Has MLB picked the right series?

[BravesWin!]

MLB and FOX are touting New York and St. Louis as the big interleague matchup of the season. I can unserstand that being so last night with Clemens going for 300, but I think that the #1 series this weekend has to be Atlanta @ Seattle...these are the two teams with the best record in baseball, who just happen to be playing great baseball as they meet head to head this weekend...This is the hottest ticket in Seattle since they hosted the all-star game 2 years ago...as a Braves fan I have flown up to Seattle to go to this afternoons game, and this city is totally abuzz for these 3 games....people on local talk radio say this is the biggest regular season series in franchise history, and the mariners are expecting a record 3 game series crowd....last night's game was one of the best regular season games i remember, despite the braves loss....seattle won the game 2-1 in what was a fantastic pitching duel between freddy garcia and russ ortiz....sparking defense was the order of the night with jeff cirillo making a spectacular diving play in the 8th to prevent an andruw jones rbi single that would have tied the game....everythinga bout the game was great...

yet, when i log onto mlb.com, they are doing a "great ticket giveaway" for this new-york-st louis series that isnt a sellout for today and tomorrow....and FOX is sending their #1 team and most of the nation to Yankee Stadium this afternoon while only the Deep South and Pacific Northwest will get to watch what will be an extremely entertaining game two this afternoon....

to me, its just a shame...im someone who is totally 100% against interleague play, but seeing a series like this one almost makes me consider whether or not i want to be a convert (not quite though). those of you who caught last nights game on TBS will agree with me on what a fantastic game it was and its just too bad that it doesnt involve a team from New York because if it did, MLB and FOX would give the series the attention that it does...

from seattle...

-andrew

[Skip]

Your argument makes sense when considering the teams and their records this year. I won't really try to refute it.

However, I think the reasoning of MLB may be that the interleague games draw crowds as much or more for the attraction of seeing teams that don't regularly play or who have some past postseason history together, as much as who's hot and has the most at stake this year. The NYY and Cardinals can certainly claim to be the two most storied franchises in terms of postseason success, even if its been a while for the Cardinals. They also have a long running head-to-head in the WS going, and haven't played each other (unless I'm mistaken) since they last met in WS in the 60's (64?).

[sweaver]

I think the touting has more to do with the large Yankee and Cardinal fan bases than anything else. Internationally, the Mariners with their Asian ties, and the Braves with TBS in this country, turn out fans, but with the combination of tradition and the New York market, Fox is certainly wise to promote Yankees-Cardinals.

Side note: three Japanese students in my current class regularly wear baseball caps to class. Two Yankees, one Pirates. And there was another Yankee hat (also a Japanese student) the other day.

[Gosfgiants]

It looks Mother Nature agrees with you, BravesWin!. Rain has switched the national broadcast to the Atlanta-Seattle match up.

[BravesWin!]

as a side note, yesterday's game was another tremendous baseball game....braves 3, m's 1...the first two games of the series have been great, with a loud, packed safeco, and crisp baseball being played as well as great pitching- only 7 totals runs by both teams in two games....these have been two of the best regular season games ive ever seen...if you get a chance to watch the ESPN game tonight, trust me, it will be worth your while if the rubber match is like the 1st two games...gil meche opposes greg maddux...

have a great fathers day all!

-andrew