MLB Moves Up Schedule, Sends Cubs to Fenway in 2011

Major League Baseball has finally taken steps to actually keep the October Classic in October.

In keeping with commissioner Bud Selig's goal of stopping the World Series from bleeding into November, MLB's schedule is being shifted back for the 2011 season, reports ESPN.

For next year, the season will start midweek, reversing a 1999 decision to open with games on Sunday or Monday. Five opening games are slated for Thursday, March 31, 2011, with contests in Cincinnati, Washington, St. Louis, Kansas City and at Yankee Stadium. One of those games will be moved to the evening of March 30.

The regular season will end on Wednesday, September 28, with Philadelphia-Atlanta, Colorado-San Francisco, and New York-Tampa Bay set to meet. That's surely tantalizing to fans of each of those six teams, as are all currently involved in tight pennant races and may be ready to circle those dates for next season now.

Interleague play offers fans a treat as two of the sport's most storied franchises will face off in one of its most hallowed stadiums.

The Chicago Cubs will travel to Fenway Park in May for a three-game set with the Boston Red Sox. The last time the Cubs visited Fenway was during the 1918 World Series. They also played each other in 2005 interleague series at Chicago's Wrigley Field.

The Cubbies will also meet up with the Bronx Bombers during interleague play, which takes place between June 17 and July 3.

The 2011 All-Star Game is set for July 12 in Arizona.

Selected Reading: ESPN, MLB,

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