"Like Mike...if I Could Be Like Mike!"

Mike Schmidt was one of those old-school baseball players that everyone still loves.  Even I, the Philly-hater, love Mike Schmidt.  I like him even more after reading this article that he wrote for The Associated Press, which basically lists every point I've made regarding interleague play.  But since I'm not Mike Schmidt, people won't listen to me.  Maybe now that he's expressed his opinion, the "powers that be" at Major League Baseball will take some action and get rid of this interleague thing.  The Nationals are now traveling to Anaheim for a series against the Angels, then returning home on the other side of the country.  Usually when an east-coast team goes out west, they coordinate it with a visit to San Diego, San Francisco, and LA.  In this case, the Nats are going from Chicago to Anaheim and back to DC, which is exhausting and expensive.  Another example of the ridiculousness of this interleague schedule is the upcoming series between the Braves and the Mariners.  No offense to the Mariners, but why should the Braves travel all the way up to Seattle?  And the series between the Red Sox and Phillies?  Don't get me started - let Mike tell you how I really feel, because I agree with him 100 percent:  http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jQLT-hPWRVooWHvLyo5eGnGKnwmw?docId=8d881759be734f5b9714c09c3786b7b6

OK, so that's fine if you didn't click on Mike Schmidt's article; I know some of you just read my blog to be nice and you may have thought his article was too long.  Basically, he agrees with me that interleague play is unnecessary, too costly, and it takes away from the excitement of the All-Star Game and the World Series.  I guess that, like Mike, I am "old-school."

So the Nationals play their first game tonight with their new manager, Davey Johnson.  Davey and I go way back, back to his days as manager of the Mets in the late 80s.  He was the first manager I paid attention to, in the days of Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden and Gary Carter.  Davey didn't do so well managing the Orioles after that; let's just hope he does OK with Nats' GM Mike Rizzo micromanaging his every move.

And don't forget to go to http://www.mlb.com/ to vote for your all-star picks!  I'm going to vote again tomorrow, and I just might change my mind on some of the players for whom I already voted!  Stay tuned!