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Rivalries in Major League Baseball (MLB), like in other sports, have occurred between many teams and cities. Rivalries have arisen for many different reasons, the primary ones include geographic proximity, familiarity with opponents, violence, and cultural, linguistic, or national pride. Interleague rivalries can be inconsistently scheduled during the regular season and generally tend to be based on geographic proximity and previous World Series matchups. An exception to this inconsistent scheduling is the eleven pairs of teams which meet six times a year during interleague play. ==Background== In the "Original 16" era (1901–60), there were eight teams in each league and teams in each league played each other 22 times a season. With the Washington Senators (now the Texas Rangers) and Los Angeles Angels (now the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) entering play as expansion teams in , MLB increased the total number of games American League teams played to 162, which meant teams would play each other 18 times a season.〔 The National League did not implement this until the following year when the New York Mets and Houston Colt 45's (now the Houston Astros) entered play.〔 In , with the San Diego Padres, Seattle Pilots, Kansas City Royals, and Montreal Expos entering play as expansion teams, MLB split both leagues into two divisions with six teams each. Teams played a total of 90 intra-divisional games, playing teams within the division 18 times each and 72 inter-divisional games, playing each team in the other division 12 times. However, in , the addition of the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays reduced the number of intra-divisional games American League teams played to 78, as each team would play each team within the division 13 times.〔 However, they still played each team in the other division 12 times, but the total number of inter-divisional games increased to 84.〔 The National League did not institute this until , when the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies entered play.〔 In , MLB split each league into three divisions,〔 but kept the 1993 format in scheduling. In , with the MLB adopting interleague play,〔 the schedules were changed. The schedule for interleague play comprises 84 three-game series, namely six series (18 games) for each of fourteen AL teams and as many as six for each of 16 NL teams. MLB changed its scheduling format in , further intensifying division matchups throughout the league. The new "unbalanced schedule" allowed for additional games in each season between divisional rivals, replacing additional series with teams outside the division. Due to the change, division rivals now played each other 17 or more times each season.〔 The scheduling drew criticism both when it was enacted and after the fact, with some analysts even positing that the unbalanced schedule ''hurt'' intra-divisional play. With the Astros moving to the American League West in , MLB changed its scheduling around as a result of each division having 5 teams. Teams play a total of 76 intra-divisional games, playing teams within the division 19 times each, and six or seven games against other teams in their leagues and 20 interleague games.〔 The move of the Astros led to interleague play throughout the season.〔 Interleague games against natural rivals was reduced from six to four.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Major League Baseball rivalries」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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