Interleague Play Is Back, If Anybody Notices Anymore

We've never had a major problem with interleague play. It's possible this is because our Cardinals get to play the Royals six times a year — and boy could we use the help — but mostly, it's because the game has been so twisted and pretzeled over the last decade that, hey, what's one more switch? People complain about some of the gnarled matchups — it's tough to stir one's self up too much for that Kansas City-Colorado weekend tilt — but even at their most confused, there's a extra twinge of curiosity that isn't there for, say, another Texas-Tampa Bay game, even if they do play it at Disneyland.

Anyway, it's the rivalry weekend, with the White Sox-Cubs, Yankees-Mets, Angels-Dodgers, Giants-A's, so on. And the Tigers will have ample opportunity to take out their October frustrations on our birds; expect Tony LaRussa to instruct every hitter, Pujols included, to just bunt to the mound.

We're hoping for a fight or two, or, at the very least, Joe Torre to call Willie Randolph this afternoon and threaten him with the unveiling of his tragic childhood secret.