Question about Getaway Days

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Why do some teams need a day off when they go from one city to another, but others don't?

For example: Today the Yankees play the Mets, at Yankee Stadium. Then the Yanks go to Atlanta the next night to play the Braves.

However, the Mets are skipping a day. After they play the Yanks today, they take Monday off, and don't play until Tuesday, when they head to Tampa Bay to play the Rays.

Both teams are travelling roughly the same distance. So why does one team need a day off and the other doesn't?

[ipitch]

They don't NEED a day off - they were given a day off by the scheduler makers. Later this month, the Mets are going from CHI to LA without a day off, while the Yankees go from ATL to WASH with a day off. It all pretty much evens out by the end of the season. But, obviously some teams will have to travel further than others. There's probably no way to make it 100% fair.

[Cap78]

Certain players need these days to play golf...besides they ONLY get 18 days off a year

[Bulldog19]

Now I realize that the teams will fly and not drive, but it's pretty good difference in distance..

NYC-->Atlanta is 882 miles or 15 hours driving
NYC-->Tampa is 1134 miles or 19 hours driving


That said, it's not that either of them necessarily need an off day. It's just how the schedule is written. Maybe the other teams are traveling back from somewhere?

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ The Rays are in Miami right now, so they can't have far to go to come home.

[Bulldog19]

Braves had day off on June 4 and are off next on June 14.
Mets had day off on May 31 and are off next on June 21.
Rays had day off on June 4 and are off next on June 18.
Yankkes had day off on June 4 and are next off on June 14.

The Mets are due for a day off just looking at these four schedules quickly...

[drdg]

Why do some teams need a day off when they go from one city to another, but others don't?

For example: Today the Yankees play the Mets, at Yankee Stadium. Then the Yanks go to Atlanta the next night to play the Braves.

However, the Mets are skipping a day. After they play the Yanks today, they take Monday off, and don't play until Tuesday, when they head to Tampa Bay to play the Rays.

Both teams are travelling roughly the same distance. So why does one team need a day off and the other doesn't?

per the players union, a team going straight from the east coast to the west coast or vice versa
must be given a day off or a min of 24 hours off (early day game start @12pm EST followed by a late game start 7pm PST)
and as of this year 2012 the all-star break is a 4 game break in order to allowed the japanese players to fly home and back.

or MLB MUST compensate
I remember a sunday that espn pick up an east coast game for an 8PM est (1pm) of a team that was flying to the west coast
even though the team had monday off, MLB still had to provide a monetary compensation to the team and all the players,
and I think it was last year, that espn try to do the same to the ny mets, but the mets said NO instead the game was pick up by TBS

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ But none of the games that I mentioned even involve the West Coast. Yankees from NYC to Atlanta, Mets from NYC to Tampa Bay. Mets have an off day, Yankees don't.

And the Mets aren't waiting for Tampa Bay to finish against Miami, because TB doesn't play on Monday either.

[UnderPressure]

What I don't understand is Wednesday matinee games that are followed by an off-day on Thursday. Midweek matinee games = No likey

[drdg]

^ But none of the games that I mentioned even involve the West Coast. Yankees from NYC to Atlanta, Mets from NYC to Tampa Bay. Mets have an off day, Yankees don't.

And the Mets aren't waiting for Tampa Bay to finish against Miami, because TB doesn't play on Monday either.

like IPITCH said above,
they were given a day off by the scheduler makers

here is a link to what goes into how the schedule is made

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060404&content_id=1383448&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

[Bulldog19]

Braves had day off on June 4 and are off next on June 14.
Mets had day off on May 31 and are off next on June 21.
Rays had day off on June 4 and are off next on June 18.
Yankkes had day off on June 4 and are next off on June 14.

The Mets are due for a day off just looking at these four schedules quickly...

^ But none of the games that I mentioned even involve the West Coast. Yankees from NYC to Atlanta, Mets from NYC to Tampa Bay. Mets have an off day, Yankees don't.

And the Mets aren't waiting for Tampa Bay to finish against Miami, because TB doesn't play on Monday either.

Did you even read my previous post?

[drdg]

What I don't understand is Wednesday matinee games that are followed by an off-day on Thursday. Midweek matinee games = No likey

a pdf of the basic agreement between MLB and the MLBPA

http://mlb.mlb.com/pa/pdf/cba_english.pdf

article V,
c9
Getaway games shall not be scheduled or rescheduled to start
later than 5 P.M. if either Club is required to travel for a day game,
scheduled the next day, between cities in which the in-flight time is
more than 1 1/2 hours.

c10
To the extent reasonably practicable, open days shall be
nontravel days, except as permitted in paragraph (c11),

c11
An open day shall be scheduled for or following travel from
cities in the Pacific time zone to cities in the Eastern time zone

[ol' aches and pains]

Why do some teams need a day off when they go from one city to another, but others don't?

For example: Today the Yankees play the Mets, at Yankee Stadium. Then the Yanks go to Atlanta the next night to play the Braves.

However, the Mets are skipping a day. After they play the Yanks today, they take Monday off, and don't play until Tuesday, when they head to Tampa Bay to play the Rays.

Both teams are travelling roughly the same distance. So why does one team need a day off and the other doesn't?

The Yankees, having just swept the Subway Series with the Mets, are probably happy they're playing tomorrow. They're on a roll. The Mets, on the other hand, can probably use the off-day to assess their situation and decide if they want to continue with this baseball thing, or look for another line of work. Some of them should seriously consider the latter course.