legitimately or illegitimately, believe Braun escaped the bounds of justice while utilizing a loophole within the law to escape the 50 game ban sentenced upon him by MLB. Furthermore, a player like Albert Pujols (never implicated as a steroid user, no failed tests) are putting up record numbers in a time where breaking records has become the norm. In recent years, Albert Pujols has been the games most formidable hitter (Career .326/.417/.610 hitter with a WAR of 87.8 over 11 full seasons in the Majors), yet Pujols, like many greats in the game today, are placed in the position where they are forced to prove their cleanliness of drug use due to the enduring effects of the Steroid Era. Great players of this generation are guilty until proven innocent as baseball’s reaction to the performance enhancing drugs continues to destroy the reputation of the game today.

Yet, it was the Steroid Era that saved baseball. Baseball, experiencing economic hardships never before seen in the game, experienced a 232-day work stoppage in the midst of the 1994 season that cancelled the pinnacle of the sport—the World Series—for the first time in the history of the League. Never before had a professional sport in the United States seen a cancellation of postseason play due to the player-ownership relations, and the MLB rightfully lost many of its fans. Fans were robbed of what fans love most—their teams—and the MLB had failed them with their inability to put any product on the field. Enter the Steroid Era. At the time, many teams in the majors were struggling to fill stadiums to the pre-strike capacity. Fan distrust and disgust of the game were at an all time high, while even baseball purists struggled to find reasons to visit the park. The fans were left with sour tastes in their mouths baseball could not fill. And then Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa started hitting homeruns.

1998 was a magical year for baseball. Still struggling from the repercussions of the strike, baseball was looking for a face to drive the sport back into relevance. In his second year with the St. Louis Cardinals, McGwire was hitting homeruns at record pace, and it soon became apparent that McGwire and Sosa both had legitimate chances of breaking Roger Maris’ hallowed single season 61-homerun season. To break Maris’ record would be an accomplishment many thought would force baseball back into relevance. Realizing this, baseball capitalized on the media hype built around the race, and soon McGwire and Sosa were the face of baseball—interdivisional rivals slugging it out for the homerun title: McGwire, the all-American superstar pitted against Sammy Sosa, the player who had the ability to take one of America’s most beloved teams to their first World Series title in over a century. On September 8, 1998 the history of baseball was forever changed. Mark McGwire broke Roger Maris’ single-season homerun record by blasting a ball 430 feet into the Busch Stadium crowd, arousing celebrations around baseball, as the record was broken. Finally, baseball was the talk of towns across the nation again. Baseball championed these two players as heroes, as they would with many drug-using players that followed in their footsteps, and fans everywhere were gifted with a level of play that had yet to be seen in the league. Soon, fans saw Rafael Palmeiro blaze a Hall of Fame career, Barry Bonds break homerun records, Roger Clemens strike out thousands of batters, and bright young players like Alex Rodriguez sign the largest contract in the history of professional sports. The game had reached heights it had never seen before—baseball was relevant again, and it championed the players that had helped it achieve its newfound greatness: the McGwires, Sosas, Palmeiros, Bondses, and Rodriguezes.

However, baseball has condemned and abandoned these players.  Arguably the greatest player of all time, Barry Bonds, is ostracized and abhorred by the baseball community. Mark McGwire has no hope to be in the Hall of Fame as voters deemed his records and statistics as illegitimately collected. Sammy Sosa is living punch line, and the onlyremembrance of Rafael Palmeiro is his finger pointing denial of steroid use at a congressional hearing. Although their statistics are tainted, it is undeniable that some players of the Steroid Era accumulated Hall of Fame worthy careers. Currently, however, they have no hope of entering the Hall. Baseball is forever indebted to these players; these players sparked American interest in the game again after the MLB single-handedly destroyed the relations with the fans with their work stoppage. The players of the Steroid Era filled the seats of stadiums again across the nation, and now the MLB is kicking these players to the curb.

Upon further review, the Hall of Fame may not be as pure as fans seem to believe. Although baseball’s select few chosen to be remembered forever, the Hall of Fame is an imperfect entity. Many baseball purists feel that the Steroid Era players are not worthy of admittance into the Hall because they cheated the game; Steroid Era players had an unfair advantage over competition and the drugs allowed them to accumulate stats players of previous generations had no hope of accumulating. However, this is not a new concept to the game. For generations, baseball has allowed players who had an unfair advantage over competition into the Hall of Fame. Why are the players of the Steroid Era any different?

The Desegregation of baseball occurred in 1946 with Jackie Robinson signing a contract to play with the Brooklyn Dodgers. True integration of the sport occurred gradually over time, as players of all racial backgrounds were allowed to play on baseball’s highest level. For years, white players in the Major Leagues played only other white players, and even after desegregation of the game, Major Leaguers still played mostly white teams until baseball became fully racially integrated. Full racial integration has allowed the game to reach new heights, as the level of play increased as the best players, regardless of race, were allowed to play the game. Put simply, white players did not play at the highest level of competition because they did not play the best competition. When baseball was segregated, players of that time period had an unfair statistical advantage because they were not playing at the highest level possible. Should those players be taken out of the Hall of Fame because they had an unfair statistical advantage over future generations? Not playing against minorities allowed white players to accumulate statistics they would not have accumulated had racial integration of the game taken place. These players incontrovertibly had a statistical advantage over players of future generations, yet we regard them as indisputable Hall of Famers.

Furthermore, amphetamines ran rampant around the game for decades. One of the greatest players of all time, Willie Mays, has openly admitted to using amphetamines during his playing days as a way to recover and get through the rigors of a 162-game schedule that is only around 180-days. Amphetamines were openly used in clubhouses as teams provided “leaded” and “unleaded” coffee pots to their players throughout the course of the season. Amphetamines are currently banned in Major League baseball as a performance-enhancing drug because they act as a stimulant, allowing the body to recover from the effects of fatigue faster. Many players within the Hall of Fame utilized this performance-enhancing drug, yet the credibility of their eligibility for the Hall has never been questioned. Players currently are not allowed to use this stimulant, so, once again, players of past generations had an unfair advantage over current players. The amphetamines provided the players of the past statistics the MLB now considers tainted by the use of a performance-enhancing drug. Should players that used amphetamines also be removed from the Hall? Should their careers be marred with asterisks?

Baseball ruled that the spitball pitch was against the rules of the game in 1920. However, the Major Leagues ruled that players who employed the spitball at the team were inexplicably grandfathered in and allowed to throw the pitch. Gaylord Perry pitched the spitball into a Hall of Fame career, using the pitch to accumulate 314 wins, a career 3.11 ERA, 3,534 strikeouts, and two Cy Young Awards. Gaylord Perry’s career started in 1962 and ended in 1983, starting 42-years after the ban of the spitball and ending 63-years after the ban. Gaylord Perry was mysteriously in the Hall of Fame. In 1991. 71-years after the spitball ban. Perry even authored a book entitled Me and the Spitter, detailing his use of the pitch. How can baseball allow such a blatant cheater into the Hall of Fame?

The Hall of Fame is not what fans think. The Hall of Fame is full of cheaters and players that had an unfair competitive advantage over players of different eras, yet steroid users will, likely, never be voted into baseball’s hallowed grounds. Although steroid users did have a competitive advantage over clean players, players of other generations experienced a similar competitive advantage whether they utilized amphetamines, spitballs, or lesser competition to accrue their stats. Baseball owes steroid users. Baseball alienated its fans and stripped them of a World Series in 1994, sparking hate and loathing for America’s pastime. Baseball championed players of the Steroid Era when it made sense for them, utilizing steroid using players to captivate Americans to watch and pay attention to baseball after an ugly work stoppage. Now, baseball has turned on the players that brought the game back. Players of the Steroid Era deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame already contains cheaters, yet the worthiness of their statistics and admission have never been questioned or marked with an asterisk. Without some of the greatest players to ever play the game, what value does the Hall of Fame hold? It will no longer be the hallowed grounds of baseball; it will lack an entire generation of superstars that provided fans with some of the most entertaining baseball the game has ever seen. The time has come for baseball to endear the players that its brought fans back to the game, rather than dismiss them as cheating liars. Baseball loved steroids users when steroids users provided them a path back onto American television sets. Baseball needs to love steroid users again.

First and foremost, bobbleheads are stupid. 

I don't care enough to look back into the history of bobbleheads or the history of bobbleheads used as giveaways or sold by Major League Baseball clubs, but it is now officially time for the the bobblehead era to end in baseball.

The reason? MLB.com created a bobblehead of the best pitcher in the game over the last ten years... And completely fucked it up!

Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Roy Halladay, winner of two Cy Young Awards and eight time All-Star, was completely massacred in MLB.com's latest attempt to make a buck.

What's Wrong with Roy? 

1. First, and most obvious, Roy is a bobblehead... Ridiculous in its own right
2. Next, Roy is OBVIOUSLY a left-handed pitcher? (Halladay is actually right handed)
3. Roy uses a left leg-kick as a left-hander
4. Roy's head is on backwards, if he is a left-hander
5. Roy's head has someone else's face on it!
6. Roy's name is misspelled... No, actually that's the one correct thing about the bobblehead

 Do you hate bobbleheads as much as I do?

We have a condensed mailbag this week. Send in your questions for next week HERE.

How about that Reds fan catching two home run balls the other night? -Jay in Kansas City

My first thought was "one in a million," but the ESPN show Numbers Never Lie tells us the odds of catching two home run balls in one game is actually 1 in 114,000. Still impressive, though.

You've already picked the Orioles to win the AL East twice, but do they really have a shot? The Yankees or Sox will come back, right? -Cody in Kansas City

Yes and no. The Orioles are legit, Cody. Center fielder Adam Jones is having a great year, hitting .307 with 29 RBI and 14 homers. Matt Wieters is one of the league's best catchers and while the division is loaded with talent, the Red Sox and Yankees are quickly burying themselves in the standings.

How about the Oklahoma City Thunder knocking off the Lakers last night? Small market NBA teams have just as much of a chance as big market teams. MLB needs a Cap! -Rob in Lawrence

Just as much of a chance, like San Antonio and Los Angeles winning nine of the last 13 NBA Finals and the Spurs making it 10 out of 14 next month? Baseball doesn't need a Cap, Rob. It's just as "fair" as any other sport.

Playoff picks? -Tim in Overland Park

AL (Wild Cards in bold): Rangers, Tigers, Orioles, Indians, Rays

NL: Dodgers, Cardinals, Braves, Reds, Marlins

Josh Hamilton isn't just the second best player in Baseball right now, he's also a pending free agent.

Hamilton, who leads the Majors in home runs (18) and RBI (47) while hitting .389, is making $13.7 million in 2012, 11th among outfielders. And when guys like Vernon Wells, Carl Crawford, Jason Bay and Alfonso Soriano are all making more than Hamilton this year, it's safe to say he'll seek a contract worth between $20-$25 million a year.

The Rangers are obviously the favorite to resign the 31-year old outfielder but his injury history and age could give them pause if Hamilton wants a seven or eight year deal, and from Hamilton's perspective, there's no reason he shouldn't look for a seven or eight year deal.

Of course, the Rangers know they wouldn't be two-time defending American League champs without Hamilton and like the Cardinals last year with Albert Pujols, will probably offer a little more than they're comfortable with because of the history with the left fielder.

And as Pujols showed earlier this year, there's always at least one dumb team waiting to sign an aging power hitter with question marks.

The Dodgers, perhaps? With the best record in the Majors and a new ownership group, the Dodgers won't lack for money this off-season. A potentially deep run in October will also deepen their pockets and right fielder Andre Ethier's contract is up after this season as well, freeing up nearly $11 million.

Playing alongside Matt Kemp in the Dodger Stadium outfield would keep the Dodgers relevant in the National League for the next five years at least, alleviating any concerns Hamilton might have of collecting a check in obscurity, assuming he has those concerns.

From the Rangers' perspective, they're fortunate in that the Yankees and Red Sox don't look to be big players in going after Hamilton. The Yankees are vowing to trim their payroll down to $189 million by 2014. Boston is already overpaying Carl Crawford (7-year, $142 million deal signed in 2010) and can resign right fielder Jacoby Ellsbury for much cheaper than Hamilton.

But like Pujols and the Angels demonstrated, there doesn't need to be 29 dumb teams willing to outbid Texas for Hamilton's services.

Just one.

Someone Who Deserves a Raise...Justin Verlander, of course. He's currently 5-1 with an ERA of 2.13 and leads the Majors with a .80 WHIP (walks+hits/innings pitched). Last season he became just the sixth pitcher since 1968 to win the MVP award. The others: Vida Blue, Rollie Fingers, Willie Hernandez, Roger Clemens, and Dennis Eckersley. Verlander threw his second career no-hitter last season, joining a group of 22 others with multiple no-hitters. Friday night, he was two outs away from becoming just the sixth pitcher ever with at least three no-hitters, joining Cy Young (3), Larry Corcoran (3), Bob Feller (3), Sandy Koufax (4) and Nolan Ryan (7). Tigers manager Jim Leyland on Verlander's one-hitter: "Some freaky (bleep)."  The scariest part, Verlander is just 29.

Something to Watch...Aroldis Chapman taking over the closer role for the Reds. He's yet to give up an earned run this season (22.1 Innings Pitched) and has been a setup man in the seventh and eighth innings until Sunday against the Yankees. He sat down three Yankee hitters in a row to grab his first save of the season and is averaging 96 MPH on his fastball, which he throws 84% of the time. There's been rumors about moving him to the starting rotation, but with a fastball that blows hitters away and just two pitches -he also throws a slider- he looks like a perfect closer for Cincinnati.

Something You Don't See Everyday... Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg hitting his first Major League home run Sunday. And they say pitchers can't hit.

It's Always Fun When... A players calls out the fans. As long as it's not your team, of course. Indians pitcher Chris Perez blasted Cleveland fans Saturday for lackluster attendance and booing Indians players. A few quotes: "It's just a slap in the face when you're last in attendance. Last. It's not like we're 25th or 26th. We're last. Oakland is out-drawing us. That's embarrassing" ........ "Guys don’t want to come over here and people wonder why. Why doesn’t Carlos Beltran want to come over here? Well, because of that. That’s part of it. It doesn’t go unnoticed—trust us. That’s definitely a huge reason. Nobody wants to play in front of 5,000 fans. We know the weather (stinks), but people see that. Other players know that." ...... "That stuff is reserved for road games. We don’t want to deal with that crap. Here, good fans are supposed to help you try to get through the inning and say, ‘Hey, you’re only one pitch away,' or 'Hey, it’s all right.’ And then after I struck out (the Mariners' Jesus Montero), the mock standing applause just adds to it. You see their true colors."

My Top 10:

1. Dodgers
2. Rangers
3. Orioles
4. Braves
5. Rays
6. Nationals
7. Indians
8. Blue Jays
9. Cardinals
10. Reds

Major League Baseball has always been nutty in that it has two leagues with two sets of rules, as we all know.

The National League plays the game the way it was meant to be played while the American League whored itself out in 1973 in an attempt to generate more excitement and attendance, giving us the Designated Hitter.

For a National League fan, the DH is the guy down the block that leaves his Christmas lights on all year round. You shake your head and call him tacky, but it's not really bothering you.

Sure, Interleague Play creates five or six games a year where a team has to adjust its style of play when traveling to a different league's park, but it's a long season and a little shakeup never hurt anyone. Even the World Series, which plays by the rules of whichever league is hosting that night's game, isn't an advantage to one league or the other. American League teams have (more often than not) more power on their bench and more versatility. The National League team (and manager) knows how to manage a National League game, you know, with strategy and thinking and all that stuff.

To DH or not to DH isn't a new argument.

But next year, on the 40th anniversary of the rule change, the Houston Astros are moving to the American League West. On the surface, it's not a big deal. But it will give each league an odd number of teams, meaning Interleague play will go on all year long. Now, playing a team in a different league throughout the course of the season isn't a bad thing. Whether fans want to admit it or not, games in April mean just as much as games in September and the number of Interleague games won't increase much, if at all.

But instead of a quirky summertime event lasting a few weeks, we'll have constant integration. The "you do your thing over there and we'll do our thing right here" line between leagues -and fans- will start to haze. Not only will it haze, but the decisions and adjustments made by a team during Interleague play won't just occur over a six-week stretch in a six-month window. 

It will happen every month. And what will happen when AL and NL teams are already playing one another every night and teams get tired of changing their game plan every few weeks?

More integration, I'm afraid. And for fans of the correct National League style of play, that isn't a good thing. Why? Because the MLB Player's Union isn't getting rid of the DH. Not now, not ever.

"I would be shocked if 10 years from now there's not a DH in both leagues," a source told Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci in March.

The whole reasoning behind the Designated Hitter was to get more fans into the park. In the last 10 seasons, the National League has had more clubs in the top 10 in attendance every year.

And the top 20.

So what happens when a gimmick stops doing what it was created to do?

More gimmicks, I'm afraid.