I admire your putting out your plan (Sopranos Division was a smiler), but I'm way too traditional. I actually believe the opposite: that so many interleague games have really hurt baseball. Those games have ruined the All-Star Game and diminished the mystery of the World Series. Plus, I agree with you that divisional rivals should play each other 18 times. The current schedule kills division races. I think every game in September should be played within the division or (AT LEAST) the league. I think 8 4-team divisions could be better and certainly easier to balance, and I would grant you one interleague rivalry 2-game series per season. But that's it for me. And, while my soap box is sturdy, let's swap back Houston and Milwaukee, now that Bud Selig is out of power. What a stupid joke that was.
Like I said, the leagues are already obsolete because everybody uses the same umpires and there are no league offices. As far as the World Series goes, the most compelling one in recent years was Dodgers-Houston, 2017. I think the quality of play would improve with less travel and fewer games, and certainly the product would be more valuable if it's shown on prime time more often. When the Dodgers go East, their first pitch is in the midst of rush hour and when the Yankees go west, their first pitch is at bedtime for a lot of folks. What kills division races is having too many teams in the playoffs. Cutting the wild cards to two would help that situation. Certainly this format can be tweaked, but it's asinine to have the Mets and Yankees play only six times.
I admire your putting out your plan (Sopranos Division was a smiler), but I'm way too traditional. I actually believe the opposite: that so many interleague games have really hurt baseball. Those games have ruined the All-Star Game and diminished the mystery of the World Series. Plus, I agree with you that divisional rivals should play each other 18 times. The current schedule kills division races. I think every game in September should be played within the division or (AT LEAST) the league. I think 8 4-team divisions could be better and certainly easier to balance, and I would grant you one interleague rivalry 2-game series per season. But that's it for me. And, while my soap box is sturdy, let's swap back Houston and Milwaukee, now that Bud Selig is out of power. What a stupid joke that was.
Like I said, the leagues are already obsolete because everybody uses the same umpires and there are no league offices. As far as the World Series goes, the most compelling one in recent years was Dodgers-Houston, 2017. I think the quality of play would improve with less travel and fewer games, and certainly the product would be more valuable if it's shown on prime time more often. When the Dodgers go East, their first pitch is in the midst of rush hour and when the Yankees go west, their first pitch is at bedtime for a lot of folks. What kills division races is having too many teams in the playoffs. Cutting the wild cards to two would help that situation. Certainly this format can be tweaked, but it's asinine to have the Mets and Yankees play only six times.