Let’s talk the new MLB balanced schedule.
Many of us were used to the old (current) MLB schedule of 19 games within your team’s division, a number of games that differ from year to year against other teams within your team’s league, and a number of interleague games against the other league, with an additional game or so against your traditional or geographical interleague rival.
While that is not quite precise and carries some inherent favorable or unfavorable nuances, playing more games against each of your division rivals carries on a long tradition of winning your division by playing your division.
Back in the day of the 154-game schedule and only eight teams in each league, a team would play each league rival 22 times and teams and their fans really learned to dislike the opponents they saw that many times. If your team wanted a shot at the pennant, they would have to take care of business against each team. Most recently, the schedule called for 19 games against each division rival, which was still plenty of time to take care of business and work up a severe dislike for “those guys.”
The new schedule format, which begins in 2023, includes 56 divisional games (currently 76), 60 other intraleague games (currently 66), which is six each against each team, and 46 interleague games (currently 20). Each team will play a four-game home-and-home series against their geographic interleague rival (think Yankees-Mets, Dodgers-Angels, Guardians-Reds, Cubs-White Sox, etc.) plus one three-game series against each of the other 14 teams in the other league.
With expansion and multiple divisions within each league, MLB has waffled back and forth between what it calls a “balanced” schedule and an “unbalanced” schedule. But since 2001, when the MLB adopted the unbalanced schedule in which teams would play 72 games against division rivals (in a five-team division) and limit the number of games outside the divisions that can be played, teams have played either 18 or 19 games against each division rival, as the intradivisional schedule expanded to 76 games.
MLB's chief operations and strategy officer Chris Marinak said in a statement, "This fan-friendly format provides fans with the opportunity to see more opponent matchups, with a particular focus on dramatically expanding our most exciting Interleague matchups, and offers more national exposure to the star players throughout our game."
That also was the argument for Interleague play, which was adopted in 1997, and originally, teams played against the same division from the other league; for example, the American League Central played teams from the National League Central, typically scheduled to alternate between home and away in consecutive years. In 2002, however, the league began alternating which divisions played which divisions, with traditional or geographical rivalries kept intact for the most part.
At the time, many thought that would dilute the excitement of the World Series, but it hasn’t. It is cool to have all of the stars from all of baseball play against your team each year and be in your home ballpark every other year, but playing only 34% of your games within your division and playing 28% of your games outside your own league? For me, for the playoffs, yes, but for the division leader, that’s not my cup of “Joe.”
Upside: Each team plays everyone else the same number of times and keeps season competition and common opponents’ records for making the playoffs more equitable. It keeps teams who play many more games against weak division foes from stockpiling wins, while your team, in a tougher division, can’t do that. And, yes, yes, all of these stars come through your town, and all of the top teams in baseball come through.
Downside: Many more bad teams come to town, which could lower attendance, and without being too redundant, you can’t fully take care of business against your division rivals on as grand a scale as before. On the other hand, each game against your division foe carries even greater importance.
Do you really want to see your American League team play every National League team every year? Do you really want your National League team to play only 56 games within its division and 60 NL games outside its division and 106 total games outside its division and still determine a division leader?
What do you think? Does playing every team dilute the special-ness of the World Series and lessen division rivalries, or does it bring fairness and every player into your home ballpark on a regular basis? Let me know what you think at mike.blake@mountvernonnews.com.
