A Look At The 2013 Schedule

So a friend of mine said to me, "Time flies when you're having fun." Honestly, it turned out to be terrible advice because timing flies is incredibly boring and soon I wasn't really having fun anymore. Plus I'm stuck with a stopwatch I don't need. Oh well.

Sadly, what qualifies as baseball news this week is that Tim Lincecum got a haircut. No official word as to whether Derek Jeter had his toenails clipped, but undoubtedly ESPN would have reported on it so I'm assuming he didn't. Josh Donaldson can get a pedicure and no one cares, and that's what's wrong this world..or this sentence. OK, the whole paragraph. Fine, the whole post. I'll come in again.

Every season has some month that looks, on paper, to be easier than most and some month that looks especially challenging. This of course doesn't factor in that you might get swept by Minnesota because Brian Fuentes decides to throw batting practice to a powerful pig or that the A's may sweep a 4-game series from the Yankees for the first time since the Whig party was all the rage.

This season? The first thing that stands out, though it's a week and not a month, is that Oakland has a chance to get out of the gate fast with 4 games against Seattle followed by 3 against Houston. That's Felix Hernandez and 6 very winnable games.

A month where the A's ought to have a chance to "make hay" is July. At home the A's play the Cubs, Red Sox, Angels, and Blue Jays, while visiting the Royals, Pirates, Angels, and Astros. Granted, that's 10 games against LAA and TOR but it's also 15 games against CHC, KC, PIT, BOS, and HOU. Funny to put the Red Sox among the "have nots" but some publications are picking Boston to finish last in the AL East this year and it sure seems possible.

In contrast, June looks a bit scary to me with the A's hosting the White Sox, Yankees, Mariners, Reds, and Cardinals, while traveling to face the Brewers, White Sox, Rangers, and Mariners. Frankly, how tough it is probably depends a lot on whether or not the A's face King Felix twice. It's remarkable how relatively good Seattle is on days he pitches and how relatively weak they are on days he doesn't.

This all being said, given that July doesn't look that easy nor June that hard tells me the schedule is somewhat balanced month by month in 2013. I can't find a stretch that screams "9-game losing streak alert!!!" or one that cries out "Knock, knock: Opportunity!"

Here's a link to the 2013 schedule. Your thoughts? Or if you want to do something less fun, I suggest that you time flies.