You have to like Jim Leyland for speaking his mind. Even when he’s wrong, as he mostly is when complaining about interleague play (via the Free Press):
Tigers Manager Jim Leyland No Fan Of Interleague Games
The Tigers visit the Rockies on June 17-20 and the Dodgers on June 20-22. That's six days in which they'll have pitchers batting and therefore won't have a designated hitter -- so Victor Martinez or Alex Avila likely will not be in the lineup together for a week.
"Six straight days, that's ridiculous," Leyland said. "Totally ridiculous."
"We play with the DH rules. The American League gets penalized, even though the record's been decent over the years. We get penalized. Their pitchers are hitting and bunting all year, and they get the advantage of letting their pitchers rest and using the DH when they come here, and we gotta use guys six straight days without Victor Martinez or Alex Avila or somebody. That's ridiculous. Totally ridiculous, and they ought to look into it."
“Look into it” how, exactly?
The funny thing is that the American League kills the National League almost every year, and when I argue that the American League is obviously better than the National League, I’ll invariably get a bunch of yahoos claiming there’s no difference at all in quality; it’s just that the American League’s got a big edge in their home games, because they have a suitable DH on the roster and most of the National League teams don’t.
There’s probably a little something to that. It’s been a long time since I’ve run the numbers. There’s also probably a little something to the fact that National League pitchers are slightly better hitters and bunters than their AL counterparts.
Whatever these differences, I’m confident in saying they’re nothing compared to the difference in talent between the leagues. The National League was better in the 1960s because of its great black players. The American League has been better over the last decade because of its smarter and wealthier organizations.
As for Alex Avila and his 750 career OPS, I think Leyland should be able to construct a decent Avila-free lineup. If he can’t, Jim Leyland is what should be looked into.
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