The 2012 schedule was announced today to a little bit of fanfare. Obviously, scheduling isn’t a huge deal in baseball like it is in football, because you generally know who you’re going to be playing the majority of your games against. But there are some little quirks that we all look at, like where the season opener is going to be, and what the sexy interleague matchups are.
Well, the season opener this year will take place in…Miami of all places, as the Marlins will open their new stadium. They’ll be playing the Cardinals, who are still a longshot to make the playoffs. This year, there wasn’t a traditional season opener, and all of the action started on Thursday. In 2012, the Marlins-Cardinals opener will be on a Wednesday, with a half slate of games on Thursday, a more full slate on Friday, and then every team in action over the weekend. Another odd quirk: this year, the season started in March. Next year, it won’t be starting until April 4th, which means that instead of ending before September ends, it’ll go into October….which means playoffs that could last until November. Lovely.
Now, the interleague series. These are kind of a wild card among all teams, since no team faces the same teams from the other league year in and year out. However, I’m noticing some disparities in the quality of opponents faced by some teams in the league.
Braves: @Tampa Bay, vs Toronto, vs New York, vs Baltimore, @New York, @Boston
Phillies: vs Boston, @Baltimore, @Minnesota, @Toronto, vs Tampa Bay
So in the NL East race, the Braves have an extra three interleague games, and they’re against the Yankees. The Braves toughest three interleague series (Boston, New York, Tampa Bay) are all on the road. The Phillies meanwhile, get their two toughest series at home (Tampa Bay, Boston), and travel to three cities where the teams are a combined 58 games under .500 this season.
Yankees: vs Cincinnati, @Atlanta, @Washington, vs Atlanta, @New York
Red Sox: @Philadelphia, vs Washington, @Miami, @Chicago, vs Miami, vs Atlanta
Rays: vs Atlanta, @Miami, vs New York, vs Miami, @Philadelphia, @Washington
The Yankees play one fewer interleague series against the NL, but their punishment is six games with the Braves, while the Red Sox and Rays each have six against the Marlins. The Yankees also don’t play Philadelphia at all. It seems odd to have the random series against the Reds in there too, kind of like the Phillies randomly playing the Twins.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering…Red Sox at Yankees, October 1-3. Gotta let them finish the season against each other!
