2023 schedule is released

[eddie83]

Open on road. Home opener Thur April 6 vs NYY. Season ends Oct 1.  

[Surhoffan17]

Cool!  Thanks!  That answers my question about how much we play each divisional team.  I am not seeing any good O's vacations though!!! Except Tampa.  

[Aristotelian]

Wow, looks a lot different than this year. I could see us winning some games against this schedule. 

[SurhoffFTW]

13 divisional games. Extra road game against NYY and TOR. Extra home game against BOS and TB.

[Bahama O's Fan]

So...this should be the beginning of not having to be playing so many AL East opponents helps us out right?

[Moose Milligan]

I don't like it.  

I know a lot of you are going to be all happy and **** about not having to play so many AL East games but, IMO, that's what makes this interesting.  That's what makes this great.  We're in the hardest division in baseball and we've got to fight like dogs to get to the top.  The games matter more and you know the Rays, Jays, Yankees and Sox up and down, inside and out.  There's no hiding anything.  For years and years we've watched this team get their brains bashed in and FINALLY are becoming competitive again and then they take away our stiffest competition?  No f'ing way!  I've been watching this team and waiting for Rutschman and Henderson and G-Rod and Hall and everyone else to come up so we can go toe to toe with the Yankees, like, 30 times a year and win more than we lose against them.  

I really don't care about playing the Marlins.  I don't care about playing the Padres (Manny's been gone long enough for me to really find any interest there).  I don't care about playing the Phillies, or really, any National League team.  Interleague baseball was a cool thing back in the late 90s but I find it borderline insufferable now.  Obviously, I'm still going to watch but no one here can tell me they're interested in a Orioles/Rockies matchup in late August at the same level they'd be interested in a Orioles/Rays game.  The stakes are automatically higher.  I'd rather see if we can beat a guy like Baz or McClanahan instead of whatever ****kicker the Rockies trot out there.  

I mean, if they're going to go this route, why even have the two leagues anymore?  Just make it like the NBA, an Eastern and Western conference and the top 8 teams from each conference get in the playoffs.  With this new schedule, there's really no need for East, Central and West divisions anymore or the American and National leagues.

[dtk9119]

I have to mostly agree w/ Moose. Especially on the interleague stuff. I hate that they got rid of pitchers batting in the NL which made the interleague games more interesting. Now it's just bland scheduling. Playing every team every year. Less games against your own division. Oh well it is what it is...

[forphase1]

My thoughts.  1) I HATE interleague play.  2) I LOVE having a more balanced schedule.  Wish they had balanced our schedules by simply playing more other American League teams instead of National League.  Maybe with the universal DH my loathing of NL baseball will slowly fade, but as it stands right now I just don't care for any NL team really.  

[terpfan101]

6 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I don't like it.  

I know a lot of you are going to be all happy and **** about not having to play so many AL East games but, IMO, that's what makes this interesting.  That's what makes this great.  We're in the hardest division in baseball and we've got to fight like dogs to get to the top.  The games matter more and you know the Rays, Jays, Yankees and Sox up and down, inside and out.  There's no hiding anything.  For years and years we've watched this team get their brains bashed in and FINALLY are becoming competitive again and then they take away our stiffest competition?  No f'ing way!  I've been watching this team and waiting for Rutschman and Henderson and G-Rod and Hall and everyone else to come up so we can go toe to toe with the Yankees, like, 30 times a year and win more than we lose against them.  

I really don't care about playing the Marlins.  I don't care about playing the Padres (Manny's been gone long enough for me to really find any interest there).  I don't care about playing the Phillies, or really, any National League team.  Interleague baseball was a cool thing back in the late 90s but I find it borderline insufferable now.  Obviously, I'm still going to watch but no one here can tell me they're interested in a Orioles/Rockies matchup in late August at the same level they'd be interested in a Orioles/Rays game.  The stakes are automatically higher.  I'd rather see if we can beat a guy like Baz or McClanahan instead of whatever ****kicker the Rockies trot out there.  

I mean, if they're going to go this route, why even have the two leagues anymore?  Just make it like the NBA, an Eastern and Western conference and the top 8 teams from each conference get in the playoffs.  With this new schedule, there's really no need for East, Central and West divisions anymore or the American and National leagues.

It's only a decrease in 24 games against the division and 32% of the schedule vs currently it being 47%. I love it as it gets boring to play so many games against the same opponents and it'll be cool to be able to play every NL team each year. Every one in the division is playing the exact same schedule +/- a game per non AL-East opponent and +/- a game or so against one NL opponent. 

The only downside is it eliminates the ability to do a trip and see multiple NL opponents. For example back in 2013-2015 one of those years my parents went with my aunt/uncle on a trip to CA/AZ and saw the Padres, Giants, and Diamondbacks as the O's had a long west coast trip. Though I'm not sure how often the scheduling folks are that kind anyway.  

[RVAOsFan]

55 minutes ago, Surhoffan17 said:

Cool!  Thanks!  That answers my question about how much we play each divisional team.  I am not seeing any good O's vacations though!!! Except Tampa.  

I think following them out to Seattle and down to San Diego would be a pretty sweet vacation actually.

[Aristotelian]

28 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I don't like it.  

I know a lot of you are going to be all happy and **** about not having to play so many AL East games but, IMO, that's what makes this interesting.  That's what makes this great.  We're in the hardest division in baseball and we've got to fight like dogs to get to the top.  The games matter more and you know the Rays, Jays, Yankees and Sox up and down, inside and out.  There's no hiding anything.  For years and years we've watched this team get their brains bashed in and FINALLY are becoming competitive again and then they take away our stiffest competition?  No f'ing way!  I've been watching this team and waiting for Rutschman and Henderson and G-Rod and Hall and everyone else to come up so we can go toe to toe with the Yankees, like, 30 times a year and win more than we lose against them.  

 

I did have that thought. I always like Yankees series, no matter how good they are and how many games we get against them. That said, putting us in the same division as the Yankees, Jays, and Sox and making us play half our schedule against them is too much. It does seem like they went way in the opposite direction and overcompensated a bit, and a middle ground would have been better. As it is, it's almost like it doesn't matter what division you're in. 

[Fiver6565]

The balancing of the schedule had to be done in the WC era. We are seeing the effects of scheduling right now, as we finish the season with the hardest -on-paper schedule (or one of them) while teams outside the ALE have it quite easier (such as Seattle).  It’s not a level playing field against the teams we are realistically competing against for playoff spots. 

[Fiver6565]

Also anything that allows us to play less games at the Trop is good with me. I despise seeing baseball played in that place. 

[Moose Milligan]

8 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

I did have that thought. I always like Yankees series, no matter how good they are and how many games we get against them. That said, putting us in the same division as the Yankees, Jays, and Sox and making us play half our schedule against them is too much. It does seem like they went way in the opposite direction and overcompensated a bit, and a middle ground would have been better. As it is, it's almost like it doesn't matter what division you're in. 

Yeah, I'd have been good with a balanced schedule with no interleague play unless they wanted to do a rivalry series where we'd play, the Nats twice a year, Yankees play the Mets, Angels/Dodgers, etc.  I agree, they went too far in the opposite direction.

[Bahama O's Fan]

I for one think a completely balanced schedule is the fairest way to do this. Honestly, y'all might hate me, but forget divisions, maybe even leagues. Have every team play every team equally. Arrange the travel to minimize east/west road trips whereby one trip there covers a bunch of teams and games. Then, in the end, take the best 16 or whatever teams you want into the playoffs.