Baseball Rivalries - Background

Background

Further information: Major League Baseball schedule

In the "Original 16" era (1901–60), there were 8 teams in each league and teams in each league played each other 22 times a season. With the Washington Senators (now the Texas Rangers) and Los Angeles Angels (now the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) entering play as expansion teams in 1961, MLB increased the total number of games American League teams played to 162, which meant teams would play each other 18 times a season. The National League didn't implement this until the following year when the New York Mets and Houston Colt 45's (now the Houston Astros) entered play.

In 1969, with the San Diego Padres, Seattle Pilots, Kansas City Royals, and Montreal Expos entering play as expansion teams, MLB split both leagues into two divisions with six teams each. Teams played a total of 90 intra-divisional games, playing teams within the division 18 times each and 72 inter-divisional games, playing each team in the other division 12 times. However, in 1977, the addition of the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays reduced the number of intra-divisional games American League teams played to 78, as each team would play each team within the division 13 times. However, they still played each team in the other division 12 times, but the total number of inter-divisional games increased to 84. The National League didn't institute this until 1993, when the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies entered play.

In 1994, MLB split each league into 3 divisions, but kept the 1993 format in scheduling. In 1997, with the MLB adopting interleague play, the schedules were changed. The schedule for interleague play comprises 84 three-game series, namely six series (18 games) for each of fourteen AL teams and as many as 6 for each of 16 NL teams.

MLB changed its scheduling format in 2001, further intensifying division matchups throughout the league. The new "unbalanced schedule" allowed for additional games in each season between divisional rivals, replacing additional series with teams outside the division. Due to the change, division rivals now played each other 17 or more times each season. The scheduling drew criticism both when it was enacted and after the fact, with some analysts even positing that the unbalanced schedule hurt intra-divisional play.

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