PITTSBURGH -- Interleague plays begins its 14th season this weekend. 

 Feel the white-knuckled tension? The raw-nerved emotion? The rapid-pulsed drama.

 Me, neither.

 Like most things Major League Baseball these days, interleague play is made for the big markets. New York has the Subway Series. Los Angeles has the Freeway Series. Chicago has the Crosstown Classic, now with its very own Crosstown Cup even. The Bay Area has the Bay Bridge Series. Bostodelphia has the Red Sox versus the Phillies.

 What does Seattle get out of it except more frequent-flier miles?

 Interleague play doesn't do much for the Pirates and their fans, either. In theory, the series against the Cleveland Indians should be one to watch because of the close proximity of the respective cities. But as the Browns and Steelers can tell you, rivalries are as much about history and bad blood as simple geography. Indians and Pirates fans don't talk smack to each other. They sympathize with one another.

 Meanwhile, the Pirates will meet their new interleague rivals for the fifth consecutive season. You know, the Chicago White Sox.

 The National League teams are at a competitive disadvantage in these games. They don't budget for a full-time designated hitter, which means they're out of luck on the road. True, the American League teams have to bat their pitchers in away games, but that doesn't outweigh the DH advantage.

  Really, weren't the All-Star Game and the World Series a lot more fun when the American and National Leagues stayed to themselves in the regular season?

  As far as I can tell, there is one potential benefit to interleague play. Why not award homefield advantage in the World Series to the league that has the best record in head-to-head games? At least that way every team will be involved inthe process, not just the chosen few that dominate the All-Star Game every year.

 Otherwise, I'll take a pass.