2011 Schedule Announced, Interleague Brutal; Update -- Maybe not?

[Mass Haas]

Schedule Link

 

INTERLEAGUE:

 

15 games starting June 17th -- at Boston, home to Tampa Bay, home to Minnesota, at the Yankees, at Minnesota

 

Yikes, just hope for 7-8 somehow; that'd be impressive.

 

A nine-game road trip and a ten-game road trip before May 9th arrives.

 

15 of 19 at home starting May 9th

 

Only one southern California trip -- a quick trip at that, two games at LA and two games at SD in May

 

An 11-game trip to Col, AZ, SF in July

 

Clinch a playoff spot on the final weekend home against Pittsburgh

 

***

 

I'm deflated. Brutal, brutal...

[Mass Haas]

Posted by vgmastr:

 

The Brewers actually open on Thursday, March 31 in Cincinnati then have an off day on Friday. The home opener is on April 4 against the Braves. As speculated, the interleague schedule is home against Tampa, at Boston and the Yankees, and the usual home-and-home with the Twins. With the opener being on a Thursday, I'll just have to make it a five day weekend so I can watch it on TV and then go to the home opener the following Monday. Only five games are scheduled for the 31st, everyone else opens on the 1st.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Yeah, not a fan of this schedule. Looks incredibly hard, and I'm not looking forward to it. We will get owned in Boston and New York.

[hawing]

Clinch a playoff spot on the final weekend home against Pittsburgh

Actually, that (regular) season ending series is Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday. I've only taken a quick glance so far, but the arrangement of series looks weird in a few places, and not just by starting on a Thursday and finishing on a Wednesday.

 

If my quick calculations are correct, the Brewers play STL 18 times, CIN and CHC 16 times, and HOU and PIT 15 times. There are only two home series with Pittsburgh.

 

The number of two-game and four-game series seems like more than usual (though I admit I don't know what usual is).

Also, check out this stretch:

7/29-31 vs. HOU

8/1-3 vs. STL

8/5-7 @ HOU

8/9-11 @ STL

 

Then

8/30-9/1 vs. STL

9/2-4 @ HOU

9/5-7 @ STL

 

Weird.

[twobrewers]

I wish the Yankees (and Sabathia) were coming to Milwaukee.

[BrewCrewForever]

Was already talking to the wife tonight about a possible trip to Boston for a game.

[monty57]

How is it that the Brewers, who are fighting for 5th place in the division have to take on the top three teams in the AL East? Shouldn't we have Baltimore in there somewhere?

 

On a side note, what are the odds we're playing against Fielder in one of those AL East series?

[pitchleague]

woot! Summer 4-gamer in Phoenix! Mid-week, too, so hotel room will be a tiny bit cheaper!!!

[Mass Haas]

Interleague:

 

Brewers:

 

AT BOS, AT NYY, AT MIN

VS. TB, VS. MIN

 

***

 

Cardinals:

 

AT BAL, AT TB, AT KC

VS. KC, VS. TOR

 

***

 

Reds:

 

AT BAL, AT TB, AT CLE

VS. CLE, VS. TOR, VS. NYY

 

Yeah, that's fair. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[Bombers]

BrewCrewIn2004 - Me and my fiance went to Boston series in 2008. Even though the Brewers got swept we had a GREAT time. Boston is a great town. I strongly advise the trip! I may even talk to her about doing that one again. In 2008, there were a ton of Brewers fans there. Not sure how next year will be, probably not as many. But we had a great time.

[trwi7]

How is it that the Brewers, who are fighting for 5th place in the division have to take on the top three teams in the AL East? Shouldn't we have Baltimore in there somewhere?

 

On a side note, what are the odds we're playing against Fielder in one of those AL East series?

 

Team record the previous year has nothing to do with interleague schedules. I'm not really sure how they determine it, but the way interleague is now sucks. Just bite the bullet and put 15 teams in each league and have interleague matchups going throughout the year.

 

I don't want to see Boston again. We saw them in 2008 and if we do have to play Boston again, why can't we play them here? The last time they played at Miller Park was 2003. When was the last time we played at Oakland or at Seattle? Heck, when was the last time we played Oakland anywhere?

[BrewCrewForever]

BrewCrewIn2004 - Me and my fiance went to Boston series in 2008. Even though the Brewers got swept we had a GREAT time. Boston is a great town. I strongly advise the trip! I may even talk to her about doing that one again. In 2008, there were a ton of Brewers fans there. Not sure how next year will be, probably not as many. But we had a great time.

Awesome, I have always wanted to see Fenway Park and have never seen the Brewers on the road. Seems like I can kill two birds with one stone.

[EinhornIsFinkle]

I'm a little bitter that they broke up the Yankees and Red Sox series as I was hoping to see the Brewers in both cities on one trip.

[trwi7]

Interleague schedules for other NL Central teams:

 

Cubs: @ Red Sox, vs Yankees, @ Royals, vs White Sox, @ White Sox

 

Cardinals: @ Royals, vs Royals, vs Blue Jays, @ Orioles, @ Rays

 

Astros: @ Blue Jays, @ Rangers, vs Rays, vs Rangers, vs Red Sox

 

Pirates: vs Tigers, @ Indians, vs Orioles, vs Red Sox, @ Blue Jays

 

Reds: @ Indians, vs Blue Jays, vs Yankees, vs Orioles, @ Rays, vs Indians

 

Cardinals get a sweetheart interleague schedule.

 

Edit:

 

Anyone check out our schedule from May 2nd to July 24th? 36.8% of the games played in that stretch will be against teams 20 or more games over .500 this year. 48.7% of the games in that stretch will be played against teams 15 or more games over .500. 57.9% of the games played in that stretch will be against teams 10 or more games over .500. 65.8% of the games in that stretch will be played against teams 5 or more games over .500. 71.1% of the games in that stretch will be played against teams over .500.

 

I know there are some surprises and disappointments every year, but most of the teams we're playing having staying power imo. The only team that I'm not sure about is the Padres. That's just a brutal stretch with very few breaks. We have the Pirates and Nationals at home for 3 each in May, the Mets at home for 3 in early June, though they're decent and probably better than us, the Cubs on the road for 4 in mid June, though we always have trouble with them (haven't won a season series against them since 2005) and Arizona for 7 games in July, 3 at home from the 4th-6th and 4 on the road from the 18th-21st. That's it.

 

Honestly, if they try to compete next year, that schedule will very likely bury them early. I would be shocked if we won more than 30 games in that stretch.

[Invader3K]

Team record the previous year has nothing to do with interleague schedules. I'm not really sure how they determine it, but the way interleague is now sucks. Just bite the bullet and put 15 teams in each league and have interleague matchups going throughout the year.

 

I don't want to see Boston again. We saw them in 2008 and if we do have to play Boston again, why can't we play them here? The last time they played at Miller Park was 2003. When was the last time we played at Oakland or at Seattle? Heck, when was the last time we played Oakland anywhere?

This. The whole scheduling as it stands right now is pretty stupid. The Brewers were just in Boston two years ago, like you said, and got annihilated there.

[owbc]

Wow, what a complete joke. If the Brewers manage to field a team equal in talent to the Reds or Cardinals, they will probably lose the division by 3-5 games due to the interleague schedule.

[crewcrazy]

The good news is that there are a ton of division games at the back end of the schedule. They'll play 12 games against St. Louis in August and September, so if they can hang around all year they might have a chance to crawl back into it late.

 

Of course, I'd rather wait until after the offseason shakes out before making a declaration on how tough this schedule really is. For all we know, Boston could take a rebuilding year, Tampa could fall back a bit like they did last year, etc. If there's one complaint I have about Interleague, it's the protected "rivalries" that get played every year. Yeah, it's nice to play the Twins, but when the Cardinals' "border war" is Kansas City and Cincinnati's is Cleveland, it throws the balance off a bit.

[Invader3K]

Yeah, I don't see why we have to play the Twins twice a season. There really isn't that much of a Brewers/Twins "rivalry" to celebrate.

 

I wish all the teams would play all the teams (or most of the other teams) every season and just be done with it. Works in the NFL.

[hawing]

If there's one complaint I have about Interleague, it's the protected "rivalries" that get played every year. Yeah, it's nice to play the Twins, but when the Cardinals' "border war" is Kansas City and Cincinnati's is Cleveland, it throws the balance off a bit.

Technically, you never know when KC or Cleveland will have a banner breakout year, or at least a hot June; but practically this arrangement certainly gives both STL and CIN a potential edge.

 

If MLB must hang on to the rivalries, so be it, I guess; but I could do without the home-and-home component, playing the Twins once a year and hosting just every other.

[Invader3K]

Yeah, I agree hawing. Playing the Twins once a year would be plenty, and would make it more special when they do come to Miller Park. I think the "rivalries" are a bigger deal in places like Chicago, New York, LA, where you have two teams in once metro area. There it's not as big a deal for fans to travel cross town.

[CheezWizHed]

There really isn't that much of a Brewers/Twins "rivalry" to celebrate.

 

I would disagree with that. Maybe its because I live on the west side of the state, but Brewers/Twins is a bigger natural rivalry to me than Brewers/Cardinals (beyond fighting for the division and maybe a twinge of 1992 left...). Man, I hated the Twins back when we were in the AL. But I suppose 1987 still a sticking point with me, since the Brewers had a better record and didn't make the playoffs, while the Twins won the WS. Not that I'm one to carry a grudge... http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

 

But I would agree that once a year is enough until the WS. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Beerambassador]

So which games are the bobblehead games and who are they going to be next season? I NEED MORE BOBBLEHEADS!

[bucks2281]

I understand Tampa Bay and the Yankees. We were due to play both of them at the respective sites -- but...we were just at Fenway. I'm most irritated that the Boston and NY Yankees series are two weeks apart. I wanted to take a road trip to go to both series.

 

Awesome, I have always wanted to see Fenway Park and have never seen the Brewers on the road. Seems like I can kill two birds with one stone.

 

I was at the 2008 Boston series and I was shocked by the number of Brewers fans at the first two games. Call me crazy, but I think there were several thousands at each game. We even got a couple of chants going. I want to go back, but seeing the new Yankee Stadium is a bigger priority next season.

[carniesandrubes]

One "quirk" I noticed - 3 weekend home series in a row in May (13-15, 20-22, 27-29)

[JohnBriggs12]

There really isn't that much of a Brewers/Twins "rivalry" to celebrate.

 

I would disagree with that. Maybe its because I live on the west side of the state, but Brewers/Twins is a bigger natural rivalry to me than Brewers/Cardinals (beyond fighting for the division and maybe a twinge of 1992 left...). Man, I hated the Twins back when we were in the AL. But I suppose 1987 still a sticking point with me, since the Brewers had a better record and didn't make the playoffs, while the Twins won the WS. Not that I'm one to carry a grudge... http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

 

But I would agree that once a year is enough until the WS. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

It's because you live on the west side of the state. For most Brewer fans, the biggest natural rival when they were in the AL was the White Sox. It's a shame they don't play each other more. I can't remember the last time the Brewers played the Sox in Chicago.