Braves vs Blue Jays Prove Interleague Play is Great for Baseball

By Djack

Anyone that was against interleague play, I hope this series changed your mind. I haven't seen hate like this between two that have no history in forever. A random rivalry to make a meaningless series in mid-May is what baseball needs more of. If it wasn't for batters getting plugged, pitchers calling out batters, and catchers for getting in people's faces this series would've been boring as all hell. Instead, the Blue Jays and Braves went to war, leading to this series becoming a must watch event next year.

In this 4 game series, the Braves got two home games and the Blue Jays got two home games. A lot of travel in a short amount of time, but with the way these guys get paid I'm not really interested in the players complaints about convenience and comfort. This series put all hate to bed about the AL going up against the NL more frequently. Marcus Stroman hit a home run last night, Bautista got throw at, and in the days prior the drama was packed to the brim. That would've never happened if this series didn't happen, so that's just another added bonus of getting to see a series we normally wouldn't of..

A total of 9 batters got plugged in this series, the fact more ejection didn't occur really surprised me. I think Kevin Pillar was the only one, he didn't even get ejected, although he did get suspended 2 games for using homophobic slurs towards the Braves pitcher. I get we live in a day and age where that kind of profanity is completely unacceptable, but shit talking on the field is a part of the game, no fans heard it, and that kinda stuff should stay between the players. Don't be that guy that snitches because your feelings got hurt. Pillar admitted what he said was dumb and that he was just frustrated that Jason Motte quick pitched him like that. That was just a fraction of the drama in this series.

The two biggest headlines of this series are Freddie Freeman getting hit by a pitch and then it led to his wrist being fractured causing him to miss 8 weeks. That's fucked, I'm all for the unwritten rules and plugging guys, but don't hurt them, hit em in the ass or thigh, not the wrist. Braves are going to pay the price big time for this war they went through with the Blue Jays, which sucks because they were playing well this season. After that happened , Joey Bautista jacked a home run, starred down the pitcher after, and then did his classic bat flip. Everyone hates Joey Bats, he's a cocky asshole, but he produces. If you don't wanna get shown up, it's simple, don't give him the chance to. Anyways, once Bautista reached home plate he and the catcher exchanged words, benches began to clear, unfortunately no punches were thrown. After the game, the pitcher was asked about it and he said he's sick of Bautista showing people up and what not, really acting soft. Then, he says I don't know why he still does it after what happened last time referring to Bautista getting snuffed by Roughen Odor. Everyone thought this was a great comeback, however if he's so tough why didn't he snuff Bautista once he bat flipped in his face. Safe to say this Braves pitcher is about talk, not action.

Bautista is clearly hated around the league and I kinda love it. We need villains just like we need heroes, it's just what makes the world work. This is the kinda stuff baseball needs to be interesting to get those fans that don't necessarily love the game to start watching again. Storylines, rivalries, moments that can go viral are what the fans want to see and this series delivered a ton of that action packed into a Monday-Thursday series. The rematch of the 1992 World Series was legendary, maybe even better than the original matchup, probably for all the wrong reasons, but still. All I know is I'm all for interleague play, who said these games have no substance behind them.