Schedule Stuff

The Red Sox 2011 schedule was released this week. I know. That’s not exactly breaking news. There were a few interesting points on it though, worth talking about a bit.

They’re starting the season in March. That’s not exactly revolutionary. They’ve done it before a few times. But, they seem to actually have a reason this time. By moving the start up a week, they can also move the end up a week. It looks like they might actually want to have the World Series over with by Christmas this year. That’s a step in the right direction. Now, if we can just dump the late October night games, it would all be good in the world. It’s nice to see baseball at least trying to even things up a bit. Of course, the real problem is that the weather in March isn’t a whole lot better than the weather in October. Actually, I’m guessing the chance of snow is better in March. At least they’re putting forth the effort.

The other thing that keeps making the headlines is that the Cubs come to town in ‘11. Personally, I’m looking forward to the chance to add the Cubs to my personal “seen at Fenway” list. As everyone has been pointing out, this is the Cubs first visit since they lost the 1918 World Series. It made me wonder. Are we finally done with that? Are we finally done with the “First visit since…” storylines? Are there teams that haven’t visited Fenway yet? I’ve lost track…and am too lazy to look it up. (That’s what you’re all for) Can Fox finally stop talking about the price of milk in 1918 three hundred times a game? I can’t wait for that day. For the day when we’ve played every team at every home field at some point in the last 25 years. Maybe, at that point baseball can stop with the interleague weekends. Maybe the interleague teams can just be part of the schedule. Maybe then the Sox can just play the Cubs the same trip they play the White Sox. Maybe the interleague games can just be another game on the schedule without all the “Let’s all see AL pitchers try to hit!” hype that makes these games seem like exhibitions. When can it just be about the baseball?

Yeah, I’m probably asking for too much.