2021 MLB Regular Season thread

I don't think it would be missed. How many matchups are even interesting? LA-LA, NY-NY, Chi-Chi, SF-Oak? Many other "natural" rivals are just together for convenience. I know I get excited for San Diego and Seattle each year. Other then an NL city seeing Trout or an AL city seeing DeGrom and their ilk in person, does anyone care? We can see everyone on TV now, so no one is a mystery.

 

I realize I'm unusual, but I'd rather see novel matchups than the 22nd iteration of Tigers-Royals for the season. When I'm picking out random games to watch/listen to, I tend to avoid divisional games, mostly because I'm just kind of sick of it.

 

The Tigers are a great example
Who’s their natural NL rival?
Pittsburgh comes closest but that’s not really a fit
I still like interleague games but it’s not a big deal anymore

 

Pittsburgh is their assigned 'rival,' but in some cases it essentially boils down to needing someone to dance with. Every other team in the division, Royals-Cards, Cubs-White Sox, Twins-Brewers, Cleveland-Cincinnati, has a ready-made obvious one.

 

Since they are in different divisions Pittsburgh’s rival could be Philly even though both are NL teams

 

I liked it better when there were set periods on the schedule where all the series were played at the same time. I realize interleague play can never go away as long as there is an uneven number of teams in each league, but it was weird to have the Dodgers at Oakland for the second series of the season or when a pennant comes downs to the Indians playing the Cardinals on the final weekend.

 

It also gave interleague play a “special” feeling, instead of being game 34 of a 162 game season.

 

Trivia: Who was the Brewers’ first interleague opponent?

 

Yep ... 1997, the Brewers’ last season in the AL.

 

That's metrically perfect.
It's also coming from the fans of a team with one suspended-for-domestic-violence starting pitcher and one suspended-for-domestic violence closer. So perhaps they should think first.