In Red Sox Nation we’re still in the throes of the 2016 campaign, but for many baseball fans the mood is more “we’ll get ’em next year.” Now, it’s clear how next year will unfold with Major League Baseball’s official announcement of the 2017 schedule.
Baseball returns in 2017 on Sunday, April 2, exactly 200 days from this writing. The opening slates will be under the domes with the Yankees at Rays and the Giants at Diamondbacks, and a third game for ESPN Sunday Night Baseball (teams to be determined).
Opening Day at Fenway
On Opening Day, Monday, April 3, there will be 13 games played including an Interleague match-up at Fenway between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Red Sox. As is often the case, the Sox will follow their first game with an off-day before completing the 3-game set on Thursday. They’ll then trade Frozen Fenway for chilly Detroit and a four-game matchup against the Tigers, before returning to Boston for division games against the Orioles and the Rays.
The Opening Day home games are the first for the Red Sox in six seasons.
First World Series Rematch
For two teams with such long, storied histories—the Bucs, which date back to 1882, have played over 20,400 games, the Sox have played 18,007 games since 1901 as of this writing—Opening Day will be just their 13th match-up in regular season play.
In all, Pittsburgh leads Boston, 7-games-to-5.
In the postseason, Boston and Pittsburgh have met just once, in the first World Series in 1903. The Boston Americans, the 1901-07 forerunners of the Red Sox, beat the Pirates 5-games-to-3 in the best of nine competition, with Boston coming back to win the final four games to capture the first of their eight titles.
For Boston, the 1903 series featured Hall of Famers Cy Young and Jimmy Collins as well as Buck Freeman, the player we’ve discussed once before, who was Boston’s first ever to hit for the cycle, earlier that season.
Rest of the Season
The Red Sox have the most number of home games in April and September (15 each) and the fewest in July (11). They’ll play 76 games versus the American League East, with 19 games each against the Yankees, Orioles, Blue Jays, and Rays. Boston will play more games at Yankee Stadium and Oriole Park at Camden Yards (10 each) than any other road venue.
For games against the National League, the Red Sox will host the Cubs (April 28-30), Cardinals (August 15-16), and Phillies (June 12-13) and visit the Brewers (May 9-11), Cardinals (May 16-17), Phillies (June 14-15), and Reds (September 22-24) in 2017 Interleague games.
Other Dates for 2017
The last day of the 2017 season will come on Sunday, October 1. MLB also announced dates for Jackie Robinson Day (Saturday, April 15), the first day of the MLB Draft (Monday, June 12), and the All-Star events (Sunday through Tuesday, July 9 through 11) at Marlins Park in Miami. The 2017 All-Star Game is the first time the Midsummer Classic will be played in Florida.