Introduction and Reasoning (See also: Common Sense)
The scuttlebutt has it that Commissioner Bud Selig is considering an expansion of the playoffs. This would be a terrible idea, if you ask me, but it got me thinking about what could be changed, schedule-wise, to benefit the game. I started with something that's bugged me since I was old enough to know what baseball was. With over 150 games a year, it is absolutely inexcusable that a team doesn't see all twenty-nine others at least once a year. The number of division games (my Orioles played 72 in 2010, or 44.4% of the schedule) is absurd. None of the other major pro sports come close: The NFL has six of sixteen games within the division (37.5%), an NHL team plays twenty-four of eighty-two against division foes (29.3%), and the NBA plays just sixteen of eighty-two (19.5%). Perhaps the most significant impetus for a regular-season scheduling change? The MLB schedule doesn't even approximate balance, skewing both division and wild-card races.
There are a number of challenges to address with MLB scheduling. For one, since all games are played in series, a block of days is needed for each matchup. Games cannot conflict with other sports in some cities, or traffic (and in some instances stadium-sharing) issues can arise. For the present scheduling format to work, the divisions must be unequal in size because to have an odd number of teams in each league would require an off day every day for at least one team per league. This would not be possible without significantly lengthening the season. And yet, the uneven divisions themselves present problems. I believe that the most elegant solution to most of the above problems, scheduling and otherwise, is an expansion of interleague play through the entire six-month regular season, accompanied by a minor realignment of divisions.
Playing Everyone
A 162-game schedule that features games against all possible opponents and a reasonable number of division games could be achieved without a division realignment, so I'll walk through that first. Remember, though, that this will require tweaks at the end because of variable division sizes.
AL East and Central:
- Fourteen Division games per opponent, seven home and seven away consisting of one three-game and one four-game series in each stadium. (56 games)
- Six games per remaining AL opponent, three home and three away (54 games, running total 110)
- One three-game series against each NL team, alternating home and away each season (48 games, running total 158)
AL West:
- Fourteen Division games per opponent, as above (42 games)
- Six games per remaining AL opponent, as above (60 games, running total 102)
- Three games per NL opponent, as above (48 games, running total 150)
NL East and West:
- Fourteen Division games per opponent, seven home and seven away consisting of one three-game and one four-game series in each stadium (56 games)
- Six games per remaining NL opponent, three home and three away (66 games, running total 122)
- One three-game series against each AL team, alternating home and away each season (42 games, running total 164)
NL Central:
- Fourteen Division games per opponent, as above (70 games)
- Six games per remaining NL opponent, as above (60 games, running total 130)
- Three games per AL opponent, as above (42 games, running total 172)
Adjustment to 162 games:
- For AL East and Central, expand four series against league but non-division opponents to four games (158 + 4 = 162)
- For AL West, expand to 18 division games per opponent, nine home and nine road (150 + 4x3 = 162)
- For NL East and West, drop two series against league but non-division opponents to two games (164 - 2 = 162)
- For NL Central, drop all division series to three games, playing each opponent twelve times (172 - 2x5 = 162)
Realignment Makes Sense
As mentioned above, the problem with realignment has been that a 15-15 arrangement would create an impossible scheduling resolution under the current format. If MLB were to expand again, a 16-16 arrangement would still involve uneven divisions unless those divisions were split four ways or lumped into pairs. A similar problem would arise if the league were downsized to 14-14. The thing to understand here is that if interleague play spanned the full MLB season, there would no longer be a reason to stand at 16-14 with 4, 5, and 6-team divisions. There would also be a great benefit, in terms of scheduling, to create even-sized leagues and divisions, because rather than needing four separate scheduling formats as shown above, baseball would need just one, and with fewer "tweaks."
Who goes? Well, the NL Central would have to say goodbye to someone, and since Houston is in the Central while Texas is in the West, they're the clear choice. (This would save on travel budgets and fuel, too!) But putting them straight into the AL West has its problems, because you'd have a situation where both Texas teams are in the same league, a kind of setup MLB likes to avoid. So, Houston to the NL West. This requires a second move, and two candidates seem equally good choices to me: either Colorado or Arizona to the AL West. I don't think it matters which, though fans of those two clubs would probably feel differently.
The Schedule Format:
- Fourteen division games per opponent, seven home and seven away, consisting of a three-game and four-game set in each stadium (56 games)
- Six games against each remaining League opponent, three home and three away (60 games, running total 116)
- Three games against each nonleague opponent, alternating home and away series for each opponent each year (45 games, running total 161)
- Adjust to a four-game series against the nonleague "rival" for that 162nd game.
Simple and elegant, no? Now you have even divisions. Your team plays everyone, which is better for out-of-market fans and for national exposure. You visit every major league stadium at least once every two years. No more two-game series, and a limited number of four-game series. There are still 56 division games, or 34.5%, which is second only to the NFL. The schedule is as balanced as it is possible for a schedule of this magnitude to be. One thing remains, and that is a listing of who exactly those interleague rivals are. Some are obvious, others semi-obvious, and the last few are forced by the former:
Yankees-Mets
White Sox-Cubs
Angels-Dodgers
Athletics-Giants
Rays-Marlins
Rangers-Astros
Orioles-Nationals
Twins-Brewers
Indians-Pirates
Tigers-Reds
Royals-Cardinals
Rockies-Diamondbacks
Mariners-Padres
Red Sox-Braves
Blue Jays-Phillies
