2004 Topps Fall Classic Covers #FC1950 1950 World Series

Unsolicited Phillies Room Rant: Put me in the camp of those who officially oppose Interleague play. When the concept was introduced for the 1997 season, I will admit I was a bit giddy. The thought of the Phils playing the Yankees in a game that mattered for the first time since 1950 seemed to have monumental historic importance. It was a tremendous way to boost the popularity of a sport still trying to come back from the 1994 strike.

That was then . . . Major League Baseball needs to go back to balanced schedules. I want to see more games with the Pirates, the Cardinals and the Dodgers, and less games with the Blue Jays and the Orioles. When the Phillies play the Blue Jays in the World Series this year (yes, that just happened) I wish the announcers could refer to October 1993 as the last time the two teams had faced each other, and not to a few months ago during Interleague play. A part of the mystique of the World Series has been tainted since Interleague play began over a decade ago, and now it's time to begin reclaiming that mystique.