Why is MLB interleague play so much different than NBA and NFL?

[UntilTheNDofTimE]

I've never cared to watch baseball as I don't find it very entertaining. I always knew that interleague play occurred but I never knew it typically always involved the same interleague opponents always playing each other( yanks and mets). The AL and NL combined decades ago but it seems they still almost operate separately, less 18 games a year. Some teams only play each other once every 10 years if not longer. This would be like the western conference only playing 8 games a year vs the eastern conference. For the lakers out of these 8 games, 2 would be vs Miami, 2 vs Boston, 2 vs New York, and 2 rotating vs the other 12 teams in the east. NFL obviously takes a lot of years to play every opponent but that's because they only play 16 games a year. I don't see why you cant play 2-3 games against all opponents not in your league and still have 120 games to play in your league.

There are many fans completely against interleague play all together. Why does the MLB operate this way to begin with?

Thanks

[ChalkyDog]

Traditionalist blowhards that can't accept Cubs v. White Sox pays the bills, regardless the season.

[Crayzee]

al with dh and nl without dh makes strategies, makeup of the teams all entirely different

[InTheDrink]

al with dh and nl without dh makes strategies, makeup of the teams all entirely different

[Doc JS]

al with dh and nl without dh makes strategies, makeup of the teams all entirely different

This!

Although the game is the same...they are essentially playing by different rules.

[Big Bear]

the DH

[chino08]

MLB is the only sport who plays by different rules in different leagues!........how idiotic?

and when people say stats in baseball they say for example.........Kershaw is leading the league in ERA, meaning the NL
Imagine in basketball saying Kevin Durant is leading the west in scoring, no they say he is leading the the entire nba in scoring or 2nd or 3rd, whatever the case may be

as a side note, they play their ASG on a tuesday, and then they dont show the celebrity game live.
They do not understand how to market themselves, and how to adapt to change.

[PickoMoff]

It's different now that the Astros moved to the AL and the leagues are now balanced 15 teams each. There have been a TON of interleague games this year since that has happen and it's not just of the same team playing each other. You get more interleague games against more teams now.

[stevenash]

this

[bubblebuttluv]

by different do you mean not having to lay hundreds of dollars to possibly over a thousand dollars worth of juice to get down on ML's like you have too in the NBA?

[newguy]

Baseball per the official game rules is a game played between two teams with 9 players each. This is literally rule 1.01 of the official rule book. Yet the American League plays with 10 (9 defensive plus a dh). That's why.

American League is not real baseball.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2013/official_baseball_rules.pdf

[matthew919]

National League rules are awful. It makes the sport worse and much less watchable. Sure, it introduces "strategy," but the definition of strategy is "doing everything you can to try to circumvent the rule and get around it." If a rule sucks so bad that every team's game plan is to try to circumvent it, why does it exist?

Here's a new rule for the NFL that will also introduce more "strategy": every ninth play on offense, the QB has to take a knee. Boom, strategy.

[Jefferey13]

National League rules are awful. It makes the sport worse and much less watchable. Sure, it introduces "strategy," but the definition of strategy is "doing everything you can to try to circumvent the rule and get around it." If a rule sucks so bad that every team's game plan is to try to circumvent it, why does it exist?

Here's a new rule for the NFL that will also introduce more "strategy": every ninth play on offense, the QB has to take a knee. Boom, strategy.

Ya your right on this one. I think from now there should be 9 batters and 9 fielders. Oh also every person who reaches base can have a pinch runner. That way no one has to be skilled in multiple areas lol.