Baseball Interleague Series

There were five Interleague series this past weekend. Two were relatively recent World Series rematches. Meanwhile the other three also had some World Series history in them, albeit a little harder to find.

In a 1997 World Series redux, the Cleveland Indians, a contender this season, won 2 of 3 vs the Miami Marlins. The Marlins won the 1997 World Series vs Cleveland in the eleventh inning of the decisive seventh game. They are out of contention this season.

The New York Yankees swept the San Diego Padres in the 1998 World Series. This past weekend in San Diego, the Padres won two of three games.

The 1985 World Series winning Kansas City Royals have won 11 of their last 12 games after winning 2 of 3 road games vs the 1986 World Series winners, the New York Mets. Neither team has won a world title since that time. The Royals have not even made a playoff appearance. They are in contention this season.

The Boston Red Sox won 2 of 3 at home vs the Arizona Diamondbacks. Boston leads by one game in the AL East while the D/Backs have fallen five and a half games behind the torrid LA Dodgers. The teams combined to win the World Series every three years from 2001-2007. Arizona in just their 4th season won it all in 2001. The Red Sox ended an 86 year title drought in 2004 and won the World Series again in 2007.

Finally, the Tampa Rays, who are comfortably ahead for playoff qualification, won 2 of 3 games vs the defending champion San Francisco Giants. It is very unlikely the Giants will get back into contention this season but alas they have won the last two even year World Series (2010 and 2012). In the “even year” before that, (2008) the Rays made the World Series but lost in five games to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Click to watch video:  1997 World Series