Scheduling MLB Season

[iacas]

You might think it was a computer program.

Instead, it was a husband and a wife using mostly notebooks and pencils.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:9897968

[saevel25]

Great video, thanks!!!

Goes to show you that the human mind is still more powerful in the realm of imagination and understanding the little details compared to a computer program.

[tristanhilton85]

I heard about that the other day on the radio (I listen to a lot of baseball talk on XM). I always assumed that it was a computer program as well.

[dave s]

That was interesting.  I've always been keen on understanding why Cleveland would open the season at home against the White Sox first week of APRIL!!!

MLB, like any other product, continues to try to force contrived, market-based rivalry games into the schedule by way of interleague play.  The "BATTLE OF OHO."  Come see the BATTLE OF OHIO.  These are games that are scheduled right after school is out mid-June.  The Reds visit Cleveland for a 3-game series.  A week later, CLE is at CIN for the big rematch.

Trust me.  Nobody cares and there is no such thing as the 'BATTLE OF OHIO' when it comes to baseball.  MLB touts this as 'look at the attendance,' and the BATTLE OF OHIO is good for the Reds AND the Indians.  Duh ... school is out, it's June and finally not snowing anymore in Cleveland and parents are taking kids to ball games.  It's not rocket science.

They should go back to this couple to create the schedule by hand.  I've really been questioning why CLE would see its forst 12 out of 15 home games in APRIL each year.  Then, during the months when the weather is actually GOOD in Cleveland, the Tribe is on the road.

Perfect example:  I've purchased 6 and 12 game 'marquee' packages from the Indians many times. The 6 game package always included in the White Sox in April.  Last year, Boston game was included in the package ... yep, in APRIL. It's always the same when you're NOT the Yankees, Boston, Dodgers or Giants;  Your team gets the good teams during bad weather.  Like that's going to boost ticket sales.

All our division games happen in July Aug and Sept when the weather is good. Endless (17 games each) stretches of home games against the Twins, KC, White Sox and Tigers.  All when the weather is great!

The couple who so wonderfully created MLB schedule is gone.  Now it's done with the pressure coming from teams like Yankees, Boston, Dodgers and Giants.  They get the good schedules, the rest of MLB cities get games at home in April and in snow, rain and 40 degree temps.  No wonder the Tribe near the bottom of MLB attendance every season.

dave

[MS256]

That was interesting.  I've always been keen on understanding why Cleveland would open the season at home against the White Sox first week of APRIL!!!

MLB, like any other product, continues to try to force contrived, market-based rivalry games into the schedule by way of interleague play.  The "BATTLE OF OHO."  Come see the BATTLE OF OHIO.  These are games that are scheduled right after school is out mid-June.  The Reds visit Cleveland for a 3-game series.  A week later, CLE is at CIN for the big rematch.

Trust me.  Nobody cares and there is no such thing as the 'BATTLE OF OHIO' when it comes to baseball.  MLB touts this as 'look at the attendance,' and the BATTLE OF OHIO is good for the Reds AND the Indians.  Duh ... school is out, it's June and finally not snowing anymore in Cleveland and parents are taking kids to ball games.  It's not rocket science.

They should go back to this couple to create the schedule by hand.  I've really been questioning why CLE would see its forst 12 out of 15 home games in APRIL each year.  Then, during the months when the weather is actually GOOD in Cleveland, the Tribe is on the road.

Perfect example:  I've purchased 6 and 12 game 'marquee' packages from the Indians many times. The 6 game package always included in the White Sox in April.  Last year, Boston game was included in the package ... yep, in APRIL. It's always the same when you're NOT the Yankees, Boston, Dodgers or Giants;  Your team gets the good teams during bad weather.  Like that's going to boost ticket sales.

All our division games happen in July Aug and Sept when the weather is good. Endless (17 games each) stretches of home games against the Twins, KC, White Sox and Tigers.  All when the weather is great!

The couple who so wonderfully created MLB schedule is gone.  Now it's done with the pressure coming from teams like Yankees, Boston, Dodgers and Giants.  They get the good schedules, the rest of MLB cities get games at home in April and in snow, rain and 40 degree temps.  No wonder the Tribe near the bottom of MLB attendance every season.

dave

To be honest I never studied the schedules of different teams enough to develop any conspiracy theories, even though I've been a lifelong Cardinals fan. All I could count on in old Busch Stadium on the turf was that it was going to be so hot in the summer that nobody wanted to be there. Especially on a Sunday afternoon game when the other team really wanted to just get out of town.

Not saying it doesn't happen though because we certainly noticed a few years ago when the SEC football schedules came out and every conference game Alabama played had their opponent scheduled for an off week before the Alabama game. It was so obvious that even the Auburn athletic director said it was ridiculous (and that's saying something).

[boogielicious]

You might think it was a computer program.

Instead, it was a husband and a wife using mostly notebooks and pencils.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:9897968

When I was in college, our entire scheduling was done by one man, Dean Van Alstyne.  WPI was a small school, ~2000 students and computers were not what they are today (can you say 'card readers'?).  He had a photographic memory.  He knew each class schedule, number of students and who was on the waiting list. He could tell you who was in front of you on the wait list and what the likely outcome was for each student.  I have never met anyone else like him.  He looked like a tall thin Albert Einstein and was a math professor.  He was also an exceedingly nice man.