Interleague Miscellany

GAMES: Teams in East and Central divisions each will play 15 interleague games. West clubs will play 16.

* FORMAT: It will be AL East vs. NL East, AL Central vs. NL Central and AL West vs. NL West. Each East and Central team will play three games against every team in the corresponding division; West teams will face each other four times, with two games in each city.

* SCHEDULE: All interleague games will be played during three periods--today through June 18, June 30-July 3 and Aug. 28-Sept. 3.

* THE OPENERS: San Francisco at Texas tonight at 5:35 p.m. Other games tonight are Colorado at Seattle, Dodgers at Oakland and San Diego at Angels.

* DH: Same rules as the World Series. Designated hitter used in games at AL parks, pitchers must bat at NL parks.

* UMPIRES: Not the same as the World Series. No split crews. Only AL umpires will work at AL parks and only NL umps at NL parks. Will there be disputes about different strike zones? Sure, it happens every October.

* BALLS: AL balls at AL parks and NL balls at NL parks. Only one difference between them--the writing on AL balls is blue and the print on NL balls is black. But Rawlings, which makes all major league balls, is considering a special interleague ball for the future.

* STATISTICS: They all count. If Mark McGwire homers off Hideo Nomo, it becomes part of their cumulative records. No special category for statistics compiled in games against the other league.

* EVER BEFORE?: Not since the first major league was formed--the National Assn. in 1871--have teams from different leagues played each other during the regular season.

* TICKETS: Brisk in most places. The three Mets-Yankees games at Yankee Stadium are nearly sold out, and Baltimore’s visit to Atlanta was a hot seller. Even matchups that don’t sound as attractive are doing well, including Kansas City at Pittsburgh.

* NEXT YEAR: Two plans being talked about for 1998. The most likely has teams playing 16 interleague games, the other calls for 18. In either case, it will remain East vs. East, Central vs. Central and West vs. West. In the East and Central, all matchups will flip sites (as in the Cubs, who play at Comiskey Park this year, will play the White Sox at Wrigley Field in 1998).

* FUTURE: For 1999 and beyond, players and owners must both agree to continue the experiment.