MLB question - NL vs. AL games

perhaps it has to do with the designated hitter. in NL, there is no designated hitter, so us Sox fans want to see field time for Ortiz

in reality, in not really sure how interleague matchups are made...now u have me wondering...

Edit: found this:

With the two leagues not having the same number of teams, and with one division (the National League Central) containing six teams while another (the American League West) has only four (the other two divisions in both leagues consisting of five teams each), various irregularities in scheduling result. Most notably, teams no longer play identical opponents as their divisional rivals, and even where they do, they don't always play them an identical number of times. This can lead to "strength of schedule" disparities like those the NFL has to deal with on a yearly basis (which only affects 2 of the 16 games in a season). For example, in any given season, one NL Central team might play every AL East team except the (strong) first place team, while another NL Central team plays all but the (weak) last place team. Another scheduling problem is that because the leagues are not equal in size, there always has to be one NL game on interleague days (interleague is done with block scheduling like the NHL, so all the teams play interleague games on the same day, and all the interleague games are played in one part of the schedule (third weekend of May and most of June)"

Edited by halfpint 2009-06-17 8:01 AM

I could be wrong but I believe it goes like this. Each division will play 2 divisions from the other league. One will be your division, i.e. the NL west will play the AL west every year and then the next division that you play rotates so the NL west will alternate with the AL east and AL central. In your case I believe the marlins should play the sox every year but they would only have home games against them every other year, I think.

MLB does interleague play to increase ticket sales during regularly down periods.  In other words, after the season starts, there's lots of interest, then there's a lull, then the all-star game, then a lull, then the race for the playoffs. 

So, they really just pick the games based on trying to increase ticket sales.  That's why the Yankees play here once, next year the Red Sox will likely play here. 
Because there are so many transplanted yankees (yankees=people from states that didn't secede from the union) that they bring those teams down.  The Yankee games this weekend have the highest ticket sales for any home Marlins game this year. However, it wouldn't be fair to the other team not to have that game back in Boston or NY the next year. 

Sorry you can't see your Sox in person.  Just be happy they're shown fairly regularly on ESPN or FOX.  I'm a Chargers Fan and I missed last years game that they played here against the Dolphins and they're not going to be back for 8 years unless they both end-up in the same place in their respective divisions. 

Sorry for the long post.
Note, I don't dislike yankees, just pointing out the definition of the term.

The Marlins will play the Red Sox every 4 years. Each year, one NL division plays one AL division. The problem is though, there is no guarantee that you will play them at home, since you only play one series with some teams. So really, the Red Sox might only come to Flordia every 8 years, unless you choose to go watch them in Tampa Bay.

Weren't they just there a year ago?

Anyway, why not road trip to Tampa. The Sox are there about 13 times a year.

woot! i'm traveling from NC to Fenway for my bday to see them play Baltimore!!!


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That's a good point.  You get an easy drive-over to TB (St Pete actually right?) and you can watch all the Sox you want.

You might be right, I'll feel really dirty taking him to a Braves game.

And for the record, I'm one of those Yankee fans that really enjoys the Red Sox.  I could easily be a BoSox fan if the Yanks weren't the only team that everyone in my family is obligated to be a fan of.  The Yankee-Red Sox rivalry is awesome, Fenway is awesome, and that Boston has been really great lately just makes it so much more fun to be a fan of either team.  Having the rivalry is easily the best thing about MLB.

Thanks for all the answers- it is confusing!  I have looked into going to Tampa to see the Red Sox play there, but with three kids we can't really do it in one day (a 4 hour drive each way) so it would involve getting a hotel.  With my youngest at 4 now I think we'll probably do that next year when he could sit through more of the game.  Also, my DH isn't into baseball so it's hard for him to sit thorugh a game, too!  I would like to do a Tampa/Red Sox weekend sometime though and do more than just a game.

I have a connection or two who could probably get me Fenway tickets for when we go home this summer, but I don't want to waste my favors on tickets right yet - what if I need them for more importnant favors someday?! 

check craigslist when you're in town.  You can probably score some tickets for an upcoming game at close to face value. 

same with me. the whole fam is nyy fans and even the gf. i'm the only oddball. but i did enjoy the nyy oldtimers game i went to back in the day with my gpa...dimagio and all...