MLB Like It Oughta Be

AL East-Orioles, Red Sox, Indians, Tigers, Yankees, Rays, Blue Jays
AL West-White Sox, Royals, Twins, Angels, Athletics, Mariners, Rangers
NL East-Braves, Reds, Marlins, Brewers, Mets, Phillies, Pirates, Nationals
NL West-Diamondbacks, Cubs, Rockies, Astros, Dodgers, Cardinals, Padres, Giants

Of course, this means no more wild-card which might upset some fans.  But for purists like me it would be nice to see the return of all-or-nothing divisional pennant races. 

I would also get rid of interleague play and here is the scheduling format I would use:

For the American League:

Own division (16 games): 6 x 16 = 96
Other division (9 games): 7 x 9 = 63
This makes a total of 159.  I would add 3 intra-division games with maybe the last-place teams in each division playing each other at the end of the season.

For the National League:

Own division (14 games): 7 x 14 = 98
Other division (9 games): 8 x 8 = 64
That makes 162. 

MLB could do this in 2010.  They could start the season on April 4, 2010 on Sunday night and here is the schedule I would propose to MLB for games from April 4th-7th 2010.

Sunday April 4th 2010
Angels vs Yankees (Sunday Night Baseball kicks off with a rematch of the ALCS.)

Monday April 5th 2010
Angels vs Yankees 1:00pm EST
Orioles vs Red Sox 1:00pm EST
Blue Jays vs Rays 1:00pm EST
Pirates vs Phillies 1:00pm EST
Braves vs Mets 1:00pm EST
Nationals vs Marlins 1:00pm EST
Indians vs Tigers 4:00pm EST
Twins vs White Sox 4:00pm EST
Royals vs Rangers 4:00pm EST
Cubs vs Cardinals 4:00pm EST
Padres vs Astros 4:00pm EST
Brewers vs Reds 4:00pm EST
Athletics vs Mariners 7:00pm EST
Giants vs Dodgers 7:00pm EST
Rockies vs Diamondbacks 7:00pm EST

Tuesday April 6th 2010
Angels vs Yankees 7:00pm EST
Orioles vs Red Sox 7:00pm EST
Blue Jays vs Rays 7:00pm EST
Pirates vs Phillies 7:00pm EST
Braves vs Mets 7:00pm EST
Nationals vs Marlins 7:00pm EST
Indians vs Tigers 7:00pm EST
Twins vs White Sox 7:00pm EST
Royals vs Rangers 7:00pm EST
Cubs vs Cardinals 7:00pm EST
Padres vs Astros 7:00pm EST
Brewers vs Reds 7:00pm EST
Athletics vs Mariners 10:00pm EST
Giants vs Dodgers 10:00pm EST
Rockies vs Diamondbacks 10:00pm EST

Wednesday April 7th 2010
Angels vs Yankees 1:00pm EST
Orioles vs Red Sox 1:00pm EST
Blue Jays vs Rays 1:00pm EST
Pirates vs Phillies 1:00pm EST
Braves vs Mets 1:00pm EST
Nationals vs Marlins 1:00pm EST
Indians vs Tigers 4:00pm EST
Twins vs White Sox 4:00pm EST
Royals vs Rangers 4:00pm EST
Cubs vs Cardinals 4:00pm EST
Padres vs Astros 4:00pm EST
Brewers vs Reds 4:00pm EST
Athletics vs Mariners 7:00pm EST
Giants vs Dodgers 7:00pm EST
Rockies vs Diamondbacks 7:00pm EST

I would give all teams a day off on Thursday April 8th.  I would also bring back scheduled double-headers and for the World Series.  Let’s just say that the 2010 season ends on Sunday October 3rd 2010.  Monday would be an off-day before the “final four” teams begin the ALCS and NLCS.  Here is how the LCS playoff schedule would look:

Game 1 Tuesday October 5th 2010
Game 2 Wednesday October 6th 2010
Game 3 Friday October 7th 2010
Game 4 Saturday October 8th 2010
Game 5 Sunday October 9th 2010 (if necessary )
Game 6 Tuesday October 11th 2010 (if necessary)
Game 7 Wednesday October 12th 2010 (if necessary)

I would have the 2 games on each day start at 4:00pm EST and 7:00pm EST.  If a west-coast team was the home team, they would automatically get the 7:00pm schedule.  This would eliminate late games starting after 10:00pm on the east-coast. 

Now, I would get rid of the stupid rule IMHO that the winner of the All-Star Game gets home-field advantage of the World Series.  I would reward the team in the AL or NL with the best record home-field advantage unless both teams finished with the same record.  In that case, whichever league won the All-Star Game would determine which team gets home-field advantage.  So, if the Yankees and the Phillies finish with the same record and the American League wins the All-Star Game, the Yankees get home-field advantage in the World Series. 

Here is how I would set up the World Series schedule for 2010:

Game 1 Friday October 14th 2010 7:00pm EST
Game 2 Saturday October 15th 2010 1:00pm EST (if East Coast) 4:00pm EST (if West Coast)
Game 3 Monday October 17th 2010 7:00pm EST
Game 4 Tuesday October 18th 2010 7:00pm EST
Game 5 Wednesday October 19th 2010 (if necessary) 7:00pm EST 
Game 6 Friday October 21st 2010 (if necessary) 7:00pm EST
Game 7 Saturday October 22nd 2010 (if necessary) 1:00pm EST (if East Coast) 4:00pm EST (if West Coast)

With this schedule we eliminate World Series games on Sunday which doesn’t conflict with the NFL games on this day.  Now, you’ll note that I suggested Saturday day games.  College football games are on Saturday afternoons, but Saturday night would not be optimal since that night is the night where primetime ratings are the lowest.  Also, having day games on the weekend would allow for fans to spend an afternoon at the ballpark or take their family when most wouldn’t be able to do so during the week. 

Last but not least, I would suggest to MLB to resolve the DH issue.  Personally, I’m against the DH.  However, I don’t think it’s fair that one league has it while the other doesn’t.  So, I would suggest to the National League that they adopt the DH rule so it would be in both leagues and level the playing field.  However, if they declined I wouldn’t force the issue.  The DH rule would be very low on the priority list for me. 

These changes would mean the end of interleague play, but they would also bring back the mystique of the All-Star Game that has been lost because of interleague play.  The wild-card would be gone, but if MLB decided to expand to 2 more teams I would put these 2 teams in the American League and then there would be 16 teams in the AL and 16 teams in the NL.  You could possibly create 4 divisions with 4 teams in each league.  Or you could simply have 8 teams each in the AL and NL East and West.  I realize that MLB will most likely not adopt any of the changes I’m proposing.  Perhaps I am wrong and these suggestions are silly.  But I really think that most of these ideas and suggestions would work and improve the game.  I may be a purist at heart, but I’m not against baseball going forward and modernizing itself.  All I’m for is doing what’s best for the game and its fans.