INTERLEAGUE PLAY ROUND 2 : Fans Appear to Be in Swing of Things

Baseball’s Great Interleague Experiment resumes with a mini Phase II tonight and the chairman of the owners’ Strategic Planning Committee calling for more interleague games in 1998.

Houston Astro owner Drayton McLane, who is also a member of the schedule format committee, said he would like to see the interleague portion increased from the 15 or 16 games (depending on the division) of this year to 20 to 22 next year.

“The fan response was outstanding,” McLane said. “I’d like to see more games, so that in a five- or six-year period, the fans would be assured of seeing every team.”

Attendance increased 37% during the first interleague period--from an average of 25,581 to 34,922.

Astro attendance went up 39% for a three-game series with the Minnesota Twins, who at last look were still playing without gate attractions such as Kirby Puckett, Dave Winfield and Jack Morris.

Despite McLane’s influence, however, many baseball executives think the interleague portion has to remain limited to maintain the integrity of the leagues, the races and the World Series.

And with Tampa Bay and Arizona expanding each league to 15 teams, the tentative 1998 schedule calls for a similar slate.

Each team will play 16 interleague games. Each will play two three-game series, both at home and away, and one two-game series, both home and away.

There won’t be as many of those dreaded two-game series--interleague and overall.

While the format and schedule beyond ’98 could change significantly, depending on realignment, it will again be West vs. West, Central vs. Central and East vs. East in ‘98--with the home and away sites flopping from ’97.

San Diego Padre President Larry Lucchino thinks it’s a mistake to maintain those geographical pairings, that interleague competition should rotate among the divisions.

“The purpose of interleague is to showcase our greatest stars around the country, and that defeats the purpose,” he said.

In the meantime, Phase II is a dot on the 1997 map.

Central and Eastern teams will play three interleague games during this final week before the All-Star break, while Western teams will play four.

Nevertheless, there are some interesting confrontations:

* The Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees begin a World Series rematch at Yankee Stadium tonight.

* All-Star catchers Mike Piazza and Ivan Rodriguez meet tonight in the first of two between the Dodgers and Texas Rangers at Dodger Stadium.

* Angel pitchers escape the claustrophobic horrors of the Kingdome only to encounter the mile-high terror of Coors Field in a two-game series with the Colorado Rockies. They then return to Anaheim for two with the Dodgers.

* The San Francisco Giants meet the Seattle Mariners in a possible October preview, then play host to the Oakland A’s in the first meaningful resumption of their Bay Area rivalry since the earthquake-disrupted ’89 World Series.

* The Montreal Expos and Toronto Blue Jays play a three-game series in Toronto that coincides with Tuesday’s Canada Day celebrations.

Will attendance be as impressive as it was in Phase I?

“I don’t think you can expect that,” Lucchino said. “I don’t think you can expect the excitement of the first time.

“As I said going in, not every game is going to be a bell-ringer, just as every game was not a bell-ringer before interleague, but there are going to be a lot of games off the board (attendance-wise).”

Said Milwaukee Brewer Manager Phil Garner: “You can argue all day whether you like interleague or not, but you can’t argue about whether it has been received by the fans or not. It has been a raging success, and that’s the bottom line.”

Dodger Vice President Fred Claire agreed.

“From a positive standpoint, all you have to do is look at fan interest,” Claire said. “How that plays out in the long run remains to be seen, but as an instant boost, there’s no question about it, and as for where baseball is today, that’s a big plus.”

Claire also echoed comments by A’s General Manager Sandy Alderson after the Dodgers played two games in Oakland during Phase I.

“Sandy said that interleague seemed to establish new demographics for the Dodgers in that the A’s attendance was up and there seemed to be a lot of Dodger fans,” Claire said.

“We saw a lot of Dodger caps and T-shirts in Oakland and Seattle.”

Wins were another matter. The Dodgers are 3-3 in interleague while the Angels are 1-4. The Giants, Expos and Boston Red Sox have the best interleague records, all 5-1.

There will be a Phase III from Aug. 28 to Sept. 3, which is too late and disrupts the division races, some have complained.

As for those and other complaints, the moans about the wearying travel amid all the two-game series, for example, Claire had an answer.

“Those of us in baseball, from owners to clubs officials to players, can’t say that [interleague] has been a great boost on one hand and complain about inconveniences on the other,” he said.

“That’s not to say that some refinements aren’t needed, but that may take months in front of a computer.

“The bottom line is that increased attendance means increased revenue for the clubs and that means increased salaries for the players. That has to be understood.”

But doesn’t always seem to be.