I didn't realize these changes were in the pipeline, highlights from the story:
Old-fashioned unbalanced schedule? See ya!
Every team playing all 29 other teams every year? Hello!
It’s true. That’s happening. Now here’s a quick rundown of how the world has changed:
GAMES VS. OWN DIVISION (52): In the olden days, by which we mean last year, every team played 76 games against its own division. That computes to 19 games — and six series — versus every division opponent. Not anymore. That number has been chopped to 13 games against each division opponent, spread out over four series (two at home, two on the road). Repeat after us: Less is more.
GAMES VS. OTHER 10 LEAGUE OPPONENTS (64): Each club will now play every other team in its league in one series at home and one on the road, for a total of either six or seven games per opponent. Not much has changed there. Those 64 total games are only two fewer than the old total, of 66.
INTERLEAGUE GAMES (46): This is where it gets wild. Oh, not the part where every team faces its designated interleague “rival” four times — two games at home, two on the road. Been there, seen that. But …
Where do those other 42 interleague games come from? They come from what we’re declaring is the most dramatic scheduling change in the history of this sport. You know those remaining 14 teams in the other league? Your team will now be matched up against every darned one of them, three games apiece, every year, for the first time in the modern era.
So if Julio Rodríguez doesn’t play in your town this season, he’ll stop by next season. It’s a beautiful thing. There used to be 19 or 20 interleague games a year. Now MLB will more than double that. And in this case, more actually is more.
When interleague play began a quarter-century ago, it was a tease and an oddity. But in 2023, it’s no longer any of that. It’s everywhere. It’s every night. It’s every team. And if you miss those days when there was a sense of mystery and distinction between the two leagues … well, sorry. Baseball clearly isn’t in the nostalgia business anymore.
It isn’t 1968 anymore. It isn’t 1998 anymore. The planet has spun in ways nobody would have seen coming in the early days of interleague play. Baseball is simply spinning with it.
For a long time now, the NBA has leaned into its stars to drive its sport and industry. It has used the schedule masterfully and creatively to do that. Now MLB is taking its own steps down that path, in a way that the realities of the modern sports landscape and the modern sports fan are pretty much demanding it take.
I can sum up those steps in two words: Shohei Ohtani.
Now here come 10 more: He’s about to play against that team you root for!
And finally, there are these two words: Every year.
Look, here’s the truth: Baseball is a regional sport. It can try to convince you: Hey, Ohtani is a superhero. Stay up late and watch him some night. But you know what’s way more powerful? You don’t have to open that MLB app to find him. He’s playing next week in your city.
You can fill in the name of any monster star-power dude you want there. … Mike Trout … Aaron Judge … Mookie Betts … Max Scherzer. Whoever that star is, he is going to face that team you care about. Every year.
That’s the driving force behind shifting to a schedule format like this one. Promote the game. Promote the stars. And we’ll deliver them to your doorstep, just like Uber Eats. Under this format, every team will play games in 22 ballparks every season. It was 18 under the old format. That’s a critical part of this scheduling logic.
“The whole genesis of this idea,” says MLB’s chief operations and strategy officer, Chris Marinak, “was, we play 162 games. We don’t play 16 or 17 games. We have great players, and we have players who are making national storylines. So to get them in front of as many fans as possible only helps players tell their story.”
OK, that’s the concept. That’s the grand design. But when this schedule begins to roll out, day by day, week by week, series by series, road trip by road trip, it is not going to look like anything you once thought of as “normal.” So now let’s rip through those details.
How has the new MLB schedule changed?
You might have missed it last March, when MLB teased this epic schedule remake as it was ticking off all the stuff settled in the labor deal. But buried inside those new luxury tax thresholds was this major scheduling earthquake:Old-fashioned unbalanced schedule? See ya!
Every team playing all 29 other teams every year? Hello!
It’s true. That’s happening. Now here’s a quick rundown of how the world has changed:
GAMES VS. OWN DIVISION (52): In the olden days, by which we mean last year, every team played 76 games against its own division. That computes to 19 games — and six series — versus every division opponent. Not anymore. That number has been chopped to 13 games against each division opponent, spread out over four series (two at home, two on the road). Repeat after us: Less is more.
GAMES VS. OTHER 10 LEAGUE OPPONENTS (64): Each club will now play every other team in its league in one series at home and one on the road, for a total of either six or seven games per opponent. Not much has changed there. Those 64 total games are only two fewer than the old total, of 66.
INTERLEAGUE GAMES (46): This is where it gets wild. Oh, not the part where every team faces its designated interleague “rival” four times — two games at home, two on the road. Been there, seen that. But …
Where do those other 42 interleague games come from? They come from what we’re declaring is the most dramatic scheduling change in the history of this sport. You know those remaining 14 teams in the other league? Your team will now be matched up against every darned one of them, three games apiece, every year, for the first time in the modern era.
So if Julio Rodríguez doesn’t play in your town this season, he’ll stop by next season. It’s a beautiful thing. There used to be 19 or 20 interleague games a year. Now MLB will more than double that. And in this case, more actually is more.
When interleague play began a quarter-century ago, it was a tease and an oddity. But in 2023, it’s no longer any of that. It’s everywhere. It’s every night. It’s every team. And if you miss those days when there was a sense of mystery and distinction between the two leagues … well, sorry. Baseball clearly isn’t in the nostalgia business anymore.
What were they thinking?
It isn’t 1968 anymore. It isn’t 1998 anymore. The planet has spun in ways nobody would have seen coming in the early days of interleague play. Baseball is simply spinning with it.
For a long time now, the NBA has leaned into its stars to drive its sport and industry. It has used the schedule masterfully and creatively to do that. Now MLB is taking its own steps down that path, in a way that the realities of the modern sports landscape and the modern sports fan are pretty much demanding it take.
I can sum up those steps in two words: Shohei Ohtani.
Now here come 10 more: He’s about to play against that team you root for!
And finally, there are these two words: Every year.
Look, here’s the truth: Baseball is a regional sport. It can try to convince you: Hey, Ohtani is a superhero. Stay up late and watch him some night. But you know what’s way more powerful? You don’t have to open that MLB app to find him. He’s playing next week in your city.
You can fill in the name of any monster star-power dude you want there. … Mike Trout … Aaron Judge … Mookie Betts … Max Scherzer. Whoever that star is, he is going to face that team you care about. Every year.
That’s the driving force behind shifting to a schedule format like this one. Promote the game. Promote the stars. And we’ll deliver them to your doorstep, just like Uber Eats. Under this format, every team will play games in 22 ballparks every season. It was 18 under the old format. That’s a critical part of this scheduling logic.
“The whole genesis of this idea,” says MLB’s chief operations and strategy officer, Chris Marinak, “was, we play 162 games. We don’t play 16 or 17 games. We have great players, and we have players who are making national storylines. So to get them in front of as many fans as possible only helps players tell their story.”
OK, that’s the concept. That’s the grand design. But when this schedule begins to roll out, day by day, week by week, series by series, road trip by road trip, it is not going to look like anything you once thought of as “normal.” So now let’s rip through those details.
MLB's 2023 schedule changes: Everything you need to know and what it means for your team
What's going on with MLB's new schedule? We have answers … to every one of your questions … and lots more you didn’t know you needed to ask.
theathletic.com