What happened to the game I love?
Yesterday, Major League Baseball officially announced every team’s schedule for 2026.
And I’ll be honest, the Red Sox’ schedule kind of sucks!
When Major League Baseball implemented the “balanced schedule” a few years ago, fan opinion was mostly positive. It’s great that every team plays every team now. That is genuinely good for the game. However, some were a bit skeptical about the new scheduling quirks. The biggest complaint consistently being that games against your own division were essentially cut in half.
I’ll admit that I was one of the people who didn’t really care about losing divisional games. I was simply excited that I could see every team in baseball play my Red Sox, and even maybe get some fun trips with my friends out of it. But now, looking at the schedule for 2026, I’m over it.
Two issues stand out to me the most for 2026. First, the last weekend home series against an AL East opponent is the third weekend of JULY! And second, the Boston Red Sox play only TWO DIVISION OPPONENTS THE ENTIRE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER. What is that!? Of the team’s eight series in September, three are against AL West teams, two are against AL Central teams, and the very last series of the year is interleague play against the Cubs! That is insane!
I promise that you do not have to hand it to the National Football League, but something they do that has always seemed smart is guarantee that every team’s final game is against a divisional opponent. Even a small change like that would go a long way here.
If this kind of schedule is the new reality, then perhaps it is time for MLB to make divisions essentially meaningless like the NBA. Simply have your two leagues and the best six teams in each make the playoffs. Do I necessarily want this? No, not really. But it just may be the best alternative if the toothpaste is out of the tube regarding “balance”.
On a more personal note, the 2026 schedule is also kind of a bummer from a “Taking a trip” aspect. I like to go on one, maybe two trips a year to a cool city and see the sights to go along with watching my Red Sox. Outside of Opening Weekend in Cincinnati (which will be fantastic), the rest of the weekend away series are a bit underwhelming. Pittsburgh in August and maybe Atlanta in May are the only two exciting destinations that are reasonable to make a weekend out of coming from New England. Of course, this is not a super vital aspect of the schedule, but I did want to make note of it.
Whether it’s drasticaly realigning the divisions, slightly cutting back on interleague play, or something else entirely, Major League Baseball needs to find a way to make the new schedule format work for everyone. Two divisional series in September cannot be the new normal, I don’t think anyone wants that. If it means not seeing Shohei Ohtani play the Red Sox every year, that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.
Category: General Sports
