Should be three and three, Memorial Day weekend and Fourth of July weekend. These are the only interleague games I really care about having. Even when the two teams are as bad as they are, the games should be established as some sort of special tradition, not marginalized as something we have to get out of the way. Out of the way for what? Cubs-Orioles?

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Agreed, but every game should be played in a 100,000 seat replica of Wrigley located in Rosemont. They should also build a replica of Churchill Downs on River Road and host the Kentucky Derby there. Louisville is inconvenient.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Jerry, Tommy and STH on both sides agree. They're getting screwed hard here.

At the very least it should be 3 games in one park, and 2 in the other (and then alternate the following season). How else can they determine a true winner of the BP cup when the series ends in a tie?

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They really should schedule it after the NHL playoffs are over so we at least get a few days in which baseball matters in Chicago. With the NFL draft this week, this series is at best the third biggest thing in Chicago sports now.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Whichever team employs Theo Epstein automatically wins it.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

You know, I was just thinking, I don't feel as media-blitzed by the impending NFL draft as I have in previous years. Maybe I'm just not getting enough media, but it seems like moving it to a weeknight kind of backfired in terms of presenting it as a special event.

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The movie killed all the buzz this year.

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The Clippers/Thunder tip at 8:30. Is it out of the question they outdraw Cubs/Sox in ratings?

CH, pushing back two weeks backfired and has killed momentum. People are exhausted hearing Kiper and other haircuts analyzing private workouts, mock drafts and whispers.

They moved it to a later date with more competition with both the NBA and NHL in the middle of pretty good playoff stories.

I think that may be the reason why.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Yeah, that'll do it. I thought they should have done it by now. The NBA draft is the only one that universally makes for good television. The NHL draft is tedious, and the baseball telecast is just ghastly.

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As an aside I was listening to a national sports yahoo guy in the car last night on the way home. He was also bemoaning the hype for draft overkill and how he hates it. Told twitter people to fuck up the tv show and so on. Made a good case and then he threw out the following stat that I have not verified but sure is interesting. Per ratings more people watch the Pro Bowl then do the NFL draft shows.

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Elections have consequences.

Darrin, have you ever played a game in this park? Its beautiful, isn't it? Always enjoy coming here. Its an away game, but you're not really away. I mean, you bat first and have the visitor's dugout, but its nice to be able to sleep in your own bed for a 'road game' isn't it? That was something offspeed to Lake, 1-1 now. I was here a couple of different times with the Phillies. No lights back then. Yeah. This park didn't get lights until 1988. That game was rained out, the 8-8-88 game so the next night was the first official game. That game was called by Harry Caray. We all miss him. A legend of the game he was. Called many games from this booth, and at Old Comiskey for the Sox. Swing a miss by Lake, 1-2 to the count. Lake is asking the homeplate umpire if that pitch was a strike. He'll say, "Yep its a strike, you swung at it." New supply of baseballs out to the home plate umpire now. We are in the 4th at this Shrine they call Wrigley, 1-0 White Sox on an Abreau homerun in the first. Quintana, he deals, the pitch, fouled to the screen, count holds at 1-2 now. Darrin, whats the oldest park you ever played in?

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I liked what was done at the end of May last year where every team was paired with another for a pair of two games series' at each ballpark. If they are going to have two teams in the same city/region play each other in a 2/2 format like this during the regular season, that's the perfect time to do it.

I think the odd number of teams in each league has opened the door further to the homogenization of the leagues. All that remains to be addressed is the DH.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I'd rather they just leave that one alone, because we all know if they make them the same it's going to be a DH in both leagues...fuck that noise.

Maybe not. I think a compromise could be expanding the rosters by a player or two.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I hate the 15/15 leagues and subsequent interleague expansion. My favorite part of this was the Houston Astros having their big 50th-season celebration all year long right before leaving the National League. "It's time to honor the proud tradition of Houston baseball! See you next year when we play the Seattle Mariners twenty times for some reason."

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But I think that makes you an anomaly among younger fans. Most younger guys I know don't really recognize the two leagues as separate entities (beyond the obvious difference of the DH).

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

That picture is historic. Dale Sveum is the only manager since World War II to bring the Cubs any sort of trophy.

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You know, I do like the idea of interleague series trophies, but there should be something more facetious about them, like Chicago's teams playing for The Golden Deep Dish or something, or the Nats and O's duking it out for, I dunno, the...Government...Crab. Yes, the Government Crab. You know, something Veeckian. But seeing them pose next to a trinket that could reasonably be awarded for an actual achievement just makes me so, so sad.

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I believe the Rangers and Astros play for a giant novelty cowboy boot. Stuff like that strikes the right balance between the bogus pomp of the BP™ Crosstown Cup and the exhibition-game apathy I'm being instructed to have about two teams that are Bad At Baseball.

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Bad move. Sat am was perfect

There was a time that it was a special Saturday, where I would not only slot out the time to watch but enjoyed the phone calls to friends around the country. Especially cool when getting together with friends who are fans of different teams.

My daughter went to the draft last year, said it is now a made-for-TV event. Jets fans get grouped together for TV purposes. She sat second balcony front row, and was home two picks after Long was selected.

**Ever note that they go to commercial every year on the Bears picks? They hate Chicago, they really do.

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DRINK BƎTTƎR. @theRIPH