In 2001, divisional games were increased to 16 or 17, with some intraleague matchups staying at nine with others reduced to six. In 1999, divisional games were set at 12 per team, with the rest of the team’s league at nine each, with some interleague games added. When interleague was added in 1997, 12 games were stripped out of the league schedule for interleague and 11 or 12 games were played against everyone in a team’s league. In 1996, the last year before interleague play, teams played 12 or 13 games against everyone in their league. Here’s how it worked for several seasons after that. Or, at least that was the plan before the strike blew up the 19 schedules. The new 162-game schedule was first described as “balanced.” In a way, it is, but one of the reasons I was initially against a “balanced” schedule is that’s what MLB used from the beginning of the three-division setup in 1994 through 1998.
#Mlb schedule for tonight series
My first instinct was to say, “Ugh, no,” because who really wants fewer Cubs/Cardinals games and more random series against (say) the Royals, Rangers or Padres? (No offense intended to players or fans of those teams.)įriday, Jayson Stark posted a long article at The Athletic with further details about the upcoming schedule changes and I have to say that some of my concerns have been assuaged and I’m not as against this as I was when I first heard the news.
When details of the new MLB/MLBPA collective bargaining agreement began to leak out Thursday afternoon, one of the things that was quickly noted was that teams’ 162-game schedules would change beginning in 2023 and would involve less divisional play and games against all 29 other teams.