West Coast Feed

Cut back Inter-league play

Baseball's Inter-league play is fun for the fans and, for the most part, profitable for the team owners, but its effect on the season schedule has a negative long-term effect. The Dodgers are currently on a seven-game trip to the East Coast, playing the Washington Nationals and the Pittsburgh Pirates, two of the worst teams in the National League.

The point is the Dodgers should be going head-to-head with teams in their own division or another club that's fighting for a playoff berth. The problem can be traced back to June when Los Angeles had to play teams from the American League for three weeks. Games that would normally be played against National League teams have to be rescheduled. Before interleague play, the Dodgers would most likely meet Pittsburgh and Washington no later that June or early July. This year they faced the Pirates for the first time during the second week of September. And their current visit to the nation's capital is the first of the season.

If baseball's poobahs want to schedule weekend series between the Yankees and Mets, Dodgers and Angels, and Phillies and Red Sox, that's fine. But sacrificing each league's schedule so that the Dodgers can play the Seattle Mariners is something that should be re-thought for next season. The two clubs see enough of each other in spring training.

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add Angels: Last night's Angels-Yankees game was one of the best of the season. The Yankees won it in the 9th inning, 6-5, after leading 5-0 early on. The Angels came back to tie and could have won it but a weakness in their lineup is starting to show: Vladimir Guerrero. The media, especially television play-by-play announcers, make light of how Guerrero tends to swing at every pitch, whether it is in the strike zone or out of it.

In a crucial part of the game, Guerrero struck out with runners on base because he wasn't patient with the bat. Pitchers have learned that he can't get around on high fast balls like he used to. The Angels coaches should be working with him to go to right field instead of trying to pull every pitch that comes his way.