When interleague play in Major League Baseball began as an experiment in 1997, the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds were able to face each other for the first time ever during the regular season. The match up was quickly named The Battle of Ohio
and a new rivalry was born.
Now that interleague play has been deemed a success, teams face opponents from various divisions. For example, each American League Central team will have a series with each team from the National League West this season. One exception to this system is the retention of series between intrastate teams like the Mets and Yankees of New York, the Cubs and White Sox of Chicago, and Ohio's own Reds and Indians.
The Battle of Ohio reached its all-time low when the two teams faced each other last weekend in Cincinnati. The series matched the worst offensive team of the American League against the worst pitching team of the National League. If that was not enough to scare fans away from the ballpark, both teams were over 10 games out of first place in their respective division coming into the series.
I was able to attend the Saturday game between the rivals and I can honestly say that it was the most uninteresting baseball game I have ever been to. Even though my beloved Indians played one of their best games of the year, I was too distracted by the lack of care anyone in the crowd had for the game to get excited. Fans seemed more animated for their $2.75 Skyline Chili Coney Island Dogs then the action on the field.
The only time the crowd showed any signs of life was in between the 8th and 9th inning when YMCA was played over the loud speakers. If Commissioner of Major League Baseball Bud Selig was at Saturday's game, I guarantee he would find a way to cancel the upcoming rematch between the teams scheduled for later in the season.
Just because the teams play in the same state does not automatically make it a rivalry. There needs to be some form of hatred or at least consistently good games between the teams. There is neither between the Reds and Indians. I saw Reds fans mingling with Indians fans during the game. Rival fans do not do that!
Until the Indians and Reds find a way to win again or even something to fight about, Major League Baseball needs to do its fans a favor and end The Battle of Ohio.
-Andrew Gribble is a freshman journalism major who would rather listen to YMCA for three hours than watch another Reds-Indians game.
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Andrew Gribble
