2013 Brewers Schedule Quirk

[Warning Track Power]

I don't know if this was posted anywhere else but I thought this was an interesting schedule quirk for the 2013 season. On May 27-30, the Brewers play a home-away series versus the Twins. On May 27 & 28 they play at Miller Park against the Twins and on May 29 & 30 at Target Field.

 

The same goes for the:

True Rivalry

Dodgers-Angels

Cubs-White Sox

Giants-A's

Mets-Yankees

Nationals-O's

Cardinals-Royals

Reds-Indians

Marlins-Rays

 

Forced Rivalry

D-Backs-Rangers

Rockies-Astros

Padres-Mariners

Braves-Blue Jays

Phillies-Red Sox

Pirates-Tigers

 

While I really like the idea of the home-away 4 game series, I don't like the feeling of the designated forced rivalries. I'd almost prefer these be rotated yearly but I get the feeling that these will be scheduled annually for the forseeable future.

[torts]

brewers/twins were rivals when they were both in the AL. its not forced.

[Outlander]

I like it better than forcing six or seven games against the Twins every year.

[1992casey]

Back in the olden days, the Metrodome would frequently fill up with Brewers fans. The story would always be that there were more Brewers fans than Twins fans. Some of this is probably due to the fact that there are outstate fans that are closer to Minneapolis than Milwaukee. In more recent years, Twins fans have traveled to Miller Park. I'd say that this is a good natural rivalry.

 

If there's a quirk, it's probably that the Brewers play home and home two-game series against the Rangers in 2013. With the current setup, I'd assume that every team has a similar quirk in the schedule (which suggests that it's probably more of an accommodation than a quirk).

 

Here's how Interleague play is handled according to the current CBA.

 

Each Club may be scheduled to play up to 20 Interleague games during each championship season. In each Interleague game at an American League park, the Designated Hitter shall be used; at each Interleague game at a National League park, the Designated Hitter shall not be used.

and

 

There will be no more than 20 Interleague games. The bulk of Interleague play will be based on a rotating division format, but may include no more than one series against a prime interleague rival unless they play two two-game series. In the years when the corresponding divisions are scheduled for Interleague play, two series of three or fewer games against the prime interleague rival may be played.

[Warning Track Power]

I didn't mean to imply Brewers-Twins was a forced rivalry. I think it is as a good natural rivalry as Cardinals-Royals given the proximity of the two teams and also with other sports having Wisconsin-Minnesota rivalries such as the Packers-Vikings & Badgers-Gophers.

 

The quirk I thought was awesome was the 4 game series, with 2 at home and 2 away. The forced rivalries I listed were the ones I would prefer to see rotated as I don't see anything redeeming about the Pirates-Tigers playing annually or the Braves-Blue Jays.

[Outlander]

I certainly think it is a forced rivalry. The Brewers are paired with them because of proximity. The Twins were not even close to being the top rival when the Brewers were in the AL, they were maybe a top 5 rival at best. You rarely see a Brewers fan saying they hate the Twins like a Packers fan saying they hate the Vikings, the Brewers/Twins is fairly boring. I like going to Minnesota for a game every once in a while but I certainly wouldn't mind a couple year break.

[JohnBriggs12]

Outlander is correct. The biggest rivals of the Brewers back in the day were the Yankees and Red Sox. The series against those teams in the late 70's and 80s were terrific. The Orioles too. There was a time when the Tigers qualified as well after Billy Martin's famous "If the Brewers are contenders I'm a Chinese aviator" quote. The neighborhood rival was the White Sox. There was never any love lost between those teams and that lasted until the Brewers changed leagues. Other teams at other times were big rivals such at Toronto in early 90's and Cleveland when Belle decked Vina, but overall it was mostly division games that go the blood going.

 

I went to a lot of Brewer games back then and I don't remember the Twins being anything special. Then again I didn't come from western Wisconsin either.

[gregmag]

I guess there are different sorts of rivalries at different times. Of course the Brewers had rivalries with division competitors, when the Brewers were contending. The same thing is true for any team. But these rivalries are meant to be geographic, because of course most teams never had an opportunity to develop interleague rivalries before interleague play.

 

As for the geographic rivalries, I grew up in Milwaukee, and I don't remember the White Sox being a major concern of Brewers fans -- although we'd get a lot of Chicago fans at those games, and many of them were obnoxious drunks. Twins fans were always better behaved; maybe that diminishes a rivalry. I suspect that, on balance, Brewers-Twins was a meaningful rivalry for people in northern and western Wisconsin, while Brewers-Chisox was a bigger deal close to Milwaukee. Anyway, the Chisox obviously have a bigger / closer interleague rival, and the Twins have nobody else, so I don't mind the pairing with them.

[1992casey]

It was "special" if you saw the games in Minnesota.

[moofnelson]

Living closer to the Twin Cities than Milwaukee or Green Bay, I went to (unfortunately) the Humpty Dome for most of my Brewers and Packers games. The Twins/Brewers rivalry does not even come close to the Packers/Vikings rivalry.

[SenatorShriv]

I grew up near the Illinois border at the White Sox rivelry was much more significant for us. Our church baseball game outing was always scheduled around a sox / crew matchup for this reason. I had / have lots of friends who are Sox fans and we always keep up a steady stream of cross-league smack talking. I can't think of anyone I know that would be described as a passionate Twins fan.

 

I went to school in western WI and was surprised by the intensity of the Packer / Viking rivalry as the Bears had always been more relevent to local football conversations. Granted the Vikings were much better in those years, but I was surprised by the intensity none the less. I never remember anyone getting excited about the occassional Twins / Brewers games.

[owbc]

I was too young to remember, but the Brewers/Mariners had a bit of a rivalry going for most of the early 1990s.

[TURBO]

I was too young to remember, but the Brewers/Mariners had a bit of a rivalry going for most of the early 1990s.

 

I have no memory of such a rivalry...

[RockCoCougars]

The Brewers and the Mariners had a huge fight in '90 I believe. A beanball war involving Bob Sebra and others led to a few suspensions. Tensions between the teams started (earlier in the season, I believe) when Billy Spiers injured Dave Valle on what Seattle fans perceived as a dirty play at the plate. Spiers was booed for years in Seattle thereafter.

 

As for rivalries, I agree with those that say they were dictated by the standings. The Brewers and the Twins really weren't rivals because they were in different divisions. During the few seasons that the White Sox were competitive, there were some obnoxious Sox fans coming to Milwaukee, but that wasn't really a rivalry either. Once they were division rivals though, they had a pretty sweet fight in '95 or so (with the Garner/Bevington main event)

[TURBO]

Ahhhh, I have a vague memory of that now, however, I would call that "bad blood" not a rivalry.

[Patrick425]

Wow, I had know idea that the Braves/Blue Jays were a yearly "rivalry". Sounds like they started matching up teams geographically and they were left with these two teams at the end of it all.

 

I guess I never really paid attention to all the "rivalries" that MLB had set up in interleague play. I also never thought about the fact that because the NL had 2 more teams than the AL that there were probably 2 NL teams that did not have a yearly "rivalry" (prior to Houston moving to the AL). Was Atlanta one of them? Or maybe the Rockies and Diamondbacks? San Diego? I'm curious now.

[pitchleague]

Don't the Braves/Blue Jays share a spring training site? Or maybe they used to? Or perhaps theirs are very close to each other? I figured that is why there is that "rivalry."

[1992casey]

The Braves used to play the Red Sox as their prime rival. There was some logic to that as the Braves franchise originated in Boston.

 

My guess is that that situation changed when the Expos moved to Washington. The Phillies now play the Red Sox rather than the Orioles, who are now the prime rival of the Nationals.

[LaprilOne]

As a Quirk, I do not see a Quirk in the schedule. Although Jamie is still, or was coaching at least this year.

[hawing]

As a Quirk, I do not see a Quirk in the schedule. Although Jamie is still, or was coaching at least this year.

I won't lie. I've thought of LaprilOne and TheBwaz every time I see this thread topic.

 

Hosting the Twins every other year would be plenty enough for me (I'd appreciate seeing one more interleague opponent per season), but I get why MLB does the annual home-and-home.

 

The early or mid-1990s were when the SO and I first noticed that the County Stadium crowd was more rowdy for White Sox games than for other AL opponents. CWS was the first team we started bypassing once we became "fan's choice" customers. But I don't remember any single team giving me as a fan fits (besides STL, which was only that one high profile time until the Brewers switched leagues). This is despite my being a lifelong Wisconsinite, yet having lived no farther north than Madison until I was age 24. Most of the Chicago talk I heard in Rock and Green counties was about the Cubs or Bears.

[Eddiehitsthefoulpole]

To me, it seemed like every division game was a rivalry game when we were in the AL. I remember hating the Yanks, Tigers, and Orioles more than the others. I lways thought the White Sox were more of a rival than the Twins. I think it has a lot to do with where you live. When I was living in Clark County I was surprised to find out that the Packer-Viking rivalry was bigger there than the Packer-Bear rivalry.

[HiAndTight]

I think the White Sox would clearly be the Brewers top rivalry if not for the obvious rivalry with the Cubs.

 

The White Sox played games at County Stadium in the 60's to help bring baseball back to Milwaukee, but growing up, I don't recall a rivalry that was more volatile than the White Sox-Brewers. They got into it on a number of occasions and there was a lot of smack talking back and forth.

[HiAndTight]

By the way, the Packers are one of the founding professional football teams, they've got rivalry's with the same 3 other teams they've had for the last 40 years at least and longer with the Bears.

 

Football games count for more, and it's a more popular sport, so obviously none of those rivalries are going to compare to baseball rivalries. And given recent history, the only team I feel even close to the same level of disdain for in baseball with the Brewers are the Cardinals, and I still don't hate them like I do the Vikings. Or the Bears for that matter.