As I'm sure you know, the Red Sox lack a "natural rival." MLB initially tried out Atlanta, but there are so few people who remember the Braves in Boston that it just didn't make sense. This year, it's the Philadelphia Phillies in the "rival" spot - the NL team that the Red Sox will play two series against. Every year, the Yankees get six games against the moribund Mets, and the Rays get six versus the Marlins.
What the hell, Bud Selig?! I know this is about ticket sales, but it's woefully unfair. The Red Sox's interleague opponents are a combined 115-101 (141-118 if you count the Phillies twice, which makes sense since we play them twice as much). The combined record of the Yankees opponents is 108-113 (130-136 when you count the Mets twice), and the record of the Rays opponents is a deplorable 107-115 (130-137 when you count the Marlins twice).
But we should all thank Jason Bay and the Mets for handing the Yankees a series loss...This is absurd. It's one thing that MLB doesn't have any semblance of a balanced schedule, assuring that the Red Sox, Rays, and Yankees will beat up on each other, and the AL West (home of just four teams) will generally have a clear winner.
I'm by no means a baseball purist. I like the expansion teams (but no more, please!), and I like interleague, but not in its current manifestation. Within the divisions, every team should play the same teams the same number of times. The Rays will probably pick up at least 3 more games on the Red Sox on scheduling alone, and that is more than enough to decide the division.
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