FanPost

Expanded Interleague Play?

I originally wrote this for Halos Heaven, but I figured that I would share this idea with Padres fans as well. Just replace any mention of the American League with the National League and Angels with Padres. Haha. :)

I am not a baseball purist by any stretch of the imagination. I absolutely love interleague play, want expanded video review, expanded playoffs (as long as the postseason stays in the month of October), and is willing to consider any minor changes to the game that could make the fan experience more enjoyable.

The annual Angels-Padres preseason game came and went today and it got me thinking, what if Major League Baseball were to expand interleague play to the point where every team plays every other team for at least one series throughout the season. Why not? There are 162 games to play with and I'm sure the geniuses that make the schedules could figure out how to make it work. In the NHL, the Ducks play the other 29 teams at least once and I believe the NBA works the same way . . . why can't Major League Baseball do it too?

There are 162 games in a season right? Here is how I see the math working out:

First, you'd have to even up the leagues (throw the Brewers back in the AL). Sure, there will end up being interleague games throughout the season because of this, but would that really be all too bad?? You could end up with an Angels-Dodgers series at the end of the year with the Angels being able to eliminate the Dodgers from playoff contention or vice versa. Tell me you wouldn't want to go see those games at the big A or up in LA.

There would be 4 other teams in the AL West (Kansas City?) and the Angels would play each one 12 times throughout the season (2 home 3 game series and 2 away) totaling 48 games.

The Angels would then play the other remaining (10) teams in the American League 6 times each (1 home series, 1 away). Total: 60 games.

Finally, the Halos would play 14 of the National league teams once a year for a three game series and the location would alternate every year. The annual regular season freeway series would remain 6 games (1 home series, 1 away). Total: 48 games.

That adds up to 156 games. Major League Baseball would have 6 more games to play with (add another series with another NL opponent, a couple 4 game series, etc).


I think it would be absolutely great if the Angels got to play the Padres and Giants every year and develop a pseudo-rivalry with them and I think it would be fun to see random teams like the Marlins, Nationals, Pirates (3 free games!), and Diamondbacks in Anaheim as well. Hell, if we really want to screw with the purists, they could do away with the AL/NL system all together and do an East/West league system like the NHL and NBA. We could then have an all California division!! Haha.

What do you all think? I don't think something like this will happen for a while (if ever), but it is interesting to think about.

This FanPost was written by a member of the Gaslamp Ball community and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Gaslamp Ball staff or SB Nation.