Rules rant: Interleague play

One of my hobbies within the game is waxing theoretical on changes I'd make if I was in charge of things, and one of those coincides with this week's action. Since there hasn't much to talk about lately here on the West Side, I have some thoughts on improving interleague play on the eve of Part II of the Crosstown Classic. Like I've said before, I get some wacky ideas but some of them have merit. Determine for yourself which this is...

Fairness in scheduling should be a top priority, and if interleague play is to be a permanent fixture, MLB needs to straighten up the mess it's created. The 2003 Astros faced Boston and New York back-to-back on the road, went 1-5 in those games and finished one back. The 2003 Cubs missed the Red Sox, faced the Yankees at home and beat them two out of three, and won the division. And neither had six games to beat up on the Royals like the Cardinals do every year. Go Cubs and all, but that's not fair.

I'm against it on principle, but if it's to be done, here's how:

Since it's all about boosting revenue, don't schedule all the interleague games to compete with one another, schedule them all season long. Would I watch the Royals and Nats without Strasburg on the mound if there were 13 other interleague games going on? Doubtful. But if it was the only one that night, I might tune in. With 30 teams, there are enough interleague matchups to play one or more every day throughout a six-month season, and revenue for those games would be up almost across the board over the way it's done now.

The Dodgers and Angels just played a mid-week series, a major opportunity wasted. City series should include either a Fox Saturday game or an ESPN Sunday night game, if not both. Same goes for series pitting former World Series opponents against one another. Haul out the veterans on Saturday afternoon for a national audience, put up some bunting, maybe wear vintage-style uniforms and make a big deal out of it since you won't host them again for another six years. Play off the history and bring a little excitement to the table when Pittsburgh-Baltimore rolls around and they're a combined 50 games out of first.

Season-long interleague play could also correct MLB’s inability to divide 30 by 6. An odd number of interleague games every day provides an even schedule for six five-team divisions. The Cubs still haven't played in Fenway Park since 1918 when it touted as one of the arguments for interleague play 14 years ago.

With 18 games per team – a three-game series against each team in one division plus three against a particular rival to even out the home/road balance - that's 270 games overall to fit into roughly 180 days. Each team would be left with 8 games per team outside their division and 16 per division rival.

Or they could totally level the playing field by eliminating the rivalry games and boosting the schedule to 30 interleague games. With a stronger divisional schedule of 18 games against each opponent, teams would simply play three at home and three on the road against everyone in three other divisions, one of which is in the other league. In a three-year cycle, that's 2x3^1 (6), 2x3^2 (18) and 2x3^3 (54) games for the Cubs against each AL, NL East/West and NL Central team respectively. It may not have as much revenue potential without as many local matchups, but it's fair and the math is great. There happen to also be 2x3^1 outs in an inning, 2x3^2 (9) innings pitched and 2x3^3 (54) outs per nine innings between 2x3^0 (2) teams. Poetic, almost, the way baseball revolves around powers of three. Ancient mathematicians would approve.

So who changes leagues? Part of me wants to send the Brewers back because their move to the NL was a little shady, but I think it would make more sense to bump the Rockies to the AL West and send the Astros back to the NL West. Denver is the fairest travel option for a division with teams in Seattle, Dallas, LA and the Bay Area, and the NL West would line up similarly - three teams on the coast, one in Texas and one in between.

NL Central - Cubs, Brewers, Cardinals, Pirates, Reds
NL West - Astros, D-Backs, Dodgers, Giants, Padres
AL West - A's, Angels, Mariners, Rangers, Rockies

They can fix it or scrap it entirely, but the status quo just ain't right.

Just a couple of wacky ideas. More of these to come if the Cubs' season doesn't pick up...