PING---> LGO Interleague Scheduling Help...

[Matter2003]

LGO,

I would like your thoughts on scheduling for interleague play...

I know MLB uses a divisional format where each division from one league plays a division from another league in a certain number of games. Obviously each team cannot play a series at home and away against each of the teams from the other league, so I assume that they play an equal number of home and away games, but it may be something like

Team 1 vs Team 3(3 Games)
Team 2 vs Team 4(3 Games)

then, it might be

Team 3 vs Team 2(3 Games)
Team 4 vs Team 1(3 Games)

So, each team has 3 home games, but team 1 plays a home series against team 3 and an away series against team 4, etc...

Is this pretty much on the mark? I should probably have an option for the user to select which divisions play against each other, or I again could make it random, although the lack of interleague games being played in a season would probably make it pointless, since each team would only have a few games...

Please let me know your thoughts or suggestions on this...

This is the last area needing to be finished...both divisional and interdivisional play are working 100%...

Matter2003

PS: Anyone else can throw in their 2 cents too...I specifically asked for LGO because he is a fountain of information on this subject...

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by Matter2003

I would like your thoughts on scheduling for interleague play...

How easy or difficult it is will depend greatly on the particular structure of the leagues. Two leagues of 4-4-4 are going to be much easier to create matchups for than a situation of 5-5-4, 5-6-5 leagues.

You've got the added complication that some folks like to have a lot of interleague play and others only a little (or none at all). You may want to consider an option where folks can enter in the approximate number of interleague games they want played by each team (though depending on the leagues structure the desired number may have to be altered considerably).

Originally Posted by Matter2003

I know MLB uses a divisional format where each division from one league plays a division from another league in a certain number of games...

Interleague play in MLB is a dog's breakfast since the 1998 expansion created different structures in each league. While interleague play is rotated, keep in mind that games against "traditional rivals" (e.g. New York Yankees vs. New York Mets) are contained in every season's slate of interleague play. This complicates things greatly.

Here's how the interleague matchups looked in the 2005 MLB schedule:

2005 MLB Interleague Games

      ATL FLO NYN PHI WAS CHN CIN HOU MIL PIT SLN ARI COL LAN SDN SFN Total
  BAL   3   0   0   3   0   0   3   3   0   3   0   0   3   0   0   0    18
  BOS   3   0   0   3   0   3   3   0   0   3   3   0   0   0   0   0    18
  NYA   0   0   6   0   0   3   0   0   3   3   3   0   0   0   0   0    18
  TBA   0   6   0   0   0   0   3   0   3   3   3   0   0   0   0   0    18
  TOR   0   0   0   0   6   3   0   3   3   0   3   0   0   0   0   0    18
  CHA   0   0   0   0   0   6   0   0   0   0   0   3   3   3   3   0    18
  CLE   0   0   0   0   0   0   6   0   0   0   0   3   3   0   3   3    18
  DET   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   6   3   3   3   3    18
  KCA   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   3   0   0   3   3   3   3   0   3    18
  MIN   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   6   0   0   3   0   3   3   3    18
  ANA   3   3   3   0   3   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   6   0   0    18
  OAK   3   0   3   3   3   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   6    18
  SEA   0   3   3   3   3   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   6   0    18
  TEX   3   3   0   3   3   0   0   6   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0    18
Total  15  15  15  15  18  15  15  15  15  12  15  18  15  18  18  18

Here's what it looked like in 2006:

2006 MLB Interleague Games

      ATL FLO NYN PHI WAS CHN CIN HOU MIL PIT SLN ARI COL LAN SDN SFN Total
  BAL   3   3   3   3   6   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0    18
  BOS   3   3   3   6   3   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0    18
  NYA   3   3   6   3   3   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0    18
  TBA   3   6   0   3   3   0   0   0   0   0   0   3   0   0   0   0    18
  TOR   3   3   3   3   3   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   3   0   0   0    18
  CHA   0   0   0   0   0   6   3   3   0   3   3   0   0   0   0   0    18
  CLE   0   0   0   0   0   3   6   0   3   3   3   0   0   0   0   0    18
  DET   0   0   0   0   0   3   3   3   3   3   3   0   0   0   0   0    18
  KCA   0   0   0   0   0   0   3   3   3   3   6   0   0   0   0   0    18
  MIN   0   0   0   0   0   3   0   3   6   3   0   0   0   3   0   0    18
  ANA   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   3   3   6   3   3    18
  OAK   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   3   3   3   3   6    18
  SEA   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   3   3   3   6   3    18
  TEX   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   6   0   0   0   3   3   0   3   3    18
Total  15  18  15  18  18  15  15  18  15  15  15  15  15  15  15  15

Six games against an opponent were split with three at home and three away. A single three game series was either played at home or on the road.

While all AL teams play 18 interleague games, because the NL has more teams and in a different alignment, the number of interleague games per NL team is varied.