While I Try to Get Psyched for MLB

Interleague Play. Teams play their "natural rivals" for two series, where they play only one series against other interleague opponents.

In the case of the Cubs, their natural rival is the White Sox. The Mets have the Yankees. Some are more of a stretch, like the Red Sox and Braves, who once used to play in the same city.

Then there's the case of the Blue Jays and Expos -- the only two Canadian teams. They were natural rivals, except now, the Expos are in Washington DC. One would think then that the DC rival would become Orioles (whose previous natural rival was the Phillies). But instead, it's DC versus the Blue Jays.

Pretty silly, especially since there's already an existing tension from Orioles owner Peter Angelos, who is unhappy about the Expos-to-DC move. Sure, it's a little confusing for the schedulers to change, but it wouldn't be that hard.

This does set up a nice USA vs Canada rivalry (after all, nobody likes the Canucks) between the capital city of the USA, versus the only city in Canada that US citizens can identify (with Montreal a possible close second, and Vancouver a distant third).

Too bad Oakland is in the same league as Toronto. Otherwise the natural rivalry could be Blue Jays and the Oakland Eh's.