City to Mirror Major Leagues in Schedule Format

City Section baseball teams have photocopied a page from the Major League schedule and revised the order in which teams face each other as part of the City’s sweeping releaguing proposal that went into effect this school year.

The playoff structure also has been altered under the new format, which was adopted last fall on a 1-year trial basis by administrators acting on the advice of a panel of area coaches.

In a conference containing 2 four-team leagues, for example, teams will face league opponents 3 times and conference opponents twice in a 17-game league schedule. Teams will play regular-season games on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“We looked at the Major Leagues,” San Fernando Coach Steve Marden said. “A team in the Western Division will play other teams in the division 18 times and teams from the Eastern Division 12 times. We were looking for that same 3-to-2 ratio.”

Under the new plan, teams will face each other 2 times in the same week on a home-and-away basis.

“Now a guy with one great pitcher can’t ride him all the way through the schedule,” said Grant Coach Tom Lucero, who admittedly used right-hander Rodney Beck at every crucial juncture of Grant’s drive to the 1986 4-A title. “We’ll see everything a team has to offer by playing twice in a week. No more one-man teams.”

In addition, league foes will face each other for the first 6 games, beginning in mid-March. Teams will then play conference opponents for the next 8 games and conclude the regular season with single games against their 3 league rivals--for a total of 17 games.

The playoffs also have been restructured. Sixteen teams will qualify, including automatic berths for first- and second-place teams from each of the 6 4-A leagues. Two additional teams--those with the best record from among the 6 third-place finishers--also automatically qualify. The remaining 4 third-place teams will play in wild-card games to determine the final 2 playoff teams.

“That way, a team doesn’t get penalized if it happens to be in a very strong league,” Marden said. “Even if they face some of the best teams all year long, they can still qualify.”

Last season Monroe, playing in the highly competitive Mid-Valley League, had to win a fourth-place league tiebreaker game against Birmingham to make the playoffs. The Vikings eventually won the City 4-A title, defeating league rival San Fernando in the final at Dodger Stadium.

Additionally, teams will play on consecutive days in the weeks preceding and following spring break. Teams will play Tuesday and Wednesday before the vacation and Wednesday and Thursday after the break. In the past, only 1 game had been scheduled in each of those weeks.

Rainout games, which under the previous format had always been scheduled for replay on Monday, will be made up on the next available day, Marden said.