Each year, teams from the American and National leagues take a break from playing within their designated leagues to take on teams from the opposing loop.  This allows fans from around the country an opportunity to see teams from the other league whom they may not normally have a chance to see, and helps to sustain natural rivalries. 

“This year, Major League Baseball has decided to add a new spin to the experience and it is all to the benefit of the fans” says MLB’s VP of Game Scheduling, Mike Trowalter. “We looked long and hard at this idea and decided it’s time to give back to our die-hard fans that support the minor leagues, where so many of these major leaguers came from.”  

Gabe Sinicropi, Vice-President of Marketing & Public Relations with the Williamsport Crosscutters said he was thrilled with the opportunity, “Can you imagine the thrill of seeing both the Phillies AND the Yankees in Williamsport?  What makes this event better is that we will not- I repeat- NOT raise ticket prices for these games.”  Trowalter added that “Officials from both teams and Major League Baseball have decided the best thing to do is to keep the cost of the game right where the fans are used to it.  So this means an entire family can watch the game and eat hotdogs for under $30.00.” 

Sinicropi continued by saying “This was really hush-hush from the beginning with a lot of work being done behind the scenes for many months.  Early on we had to include the hotel owners and the Williamsport Lycoming Chamber of Commerce in the talks and planning.  We had to make sure that the local hotels were up to speed-and that we had enough rooms for the teams, their staff and the management.”   

He went on to explain the only real challenge was in making room for the television crews and broadcast announcers “We ended up finding quite a few host families from our Booster Club who normally host the Crosscutters players during the season and they were willing to take on more guests.   I think only a few of the staff will have to sleep in tents out beyond the left field fence.” 

According to the official Crosscutters press release, tickets will be made available the week prior to the series.  Season ticket holders will have first priority and will be limited to the number of season tickets that they have.  All other fans will be able to buy only two tickets per person and must possess a driver’s license that was issued in any one of the following counties: Lycoming, Union, Northumberland, Snyder and Clinton. 

“It’s sure to be a sell-out which will makes things exciting” says ESPN Sports Analyst Chris Berman “and I can’t wait to come back to Williamsport!  The last time I was there was to see the Little League World Series with my folks way back when I was 12.  And now, I get to cover this historic moment on television for ESPN and check out Historic Bowman Field.” 

Additional sources inside Major League Baseball say that, if all goes well with this test run, Interleague series such as this can become an annual event.  All indications are that Williamsport could host a series each season. 

“What amazed me the most about this is the fact that the players and Major League Baseball’s Player Association were so generous and agreeable to this venture” says Crosscutter’s President Paul J. Velte “I feel they all understand how important this will be to the fans and how good it will be for Major League Baseball overall.” 

Chamber of Commerce CEO, Vince Mateo joked “I will probably hear from relatives who haven’t called me since I was a kid, wanting tickets to the game.  When my cousins hear that Derek Jeter will be playing here in town I will probably have to turn my phone off.”   He continued by saying, “Really, this is such a great moment for Williamsport and all of Lycoming County to shine.  The world comes to town every summer for the Little League World Series and now they get to see us twice in the same year.” 

When contacted, members from each organization were enthusiastic about playing baseball at Bowman Field.  Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon said that he wants to “Swim out to that island in the river that you can see from the Arch Street Bridge” while he’s in for the series.  Phillies Shortstop Jimmy Rollins joined in by saying that he “always wanted to see what is really on top of the Genetti Hotel”.