Geography with MLB

[jkrdevil]

Well that and the Royals refused to go. Kansas City was the team that was supposed to switch leagues not Milwaukee.

[yh]

Well that and the Royals refused to go. Kansas City was the team that was supposed to switch leagues not Milwaukee.

That is correct. Kansas City's management asserted that the city was always an "AL town," given their history of hosting a Yankee farm club for nearly 20 years (KC Blues 1936-54) and then their hosting the A's from 1955-67. Since Milwaukee was an NL city from 1953-65, the Royals argued that the Brewers and not the Royals should move.

[wdm1219inpenna]

Having 30 interleague games per year would account for just over 18% of the regular season. Conversely the NFL's interconference schedule accounts for 25% of the regular season games, so that is not an unreasonable idea. Nor is it unreasonable to always have at least 1 interleague series scheduled during the regular season, but here's how I would realign.

I will just put EAST, CENTRAL & WEST, I'll list the AL team first, then the geographic interleague "natural" rival to the right of it.

EAST

New York Yankees - New York Mets (Both New York)

Boston Red Sox - Atlanta Braves (Braves used to play in Boston)

Baltimore Orioles - Washington Nationals (Both are geographically close by to the other)

Toronto Blue Jays - Philadelphia Phillies (93 Series rematch, & the Phils had the nickname BlueJays for 2 yrs)

Tampa Bay Devil Rays - Florida Marlins (Both Florida teams)

CENTRAL

Detroit Tigers - Pittsburgh Pirates (Semi-close in geography, 1909 World Series rematch)

Cleveland Indians - Cincinnati Reds (Ohio)

Kansas City Royals - St. Louis Cardinals (Missouri....and Missouri loves company, pun intended)

Chicago White Sox - Chicago Cubs (Same city)

Minnesota Twins - Milwaukee Brewers (Physical location, Twins can beat up on Brewers to spite Selig)

WEST

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim - Los Angeles Dodgers (same city, sort of)

Texas Rangers - Houston Astros (Astros move to west to be Texas natural interleague rival to Rangers)

Oakland Athletics - San Francisco Giants (Bay Area team)

Seattle Mariners - San Diego Padres (Pacific Coast teams, "leftovers" from the other 4 natural rivalries)

Colorado Rockies - Arizona Diamondbacks (Both in or near Mountain Time Zone)

I'd move Colorado to the American League because the AL has the DH and Denver seems to be more like an American League city than an NL one.

I'd move the Astros from the Central to the West, as outlined above.

I loved the idea of 18 divisional games (18 x 4 = 72). Then 6 games vs the other 10 teams in your own league (60) for a total of 132 games, leaving 30 for interleague play. Having a home & away series vs. all 5 teams in the other league's division, and alternating it every 3 years I think is brilliant.

I have no problem with having at least 1 interleague series scheduled at any given time. By having this 3 year rotation, the Yankees/Mets, White Sox/Cubs, and other big time interleague rivalries would be a bit more special. That they play one another every single year gets tedious. I'd also like to see all series be 3 game series. That would be ideal. There could theoretically also be times when all 15 teams in both leagues are playing interleague games at the same time of year. This would also do away with that awkward excess of NL teams, 2 of which have to play one another while the other 28 teams do battle in interleague play.

This leads me to another question which I am going to put in a separate post.

Also, I would do away with having the All-Star game determine home field for the World Series. I believe either the league champion with the best record in the regular season should get it, or, whichever league has the better winning percentage in interleague games should. Another notion or two to debate and/or discuss.

I love these message boards. Really awesome forum for folks who have similar passions as I have, and a good quality array of different ideas to boot!

Regards,

Bill McD.

[The_Admiral]

Tell me what exactly is wrong with both leagues eventually having the National League's 5-6-5 setup. This way, you keep the wild card race, which in case you haven't noticed, has played a huge part in making September and October more interesting more often than not.

[deliver2david]

CENTRAL

Detroit Tigers - Pittsburgh Pirates (Semi-close in geography, 1909 World Series rematch)

This is why I absolutely hate interleague play. It just does not work for Detroit because they have no interleague rival whatsoever. I'd much rather replace the interleague games with the Tigers old division rivals: NYY, Boston, Toronto, Baltimore... I think most Detroit fans feel the same way.

[Epiphanic]

Tell me what exactly is wrong with both leagues eventually having the National League's 5-6-5 setup. This way, you keep the wild card race, which in case you haven't noticed, has played a huge part in making September and October more interesting more often than not.

I suppose there isn't anything really wrong with having the AL become a 5-6-5 league like the NL, but where are you going to get 2 extra teams? In my opinion, Baseball is pretty much stuck at 30. The relatively recent talk about contraction doesn't bode well for the idea of another expansion, and the Owners/Players won't allow for contraction either. Any realignment that MLB would do would either make both leagues 5-5-5 (doubt it) or if some team was relocated (unlikely).

This is why I absolutely hate interleague play. It just does not work for Detroit because they have no interleague rival whatsoever. I'd much rather replace the interleague games with the Tigers old division rivals: NYY, Boston, Toronto, Baltimore... I think most Detroit fans feel the same way.

I agree with you Dave. I really don't care much for interleague play because I think it detracts from the "mystique" of the World Series. That's why the World Series was started to see which "major" league was better. Sure, I guess it's fun for the intracity rivalries (Yankees-Mets, Angels-Dodgers, Sox-Cubs, A's-Giants) but the other rivalries aren't really that important. Personally, I'd like interleague play to just be done. But that won't happen because that's their biggest regular-season money-maker.