The Colorado Rockies' Interleague Two-And-Two Schedule Sucks

Jun 18, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Colorado Rockies third baseman N. Arenado (28) tags out Toronto Blue Jays third baseman M. DeRosa (16) trying to get back to third in the first inning at the Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Colorado Rockies are now done playing a two-and-two home-and-home series with the Houston Astros. Thank goodness; let’s not do that any more.

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The Colorado Rockies are through their interleague schedule for another two weeks, before they’ll see the Oakland Athletics at the end of June.

Baseball purity aside — I suspect the number of people who dislike interleague play are relatively few — I love seeing American League clubs once or twice a year.

All that being said… the two-and-two schedule sucks, man. There’s no good reason for it. Playing two games in Houston followed by two more in Denver is dumb. Play four in one place! The Rockies just played the Marlins for four games before going to Houston, so why spend 36 hours in Texas only to turn around, and spend 36 more hours in Denver? (The Astros move on to Seattle for the weekend.)

The Rockies and Astros had a decent travel slate on the two-and-two, but the schedule as is creates a (yes, tiny) competitive advantage for some clubs. The Diamondbacks and Angels were two-and-two partners this week; that’s a really quick flight from LA to Phoenix on Tuesday evening. The Dodgers, on the other hand, caught the Rangers. That flight’s more than twice as long.

No, the league will never be truly “equal” in competitive advantage; the NL West and AL West both have significantly longer travel requirements than their counterparts on the east coast. That won’t change, and it’s just the way it goes in baseball, so complete travel equality isn’t going to happen.

But what should change is the home-and-home that Major League Baseball apparently thinks is a perk of interleague play. Why? Can Coors Field really sell well on two mid-week games against a random team that the average fan doesn’t follow? Having the Dodgers, Cubs, Cardinals, or Giants come in for two games might be one thing, but the Astros? No shade to Houston at all, but… who cares?

The two-and-two also creates two mid-week day games (one in Houston on Tuesday afternoon, and one in Denver Thursday afternoon). Nothing like mid-week day games against a team with which the average fan is unfamiliar, amirite?! Please.

Don’t forget, this isn’t the only two-and-two the Rockies get this year; the Angels come to town next month for a two-game series, after the Rockies went to Anaheim in April for two. Why?

No, really — what’s the thought process behind that?

I’m all for interleague play, and I love Major League Baseball moving the Astros to the American League, creating a perpetual interleague need all year. That’s fine.

But next year, baseball, please — let the Colorado Rockies play four games in an American League park, and then host another AL team for four other games in Denver, and get rid of this needlessly over-complicated traveling musical chairs.

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The Colorado Rockies’ Interleague Two-And-Two Schedule Sucks

By Bobby DeMuro | Jun 19, 2015

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