On the 25th anniversary of the 1994-95 strike, MLB unveiled its schedule for next season. I'm not sure if that was planned or pure coincidence, but I'm thinking it's the former. We already knew a handful of special events, so we knew the full schedule being released was just around the corner, but this is definitely the earliest I can remember. Every other sport waits until the season is over, yet in MLB, we're finding out next year's schedule with six weeks left in this season.
Maybe one of the reasons the schedule came out so early is because next season starts so early. Opening Day for all 30 teams is March 26. I figured it would be April 2, which is a much-more-normal date. That means season will end on September 27 and the playoffs will start on September 29, rather than October 4 and 6. The October 20 World Series start date will also be the earliest in quite some time. I guess they decided they'd rather start in March than have the World Series potentially end in November.
Anyway, let's look at some of the fun stuff that's in store for us next season. For starters, the interleague rotation gives us AL East vs. NL Central, which means we'll see both the Yankees and Red Sox play the Cubs. It's also NL East vs. AL West, so there'll be a Trout vs. Harper series when the Angels play the Phillies (which will also be the rare opportunity for Trout to play near his hometown in South Jersey). Finally, the AL Central plays the NL West, which gives us a rematch of that Giants-Royals World Series, as well as Eric Hosmer's return to Kansas City.
Speaking of the NL West, the Dodgers are hosting the All*Star Game, and MLB did some cool things surrounding the event. For starters, their final series before the break is at the Angles. It's the first time they'll start All*Star Week with an interleague series in the host city (which, to be fair, is only possible in LA, Chicago, New York or the Bay Area).
But that's not all. It's a two-game set on Friday and Saturday. They'll have the incredibly uncommon Sunday off, so there'll be nothing else baseball-related going on in LA on All*Star Sunday. Then, everyone from ESPN can just stay there, since the Thursday night game to start the second half is Giants at Dodgers.
The Angels will also be the visiting team in the Rangers' first game at their new park. Texas begins the season with a four-game series in Seattle before officially opening Globe Life Park with that contest on March 31. As if the opening of a new stadium wasn't going to be enough to sell that game out, adding Mike Trout to the mix certainly guarantees it.
No games in Mexico next season, but they will be returning to Puerto Rico when the Mets face the Marlins from April 28-30. The Marlins are the perfect team to play three "home" games in Puerto Rico. First, they'll likely sell significantly more tickets in San Juan than Miami. But they're also the closest MLB team to Puerto Rico, so it makes sense from that perspective, as well.
It also makes sense to have the White Sox be the home team for the historic first MLB game in Iowa. There's really no other team that could play on the cornfield from Field of Dreams (the White Sox ARE the team in the movie, after all). And I'm sure the Yankees were chosen as their opponent because of the game's historical significance. Especially since the White Sox don't really have that rival that just screams out as the team they HAVE TO play in that game.
After a successful first trip to London, MLB returns with another one of its great rivalries. It'll be Cubs vs. Cardinals on June 13-14. Those are St. Louis "home" games, and they did it the same way they did with Yankees-Red Sox at Fenway this year. The Cubs don't actually visit St. Louis until after the All*Star Break, but will play two four-game series at Busch Stadium, so they still have eight actual home games against their rival. (Giants-Dodgers in the 2021 London Series? And when are we getting that Toronto-Tampa Bay series in Montreal?)
I didn't see anything about the Royals playing a game in Omaha during the College World Series (they're actually on the road for much of June), which is surprising, since I thought this year's game was considered a success. The Little League Classic will return for a fourth straight year, though. This time it'll feature to American League teams for the first time, as the Orioles take on the Red Sox.
Now that the Little League Classic certainly appears to be an annual thing, I was wondering when they were finally going to work some other teams in there instead of just rotating the Phillies and Pirates. And the Orioles are just as close to Williamsport as the two Pennsylvania teams, so I was waiting for them to be the first AL representative. The Red Sox are the perfect opponent, too. They're a well-known, worldwide brand, and it's a division game, so Baltimore can afford to move one. (For the record, Washington is close enough to be the home team in Williamsport, too.)
Other games of note are Cardinals at Reds on March 26, as Cincinnati plays its traditional Opening Day home game. Patriot's Day in New England is on April 20, and next year it's the Indians that'll face the Red Sox at 11 a.m. The only other game in Major League Baseball that's scheduled for 11 a.m. is the 4th of July game in Washington. That'll be a good one, too. The Nationals will be facing the Astros.
Meanwhile, those AL East-NL Central games give us the Red Sox and Cubs at Wrigley from June 19-21, with the Cubs visiting the Yankees the following weekend. So, get ready for back-to-back Sunday Night Baseball appearances by the boys from the North Side (actually, it'll technically be three straight, since the London Series against the Cardinals is the weekend before they play Boston).
Finally, there's the quirk that year-round interleague play gives us--the Opening Day and season-ending interleague series! The season-opening series will be Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay, which could be fun since Chris Archer will likely pitch in one of those three games if he's still on the Pirates next season. Drawing the short straw at the end of the season were two teams that are actually relevant--Houston and Atlanta. It'll be especially interesting if that series matters for either team (or both).
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