Yankees vs Red Sox: A Little Watered Down

It seems to me that everytime you look up the New York Yankees are playing the Red Sox. As a matter of fact they face each other 18 times during the regular season and possibly seven times in the post-season. There is no urgency in a Red Sox/Yankees game.

Right now the Red Sox have a 1.5 game lead on the Yankees in the American League East. If the Red Sox sweep this series, they go up 4.5 games but there are another three games left between them. If the Yankees sweep the last three than all of this is for nought.

Here is what I say they need to do. Limit the games between the two teams to possibly 12 games. Strategically place them on the schedule. Opening Day is a great place to have this rivalry and sprinkle them throughout the year. Have a three game series in late August and then have them play three on the last days of the season.

With this theory, there are more meaningful games between the two teams. This 18 game stuff becomes old because it gets to a point that no one cares. Those extra six games makes a huge difference in the fans interest. The games become more exciting and every game means something.

Which gets me to my next complaint, the Wild Card. Don't like it and never will. The Wild Card is an easy way to reward the first place winner of all the losers. Since baseball will never do away with the Wild Card, I have a proposal. If you are the Wild Card team, you get no home games, none. That will make playing for the Division Title that much more important.

If you have twelve games between the Red Sox and the Yankees and the Wild Card team gets no home games throughout the play-offs, every one of the Red Sox/Yankees games would be exciting and important.