A couple of schedule requests

[luckymann]

I am giving serious thought to expanding my main fictional league from its current structure that exactly replicates the current MLB setup by adding one team to each division making it a 36 team league 2 S / 3 D / 6 T format.

But I love playing every team in the entire league at least once as I do now, and if I can't work it so that I can keep this in place I'll just leave it as is.

So the two different options I have come up with are as follows:

171 games: 9 against other 5 teams in your division; 6 against other 12 teams in your league; 3 against 18 teams in other league.

AND / OR

160 games: 8 against other 5 teams in your division; 4 against other 12 teams in your league; 4 against 18 teams in other league.

In both cases I'd like it so all of the intradivisional games are stacked right at (or as close to as is workable) the tail-end of the schedule, almost as if it is a round-robin to finish off the regular season in as dramatic fashion as possible. I am only presuming this and am most likely wrong, but it seems logical that this would be a lot easier to achieve with the divisions each having an even number of teams as opposed to the 5 in the MLB structure. Of course, whether that makes it any easier to generate the schedule to satisfy these criteria is beyond me.

If this is possible, I'd also like - although it isn't a deal breaker by any means - to have it so that the ASB happens in between the two "parts" of the season, IE the inter and intra sections, in other words after game 120 of the 160 game schedule and after game 126 of the 171 game one.

The "only" other two requests I have are for all games to be at night and for the regular season to finish as close to the end of September as possible so the post-season is entirely in October (oh, yeah, now he's a traditionalist...).

As always, my thanks for any help with this.

[Ruwisc]

Clustering the intradivision games actually would make it easier to put together, at least for me.

Between your two options, the first is going to be easier to make work just because 4-game series are kinda annoying to make work in the calendar. But, because it's all 3-game series and longer than an MLB schedule, the season would have to start around March 10th to finish by the end of September. I feel like that's a bit early, so I wonder if this "hybrid" format could work for you:

8 games vs. division opponents (mix of 2-, 3- and 4-game series)
6 games vs. league opponents
3 games vs. interleague opponents

That's 166 games in total and it'd come out one week longer than the current MLB schedule. You'd still have to start around March 20th but that's not too bad I don't think.

[luckymann]

Originally Posted by Ruwisc

Clustering the intradivision games actually would make it easier to put together, at least for me.

Between your two options, the first is going to be easier to make work just because 4-game series are kinda annoying to make work in the calendar. But, because it's all 3-game series and longer than an MLB schedule, the season would have to start around March 10th to finish by the end of September. I feel like that's a bit early, so I wonder if this "hybrid" format could work for you:

8 games vs. division opponents (mix of 2-, 3- and 4-game series)
6 games vs. league opponents
3 games vs. interleague opponents

That's 166 games in total and it'd come out one week longer than the current MLB schedule. You'd still have to start around March 20th but that's not too bad I don't think.

I don't mind it starting that early, but your suggestion sounds absolutely fine to me as well mate, so either would be great. Thanks so much!

[Ruwisc]

Went ahead and did both options, since they're pretty similar. The first 126 games are the same in both schedules - the differences occur after the ASB.

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Schedule for 36 teams, 171 games - 2 subleagues, each containing 3 divisions of six teams
Interleague YES, balanced games NO
----------
9 games vs. division opponents (6H/3A or 3H/6A)
6 games vs. league opponents (3H/3A)
3 games vs. all 18 interleague opponents (3H or 3A)
----------
Season begins on the second Tuesday of March and ends on the final Sunday of September
All games begin at 7:05 local time
All-Star Game scheduled for a Tuesday in early August (day 148)
All division games are played at the end of the season, and make up the totality of the post-ASB part of the schedule
Interleague sprinkled throughout the pre-ASB part of the schedule. Teams will be playing interleague often so it's mixed in.
----------
Most homestands and roadtrips will be in the 6-10 game range, though I haven't tested them in particular.

--------------------

Schedule for 36 teams, 166 games - 2 subleagues, each containing 3 divisions of six teams
Interleague YES, balanced games NO
----------
8 games vs. division opponents (3-5H/3-5A)
6 games vs. league opponents (3H/3A)
3 games vs. all 18 interleague opponents (3H or 3A)
----------
Season begins on the third Tuesday of March and ends on the final Sunday of September
All games begin at 7:05 local time
All-Star Game scheduled for a Tuesday in early-mid August (day 148)
All division games are played at the end of the season, and make up the totality of the post-ASB part of the schedule
Interleague sprinkled throughout the pre-ASB part of the schedule. Teams will be playing interleague often so it's mixed in.
----------
Pre-All Star Break, most homestands and roadtrips will be in the 6-10 game range, though I haven't tested them in particular. Post-ASB is a little bit messy, but then again it's in-division so it shouldn't look too crazy travel-wise

[luckymann]

Thanks so much bud, will apply these for next season and let you know how it goes.

Much obliged!!