Many baseball people cringe every season when interleague play rears its ugly head.

I’m not one of them.

The division races are taking shape, the summer is right around the corner, I think interleague play comes at the right time to give the fans a boost.

There are many intriguing match ups on the schedule.

Is interleague play fair?

Here’s what I think.Sure it is.

Baseball itself isn’t fair. If I own a team in New York, my revenue is many times greater than the poor billionaire who owns his team in Kansas City.

With all my money, I can steal his players.

If my park has a 40 foot wall 300 feet away in leftfield and I play 81 games there and load up my team with powerful righthanded hitters, is that fair?

If my opponent’s park has a short porch in right field and he spends 120 million to sign a powerful lefthanded hitting DH/first baseman is that fair?

So, if I get to play Kansas City and Detroit in interleague play and you have to play Seattle and Oakland, does it really attack the integrity of the game?

I don’t think so.

Baseball is full of built in inequities, so the luck of the schedule is just another curveball to deal with along the way.

With unfair schedule argument out of the way (the only one I hear), let’s look at some of the games.

Houston comes in to face the A’s.

The Astros Roy Oswalt is a polished pitcher, very similar to the A’s big three.

Mark Mulder gets to throw his new assortment of changeups and curves against one of the most diappointing offenses in the National League.

Houston has had major trouble winning close games (3-11), while the A’s specialize in winning the close ones (9-2).

Art Howe very rarely gets outmanaged in AL games, and is a former NL manager, so he is well versed in facing the NL style game.

Houston has left many runners on base and is only 8th in the league in batting average. The

Astro bullpen has been used too often, due to Jimy Williams’ quick hook for the starting pitchers. Relievers Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner have both been an adventure this season.

Houston is 5-4 against lefties. Mark Mulder is a lefty.

The A’s just completed a tough series against the Mariners, while Houston was knocked around by Arizona.

I don’t know how this series will turn out, but I will tell you, it will be interesting to watch.

Cincinnati and Ken Griffey Junior play in Edison Field. Seeing Junior back in the AL is worth the price of admission.

Putting Griffey aside, The match up of Chris Reitsma and Aaron Sele is a good one. Reitsma has struggled lately, Sele hasn’t.

Cincinnati can hang with Anaheim because the Reds get to play all their offensive players without having to resort to their silly “rest a hitter evey day”plan.

Cincy has a good bull pen, perhaps better than the Angels pen right now.

The Angels are the hottest team in the AL, Cincinnati is the surprise team of the NL.

I like this series.

Mark Prior comes up to Seattle with the Cubs.

Is Don Baylor’s job in jeopardy?

If The Cubs falter through the interleague schedule, including the games with the White Sox, I think Baylor’s job is toast.

Joel Pineiro has not thrown well lately. Seattle isn’t hitting, but the Cubs are really not hitting at all.

The Cubs are hitting .232 as a team with 82 doubles. The only team with less doubles in the league is the Padres.

Seattle is licking their chops for a shot at the Cubs right now.

Miguel Batista takes his sudden power game back to the American League, where he had a short stay with KC in 2000. The Red Sox are hot, but the doubt still remains about their ability to play winning baseball all summer.

Arizona has a clubhouse of professionals. They are World Champs and after facing the Yanks in the series, this trip to Fenway will be a piece of cake.

Frank Castillo better have a good bull pen behind him, because Arizona is a good hitting team. Arizona has the highest on base % in the NL, a sure sign of strength in Fenway, where one well timed swing can mean three runs in a hurry.

Good series.

Barry Bonds brings his record breaking show into Yankee Stadium. Livan Hernandez is a big game pitcher, always has been.

Mike Mussina thrives in pressure games. If the Yankees can figure out how to stop Bonds (no one else has yet), then the Bombers have the run scoring ability to beat the Giants.

I’ll bet Bonds hits at least two homers this weekend, with one a game winner.

The Mets have had a rough week, falling 4 1/2 games behind the Braves and losing five straight in the process.

Cleveland is in worse shape, giving up 23 runs to the Twins two days ago.

Danys Baez can pitch for six innings if everything goes perfectly. He will be a great set up man when Cleveland figures out what to do with him. In the meantime, get the beleaguered Tribe bull pen ready, because this will be a long weekend against a Met offense that will wake up at The Jake.

Texas is 3-14 against lefties. Lefty Damian Moss may have drawn the Rangers at a bad time because Juan Gonzalez is swinging the pole. Pudge Rodriguez is due back any day, also.

Chan Ho Park may feel like he is at home against a NL team. He sure hasn’t pitched well against any AL teams so far.

Bobby Cox will outmanage Jerry Narron anyway.

Braves will have a nice weekend.

Other good games:

Andy Ashby against the Orioles’ Rodrigo Lopez.

Two good young arms Jeff Weaver and Vincente Padilla. Two bad teams Tigers and Phils.

At least Jeremy Giambi will feel at home as the DH, when the Phils play in an AL park.

This is a good weekend to be a fan.

That’s what it’s all about anyway.

Now that’s fair.