8 Team, 154 Game Schedule??

Back before the leagues expanded in 1961 and 1962, both the American League and National League played 154 game schedules, where each team would play the other team in their league 22 times.

I was wondering how others would feel if this was an option for Online Strat-O; i.e. an 8 team league with a 154 game schedule? First place finisher would get a bye for the Semi-Finals, and second and third place teams would compete in the Semis with a chance to advance to the Finals and then compete against the first place team.

Since 22 is not evenly divisible by 3, there would have to be some two game series in order for this to work. But this would put all teams on an equal basis (compete against all other teams the same number of times), rather than the imbalance with the current three division setup.

In addition, 8 team leagues would be easier to fill in many instances.

What do others think of this idea?

This would be an interesting option, especially for a harder-to-fill seasons or themes. Here's a couple of things they could do with it:

1. Give the first place team a credit and the league champion a credit (so the first place team could end up with two credits). How nice to have a monster team in the regular season be guaranteed a credit! Giving two credits total keeps the ratio of credits per team the same as a 12-team league.

2. Scatter the 2-game series the OP mentioned differently for each team, but don't credit off-days for starting pitchers (or injuries). This way, your first starter doesn't always come up against the opposing team's first starter in every series.

3. Alternatively, the game could be set up as 4-/4-/3-game series (but this time staggering the 3-game series differently). This would make the seasons play faster, which might appeal to some. It would also make the schedule more even; in other words, you won't have more than your share of series where you come up against just a team's best two starters.