MLB has big plans for 2023, with sweeping changes coming to the league’s schedule. According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, MLB plans to debut a new schedule with teams playing at least one series against every opponent, regardless of league, beginning next season.
Interleague play is still a relatively new phenomenon with teams facing opponents outside their league for the first time in 1997. Back then, the interleague portion of the schedule was limited to a few-week span in June with teams facing opponents from a different division each year. That changed when the Astros joined the American League in 2013, with the new alignment allowing interleague games to be staged on a nightly basis.
The new format is a huge plus for fans, who now get exposure to teams and players they would otherwise see once every three years. Broadcast partners must be salivating at the matchup possibilities with teams like the Yankees and Dodgers—two of the sport’s biggest draws—now doing battle on a yearly basis. There used to be a certain novelty in seeing American League pitchers take their hacks in National League parks, though with the universal DH now in effect, the charade of pitchers batting can finally be put to rest.
Our national nightmare mercifully ended Thursday with MLB and its players association hashing out a new collective bargaining agreement, preventing further damage to the sport’s reputation after a frustrating lockout that many felt was rooted in greed, with billionaire owners fighting tooth and nail to protect their check books. Luckily, the sides—after months of haggling—were able to arrive at a workable compromise, saving the season from going up in flames.
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