Posted 3:44 PM by Sean
The Angels' tentative 2003 schedule is posted here, although I believe they're moving opening day back to Sunday, April 29, so that they can be on ESPN in prime time. Looking at the schedule, two things hit me immediately: (1) it's a total meat grinder for the first month and a half. They start in the West, of course, so they'll have six apiece with the Mariners, A's, and Rangers, then their next twenty-four games are against the Red Sox, Yankees, Indians, and Blue Jays. I don't think the Indians will be all that good, but the Blue Jays are definitely a team to watch out for next year. (2) We did all right on the intraleague draw. The Angels will be playing the NL East except for the Braves (plus two series with the Dodgers, of course), and they'll have the Mets and the Phillies at home, while traveling to Montreal and Florida.

Oh, and one other thing - one of those delightful scheduling vagaries that are commonplace now that everyone plays an unbalanced schedule - the Angels don't play Detroit at all until August 15. As bizarre as that kind of thing is, I think the advantage of playing more games in your division is far more important.