Schedules

[Hudda]

what is the requirements for the schedule.

(i.e how many times vs. division teams, vs. AL/NL teams)

[wilmer007]

It's kinda complicated but i think this is how it goes. Keep in mind that i couldn't find it anywhere on the net so i had to grab a calculator and the following teams 2004 Schedule: Cubs, Marlins, Angels, and Red Sox

NL West and NL East Teams (Using Marlins 2004 Schedule):

- 19 Games against each team in their Division (19*4=76)

- 6 Games against each team from the NL Central (6*6=36)

- 6 Games against each team from the other Division in their League (NL West vs NL East) (6*5=30)

- 18 Total Inter-League Games, 6 Total Interleague Series in 3 Game Series format, with 3 Series at Home and 3 Series on the road. 12 Games against 2 teams from the AL West (NL East)/AL East (NL West) and 2 teams from the AL Central. 6 Games against the City/State Rival in the teams division on the opposite league (Example: Marlins vs Devil Rays, Mets vs Yankees) in 3 Game Series Format with 1 Series at Home and 1 Series at the City/State Rivals Home. If the team has no City/State Rival than they play 1 or 2 teams (not sure which one) in the same division from the opposite League that also doesn't have a City/State Rival.

- The 2 remaining games are played against 2 teams (1 extra game each) from the other Division (NL West vs NL East), with every year the 2 Teams for the 2 remaining games are cycled. The NL Central has their own format.

So the equation is 76+36+30+18+2=162

NL Central (Using Cubs 2004 Schedule):

- 18 Games against 1 NL Central Team, 17 Games Against 2 NL Central Teams and 19 Games Against 2 NL Central Teams, all this cycling every year. (90 Games Against NL Central Teams)

- 6 Games against each team from the NL East (6*5=30)

- 6 Games against each team from the NL West (6*5=30)

- 12 Total Inter-League Games, with 6 Games against 2 AL West Teams, 3 Games each team (I would imagine the 2 Divisions Cycle every year). 6 Games against the State/City Rival from the teams division from the opposite league (Example Cubs against White Sox, Reds against Indians). If the team has no City/State Rival than they play 1 or 2 teams (not sure which one) in the same division from the opposite League that also doesn't have a City/State Rival.

So the Equation is 90+30+30+12=162

The AL is more complicated but this is what i got which when you see it won't make much sense.

AL East and AL Central (Using Red Sox 2004 Schedule)

- 19 Games against each team in their Division (19*4=76)

- 9 Games against each team from the AL West with the extra 3 Games that are Home will cycle every year. (9*4=36)

- 6 Games against each team from the other Division in their League (NL West vs NL East) (6*5=30)

- 18 Total Inter-League Games, 6 Total Interleague Series in 3 Game Series format, with 3 Series at Home and 3 Series on the road. 12 Games against 4 teams from the NL West (AL East) or NL East (AL Central). 6 Games against the City/State Rival in the teams division on the opposite league (Example: Devil Rays vs Marlins, Yankees vs Mets) in 3 Game Series Format with 1 Series at Home and 1 Series at the City/State Rivals Home. If the team has no City/State Rival than they play 1 or 2 teams (not sure which one) in the same division from the opposite League that also doesn't have a City/State Rival.

- The 2 remaining games are played against 2 teams (1 extra game each) from the other division (AL East vs AL Central), with every year the 2 Teams for the 2 remaining games are cycled. The AL West has their own format.

AL West (Using Angels 2004 Schedule):

- 19 Games each team from their own Division, and 1 of those teams gets to play 20 Games with that team instead of 19 Games (Cycling every year) (19+19+20=58]

- 9 Games against each team from the AL East, 1 of the AL East Teams only plays 7 Games with the AL West Team instead of 9 Games (Cycling every year) (9+9+9+9+7=43)

- 9 Games against each team from the AL Central, 1 of the AL Central Teams only plays 7 Games with the AL West Team instead of 9 Games (Cycling every year) (9+9+9+9+7=43)

-18 Total Inter-League Games, 6 Total Interleague Series in 3 Game Series format, with 3 Series at Home and 3 Series on the road. 12 Games against 4 teams from the NL Central (I would imagine the 2 Divsions NL Central and NL East Cycle every year). 6 Games against the City/State Rival in the teams division on the opposite league (Example: Angels vs Dodgers) in 3 Game Series Format with 1 Series at Home and 1 Series at the City/State Rivals Home. If the team has no City/State Rival than they play 1 or 2 teams (not sure which one) in the same division from the opposite League that also doesn't have a City/State Rival.

So the equation is 58+43+43+18=162

As you can see it's very complicated and MLB should just go to either a 5 Team, 6 Division Setup with an Interleague Game every day or make two more expansion teams and go to a 4 Team, 8 Division Setup just like the NFL with either no Wild Card or just like the NFL, 2 Wild Cards from each League and 4 Division Champs and add a Wild Card Series and the 2 Teams with the best record get a Bye to the Division Series and the the other Teams play in the Wild Card Series, and then the two teams with the best record play the winners from the Wild Card Series. The Wild Card Series would be 5 Games and every Series after that would be 7 Games. I think this would be the Best Alignment for MLB and wouldn't beat so complicated.