MLB's unbalanced scheduling

by user Demonboy

Now that the MLB season is virtually here (16 days until opening day as of this writing), all I'm hearing is how unbalanced the scheduling is. If a team is doing really well in their division, some talks start about how unbalanced the schedule is and that they might not "deserve" the placement that they are in.

Case in point, the 2006 Detroit Tigers. They were in first place most of the year. However, I heard talks like if the schedule was more balanced that they might not have been in first place for the length of time that they were.

My question is, why can't the scheduling be more balanced than it is? You see it all the time in other sports. In basketball, Eastern Conference teams play Western Conference teams all the time. In Football, AFC Teams play NFC teams all the time. Why can't this happen in baseball?

Sure there's interleague play but that's only a limited number of games. Now using another team for example - the Chicago Cubs; this year outside of the yearly matchup with the Chicago White Sox for 6 games (3 and 3 split), they only play 6 games against the AL - 3 against the Seattle Mariners and another 3 against the Texas Rangers hardly worth calling this interleague play.

I took about an hour of my life to see if there is any way that the scheduling can not only be more balanced, but still keep the 162 game schedule. The short answer is - yes it can be as shown below.

• The numbers in the corresponding boxes represent the number of games that those teams play each other through out the year.

Maybe if the MLB implemented a schedule similar to this, then the winner of the World Series would truly be deserving without anyone saying that they got to the playoffs because they didn't face this team or that team. There wouldn't be a question. If I can make up this type of a schedule in an hour, why can't MLB and make more fans happy with the scheduling? Besides, who knows, with a more balanced schedule, it just might create newer rivalries which we all know, would be good for the sport.

Manny StilesMajor Leaguer

1017 days ago

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They don't balance it evenly because 1)travelling is a bitch and 2)stadiums are used for other money making ventures, and 3)it makes too much sense.

If it makes sense then it won't make dollars.

Either way, I like it. It means the Devil Rays still get to kick MORE Yankee and Red Suock ass!

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

1017 days ago

Score 1

I agree with Manny. It's impractical to have three games in LA, followed by 3 in New York, followed by 3 in Minnesota, then three in Atlanta, then 3 in St Louis all in 15 days (e.g.) The players play too often to allow for such things. Unless they schedule double headers. Good work though with the research!

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False ProphetAll-Star

1017 days ago

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They would schedule them by region, so, for instance, they'd play in MN,then CHI (both), and DET. It is very doable

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DemonboyDraft Pick

1016 days ago

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Originally, I had the AL play the NL teams 4 times (2 & 2 split) but that took away some divisional games which I thought were more important... I was also thinking like what FP said about playing by region... I.E. NYY take a west coast trip and play ARZ, LAD, LAA & SEA then come home and COL, SF, SD & OAK come in town... The biggest problem I found was scheduling the AL West (due to only 4 teams) and the NL Central (6 teams)...

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TylersaltAll-Star

1016 days ago

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The old boys' club that is the owners would never sign off on something like this because it ignores all the history that the separate leagues have as actual independent entities. The conferences in the other major sports (NFL, NBA, NHL) play eachother all the time, but they have the same rules (the DH is not the only difference between the AL and NL... I can't remember the other differences, but they're fairly minor), and were never really separate things. It's the major leagues for a reason. The practical considerations are obviously important, but what I really think would kill an idea like this is the respect that "baseball" has for its history.

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DemonboyDraft Pick

1016 days ago

Score 1

I subscribe to XM radio and listen to the MLB channel (XM175) all the time... there was an interview Rob Dibble & Kevin Kennedy had with with Joe Garagiolla (sp) Jr (SRVP of Baseball Operations)... the DH question was brought up - making both leagues more equal - Joe was saying that while the have been no talks as of yet about changing the DH rules, he would not be surprised that if in 5 years or so, the NL would have a DH... when asked what about getting rid of the DH completely, Joe had an infattic NO for that answer... Once/if the NL gets a DH, then this type of scheduling would definately make more sense since both leagues would be more equal...

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Manny StilesMajor Leaguer

1016 days ago

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I think you should be able to DH for any one fielding position. So if you have a pitcher that can hit he gets to bat, while your weak hitting slick fielding SS can get DH'ed for... Guys like Doug Mientcejkfhgojdhfgosdhfghshdwicz would be more of an asset.

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Anonymous Fanatic #1

964 days ago

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There's one problem: how do you actually SCHEDULE that? It's not going to be as easy as simply making a chart. WHEN do the Royals play the White Sox? When do the A's play the Dodgers? That's where the problems come in.

The reason you have an "unbalanced" schedule so to speak is making sure every team has another team to play at all times. Your grid there does nothing to deal with that.

If you can produce an actually schedule in an hour, then I'll be impressed. Until then, I have to conclude you really don't understand how hard scheduling is. (Or rather, how hard MLB makes it because of their stupid alignment of teams.)

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Confessions Of A FanaticDiv-I Stud

897 days ago

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Anonymous Fan is missing the point. No one can make an actual game-by-game schedule in an hour, including MLB. The point of this is just to prove that the schedule can be more balanced, but I'm sure with enough time spent working out the logistical aspects of it, an actual game-by-game schedule can be a reality. I would never ask Demonboy to do such a thing though, as I'm sure he can list thousands of things he'd rather do with an entire day or two than make a hypothetical MLB schedule.

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Anonymous Fanatic #2

692 days ago

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This is stupid. You have a different number of games played through out the division. The mets can't play the phillies 13 times but play the nats and florida 14 times. complete stupidity and it is unfair. You must have an equal number of games between each divisional opponet with an equal number of home and away games. You are bypassing every single schedule making law. although i would like to see more interleague play and to have every team play one another, this schedule doesn't fit that mold and if you can fix it to have equal games vs divisional opponets while increasing interleague play then im all for it, but you have to be dumbest person alive if you think that the schedule above is all fair and good.

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Anonymous Fanatic #3

484 days ago

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Is it me or doesn't it seem like the Yankees are playing the Angels more than any other team outside their division?

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Anonymous Fanatic #4

432 days ago

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Good point. The only problem is that owners would want to see inner-city series at least twice a season. So if you take an inner-division game away from each team, it could happen. Also each AL team has to be paired with an NL team. Either expansion or moving an NL team to the AL will work. Colorado should be the obvious choice. They could go to the AL west and be paired with Arizona in interleague play. Texas could move to the AL central like they always wanted to be and play the Astros and not mess up the interleague division alignment. This might be an idea for thought. Besides I think Colorado and the city might be more suited to the American League. what do you think?

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Anonymous Fanatic #5

188 days ago

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In order to even begin approaching the perfect schedule, MLB needs to first address the concern of the unbalanced division alignment currently in place. MLB is the only major American sport that has an unbalanced league set up. The problem exists with the difference in teams in the NL Central and AL West (6 & 4 respectively. With 5 teams in each of the remaining 4 leagues it makes no sense. I don't understand why MLB allows this to continue. But the NFL, NBA & even the NHL are smart enough to understand parity with respect to the foundation of league operations, alignment and scheduling. The NFL has 8 divisions w/ 4 teams each. The NBA & NHL have two conferences w/ 15 teams each (Div champ doesn't really factor in when you have 8 playoff teams from each conference). So what you have in MLB are 4 AL teams in their league that start each season with a better chance of winning a division title (25% over everyone else at 20%, except the NL Central teams have even less of a chance at 16%). That's a 9% difference between the AL West And NL Central. Furthermore, teams in the AL have a better chance at a wild card (9% vs 7.7%) over NL teams. All this before ever throwing a single pitch in the season. For true divisional parity, the buck starts here.

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