(Editor’s Note: Two years after the publication of this article, the interleague games increased to 48 per team. Teams now play six games against their designated rivals \u2014 three at home, three on the road. Also, “The Alternators” no longer exist. The permanent designations are ARI vs TEX, COL vs HOU, BOS vs ATL, and TOR vs PHL.)<\/em><\/p>\n Interleague Play is in Major League Baseball to stay, with each team playing 46 games against the opposite circuit.<\/p>\n Wait\u202646? Why not 45? Each league has 15 teams, so three against each team would make 45. Why add the extra game?<\/p>\n \u201cDesignated rivals,\u201d that\u2019s why. Each team plays four games \u2014 two at home, two on the road \u2014 against their designated rivals. Against the other 14 teams, they each play one three-game series. This, of course, raises the question of who each team\u2019s designated rival is for Interleague Play. For about half the league, the answer is obvious. The rest? Not so much.<\/p>\n Starting on the Pacific Coast, there are two pairs of designated rivals that are glaringly obvious. One is the Battle of the Bay \u2014 the San Francisco Giants<\/a> and Oakland Athletics<\/a>. The other is the Freeway Series \u2014 the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> and the Los Angeles (Anaheim, really) Angels<\/a>. There are also two obvious sets of designated rivals on the Atlantic coast. One is the Subway Series \u2014 the New York Yankees<\/a> and New York Mets<\/a>. The other is the Beltway Series. This matches the Baltimore Orioles<\/a> and Washington Nationals<\/a>, teams that are separated by roughly 40 miles.<\/p>\n Another obvious pair-up is known as the Windy City Showdown. This pairs the two teams that have shared a city the longest \u2014 the Chicago Cubs<\/a> and Chicago White Sox<\/a>. These two teams have a long history with one another, being the first teams to face each other in a single-city World Series all the way back in 1906. One hundred years later \u2014 2006 \u2014 they engaged in a well-known brawl.<\/p>\nThe Obvious Designated Rivals \u2014 Same Metro Area or Same State<\/h3>\n