If you’re an MLB freak and have taken a look at the schedule for the opening month, you may have noticed that the Yankees are getting shafted. They’re essentially on the road from April 8th-28th, a span of nearly three weeks. That’s pretty bad, though not too shocking given typical MLB road trips. But one oddity you’ll notice is that the Yanks have a two-game homestand against the Red Sox on the 16th and 17th, before the Yanks venture to Baltimore to play the O’s and get right back on the road. Why is that the case? Pat Lackey has the answer at FanHouse:
Turns out Pope Benedict XVI is coming to Yankee Stadium to say a mass on April 20th, which required that weekend’s series with the Orioles to be flipped from New York to Baltimore. Since schedules are apparently incredibly delicate things, MLB didn’t flip any other series to accommodate the Yanks. The result is a schedule that requires them to be in Tampa on the 15th, New York in the 16th, and Baltimore on the 18th. That’s a bad week.
If anything, you’d figure the Pope were in town to catch the Yanks/Sox, no? Maybe he’s flying in a few days early to catch the clash. Oh well, not like it’s the end of the world for the Yanks — they’ll have another 130 games to make up for it, with many of them in the Bronx.
