Baseball is currently in its Interleague portion of the season. Major League Baseball is split into two parts, the American League and the National League. The World Series final is played between the winners of the two leagues. In 1997 regular season games between the two leagues were introduced. The interleague games allow for local teams to play each other, introducing local rivalries familiar to fans of English sport. Over the last few nights the New York Yankees have been playing the New York Mets and the Oakland As have been playing the SF Giants. The As recent winning form was of no avail as they lost all three games to the giants and are eight wins behind the division leaders. The As now head to the south of the state to play the LA Dodgers and the San Diego Padres
One thing that makes interleague games a little more complex, is that the two leagues have slightly different rules. In the National League the team’s pitcher has to bat. In the American League there is a Designated Hitter, a specialist batter who stands in for the pitcher. If a game is played at a National League stadium, the pitcher bats and vice versa. This would seem to put American League teams at a disadvantage in interleague games, as their pitchers do not have the same amount of batting experience. However, as of the end of the 2008 season, American League teams hold a slight advantage (1,387–1,317)
