With Shea Stadium's mixed fandom boiling from anxiety and anticipation, Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez stepped to the plate in the ninth inning against Mets closer Billy Wagner, a man on base, his team down by two runs. Rodriguez swung and the ball headed high toward Shea's leftfield wall.

It died a few feet short into the glove of Endy Chavez, but not before it tested the hearts of all in attendance, or underscored the whole purpose of interleague play. A game in late June felt like a game in late October.

A few hours later, though, in a place where the wave broke out amid some late-inning tension the day before, the Phillies and Rangers met for the finale of their three-game series. Maybe it was that the Phillies would have trouble these days mounting a rally against home-run derby server Ramon Henderson, or that the Rangers again appear to be a club content to finish amid a mass of mediocrity. But this was a game in late June that felt like a game in mid-March. Which is to say it had nothing, the way a game between San Diego and Seattle had nothing hours later.

So, for it or against it? And before you answer the interleague question, before you point out the obvious, that American League teams annually pad their records against the National League, that economically it's too often not a fair fight, ask this additional question:

Could interleague play be done better?

I think there are some obvious ways, ways that everyone - fans, players, team administrators and owners - might like.

Like this: The designated hitter bats in the National League parks. Pitchers hit in the AL parks.

Several purposes are served. National League fans get to witness the designated hitter. We see the pitcher bat the rest of the season, we see the double switch, debate the smarts or lack of smarts in using this pinch-hitter too soon or too late, of pitching this guy against that guy, yada, yada, yada.

For nine games a season, the DH would be a lot of fun. Especially at the Bank.

It also would allow all those traditionalists trapped in AL towns to watch old-school baseball for nine games a season, to watch firsthand their manager grapple with the game-changing decisions that NL skippers make every day.

There's also the possibility that, with a hometown crowd fueling rallies, the designated hitter might help the National League win a few more home games. Maybe it makes winning at an American League park more doable, too.

Either way, or neither way, what's the harm in trying it? The same number of games are played under each league's rules.

If this puts the AL teams at a slight disadvantage, well, so what? Five of baseball's top six payrolls belong to American League teams, and that leads to another idea. Since interleague play is a gimmick, why not switch off every other year with this gimmick: a system in which the high-salaried teams, the middle class, and the poor are grouped together and play each other over those 18 games.

For example:

Mercedes League: Yankees, Mets, Tigers, Red Sox, White Sox.

Cadillac League: Angels, Dodgers, Cubs, Mariners, Braves.

Midsize League: Cardinals, Blue Jays, Phillies, Astros, Brewers.

Compact League: Indians, Giants, Reds, Padres, Rockies.

Subcompact League: Rangers, Orioles, Diamondbacks, Twins, Royals.

Scooter League: Nationals, Pirates, Athletics, Rays, Marlins.

Critics will argue that the schedule is already unfair enough, with too many like-salaried teams in the same division with each other, leading to easier paths to the playoffs. The Mercedes group, after interleague play, was a collective 33 games over .500 entering last night's games, and that's with the Mets and Tigers underachieving. No surprise there.

This is: The Scooter League is five games over .500 halfway through the season, with three of the five contending for the playoffs.

Total payroll of Mercedes League: $740 million.

Total payroll of Scooter League: $218 million.

Marlins-Rays World Series ticket: Priceless . . . Yeah, well, to someone, I guess.

Truth is, the schedule will be unfair regardless. But since teams like the Yankees and Red Sox still haul in far more revenue than even the midsized teams, they should be able to (and have) overcome such inequities. Plus, they stand to make even more money in television advertising rates by playing more big-name, big-budget teams like the Cubs and Dodgers. And so will the leagues.

The Cubs played the White Sox several times on national television last week. The Mets-Yankees series was on, too. This weekend, the Phillies and Mets will renew their new rivalry while the Red Sox and Yankees will renew their age-old one.

Has interleague play diminished the importance of either? Hardly. It's only July 1, but the games of last week, and the ones coming up, make it feel much later than that. Like it or not, baseball's best gimmick has something to do with that. *

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