Solving the Travel Problem

One thing that is under discussion as MLB and the MLBPA negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement is the length of the schedule. The players would like to see it reduced to 154 games. Rob Manfred, however, makes a good point:

“You want to work less, usually you get paid less.”

It strikes me that the main problem is travel. I started watching baseball in 1969, the first year the leagues were split into six-team divisions. The season was divided into five sections.

1. A home series and an away series against each team in the division (about 30 games).
2. A home series and an away series against each team in the other division (about 36 games).
3. A home series and an away series against each team in the division (about 30 games).
4. A home series and an away series against each team in the other division (about 36 games).
5. A home series and an away series against each team in the division (about 30 games).

The AL kept this schedule until the 1977 expansion, the NL until the 1993 expansion. Since the teams were somewhat geographically close*, travel tended to be shorter. Of course, games were played faster back then, so a team could start a game at 8 PM and still make a flight at a reasonable hour.

*The NL actually had an eastern and western conference in each division. The west had Atlanta, Cincinnati, and Houston to go with the the three west coast teams. The east had Chicago, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh to go with the three east coast teams.

MLB could pull this type of schedule off again if they simply did away with the NL and AL and went with five leagues of six teams each. Every year, each league would play two others on a rotating basis. This schedule could then work:

1. A home series and an away series against each team in the league (about 30 games).
2. A home series and an away series against each team in opposition league one (about 36 games).
3. A home series and an away series against each team in the league (about 30 games).
4. A home series and an away series against each team in in opposition league two (about 36 games).
5. A home series and an away series against each team in the league (about 30 games).

If the leagues are set up with teams that are geographically close, I suspect most of the travel issues disappear. The six division winners move on to the playoffs, and the top four second place teams hold a one-game playoff for the wild cards.

from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2gbCiRR