Major League Baseball released its 2013 preliminary regular-season schedule on Wednesday, which includes some major changes due to the Houston Astros' shift to the American League West.
The move brings the league to six divisions of five teams each and allows for interleague games to be played on every day of the schedule. Since 1997 when interleague play began, the games usually took place in May and June.
"We're extremely excited about the 2013 schedule," Astros owner Jim Crane said to MLB.com. "We think our fans will enjoy seeing many of the new teams and players that will be coming to our ballpark next season. This is an exciting time for the Astros organization. We're confident that we're moving in the right direction, both on and off the field. Our plan is in place."
The new format has each team playing 19 games against each division rival for a total of 76 and 20 interleague games in eight series, including four at home and four on the road. The clubs will also play six or seven games against non-divisional league opponents in two series, one at home and one on the road for a total of 66 games.
In the previous format, teams in the AL East, AL Central, NL East and NL West played division rivals 18 times each. The AL West played in-division foes 19 times each and NL Central teams met 15-18 times.
The league has also abandoned mid-week opening games, which they have done for two years, for a Sunday game that will be nationally televised.
The Cincinnati Reds will host the Los Angeles Angels in a historic matchup on April 1, as it marks the first time ever that teams will start the season with an interleague matchup.
The Reds are baseball's first professional team and according to Stats LLC, they have celebrated Opening Day with a traditional parade every year except 1885, 1888, 1966 and 1990. They will continue it this year.
"The tradition is still here. We're still opening here," Cincinnati outfielder Jay Bruce told the Associated Press. "We've still got that going for us."
Other scheduled Monday openers include Detroit at Minnesota, Seattle at Oakland, Kansas City at Chicago and Detroit at Minnesota in the American League. In the National League San Francisco will take on Los Angeles, Chicago at Pittsburgh, Miami at Washington and Colorado at Milwaukee.
The New York Yankees and New York Mets will open at their home stadiums for the first time on the same day, with the Red Sox playing in the Bronx and San Diego visiting Queens. Usually the league tries to avoid two teams at home in the same city ay the same time.
"Great for baseball to have all of New York watching their favorite teams play at home that day," Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon told the Associated Press.
Traditional rivalries will also be changed due to the new format, with rivalry games being played in consecutive two-game series during the week of May 27. Those games include the Mets and Yankees as well as the Cubs and White Sox and the Dodgers and Angels.
Some notable matchups throughout the season include the Marlins and White Sox in May, which will mark the return of Miami manager to Ozzie Guillen to Chicago where he won a World Series in 2005.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and former Yankee Don Mattingly will travel to Yankee Stadium for the first time ever as the two teams play in New York June 18-19. The Dodgers will also play against the Red Sox in August for the first time after the two teams made a mega-trade for Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford.
St. Louis will face off against former franchise star Albert Pujols when the Cardinals travel to Anaheim to play the Angels on July 2-4.
Some teams will have to deal with travel issues more than others due to the new interleague schedule, including the Seattle Mariners. The shortest the team will travel is 1,250 miles to play the San Diego Padres and will also have to endure a road trip of 10-games in 10-days in September. The Mariners also will have to travel to Houston for divisional games.
The schedule also includes the World Baseball Classic, which will be held for the third time in March. The tournament has expanded to include 28 teams, with qualifying starting in September. The last two have been won by Japan.
"I know I'm going to guarantee the (MLB) managers and the general managers that I'm going to have these guys going back to their teams ready to start the season," said Joe Torre, who will manage the U.S. team, to MLB.com. "I think that's the most important thing I can commit to those teams. I'll take care of their players, and hopefully they can trust me on that."
The rest of the opening week schedule includes seven games on April 2 and 15 games on April 3.
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