Jeff Chiu/Associated Press Major League Baseball announced the schedule for its 2019 regular season on Wednesday. Manny Randhawa and Chad Thornburg of MLB.com reported the campaign will begin with a series between the AL West rival Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners in Tokyo on March 20-21 ahead of the standard Opening Day on March 28, the earliest date in league history. MLB moved the starting date up beginning in 2018 to accommodate three or four additional off days for each team during the course of the 162-game season. No other changes have been made to the format for 2019 after a brief discussion earlier in the year about the possibility of reducing the number of contests. In April, commissioner Rob Manfred told the Associated Press Sports Editors a shorter schedule, which was mentioned by Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, would also mean reduced pay for players, per Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com. "I think that Anthony's comments were realistic in the sense that he linked the fact that if, in fact, you're going to go to 154 games or some lower number of games, that players would have to be participants in that process," Manfred said. "They're going to work less, they're probably going to make less." There were never substantial discussions about dropping the total from 162 for 2019, though. Video Play Button Videos you might like The 2019 MLB All-Star Game is scheduled for July 9 at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio.<doc-sep>MLB on Wednesday released the complete 2019 schedule for all 30 teams. Let's dig in with some key takeaways: The regular season will open on March 20-21 with the Japan Series at the Tokyo Dome. The Mariners and Athletics will be the combatants. Traditional Opening Day will take place on March 28, which makes it the earliest traditional Opening Day in MLB history. For the second straight year, all 30 teams will be in action, which makes it a true Opening Day. Here are those Opening Day matchup (start times to be determined): Yep, that's some March baseball in Minnesota. Now for some other highlights from the 2019 schedule: Interleague play will pair the AL East vs. NL West, AL Central vs. NL East, and AL West vs. NL Central. That's in addition to the usual interleague rivalry matchups (e.g., Yankees-Mets, White Sox-Cubs, etc. ). will pair the AL East vs. NL West, AL Central vs. NL East, and AL West vs. NL Central. That's in addition to the usual interleague rivalry matchups (e.g., Yankees-Mets, White Sox-Cubs, etc.). World Series rematches include Yankees-Diamondbacks, Royals-Mets, Rangers-Cardinals and Red Sox-Rockies. include Yankees-Diamondbacks, Royals-Mets, Rangers-Cardinals and Red Sox-Rockies. Monterrey, Mexico will host one spring training series and two regular season series for a total of six games. The Rockies and Diamondbacks will play during the Cactus League season on March 9-10, the Reds will play the Cardinals a two-game regular season set on April 13-14, and the Angels and Astros will play a two-game series on May 4-5. will host one spring training series and two regular season series for a total of six games. The Rockies and Diamondbacks will play during the Cactus League season on March 9-10, the Reds will play the Cardinals a two-game regular season set on April 13-14, and the Angels and Astros will play a two-game series on May 4-5. Just three games will take place on June 3, which is the day of the 2019 MLB Draft . . On June 13 -- two days before the start of the 2019 College World Series -- the Royals will host the Tigers at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha. It'll be the first MLB game ever to be played in the state of Nebraska. -- the Royals will host the Tigers at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha. It'll be the first MLB game ever to be played in the state of Nebraska. The Angels will visit the Cardinals at Busch Stadium starting on June 21. That will occasion Albert Pujols' return to St. Louis for the first time as a visiting player. Pujols signed a a 10-year, $254 million contract with the Angels following the 2011 season. for the first time as a visiting player. Pujols signed a a 10-year, $254 million contract with the Angels following the 2011 season. On June 29-30, the Red Sox and Yankees will play at London Stadium . Those will be the first-ever MLB games played in Europe. . Those will be the first-ever MLB games played in Europe. The 90th All-Star Game will go down on Tuesday, July 9th at Progressive Field in Cleveland. will go down on Tuesday, July 9th at Progressive Field in Cleveland. The third annual Little League Classic is scheduled for Aug. 18. The Pirates will host the Cubs in Williamsport, Penn. is scheduled for Aug. 18. The Pirates will host the Cubs in Williamsport, Penn. Sept. 29 will be the final day of the regular season. The schedule features 12 intra-divisional contests. As well, the Rangers will host the Yankees in the final regular season game at Globe Life Park in Arlington. We've of course got a lot of 2018 left -- including, you know, the postseason -- but this should whet the baseball enthusiast's appetite for next year.<doc-sep>The New York Yankees visit Dodger Stadium next year, and Albert Pujols visits St. Louis. Those are among the highlights of the 2019 schedule, announced Wednesday by Major League Baseball. The 2019 season starts March 28, the earliest opening day ever (not counting occasional international openers that involve two teams rather than all teams, including next season’s Japan opener between the Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners). The Dodgers open at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks and close against the Giants in San Francisco. The Yankees play at Dodger Stadium Aug. 23-25, while the Dodgers play the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park July 12-14. Advertisement The Dodgers and Angels play June 10-11 at Anaheim and July 23-24 in Los Angeles. The Dodgers also play interleague series against the Tampa Bay Rays (home and away), the Baltimore Orioles (away) and the Toronto Blue Jays (home). The Angels open in Oakland against the Athletics and close at home against the Houston Astros. They will play the Astros in Monterrey, Mexico on May 4-5. The Angels gave up two weekend home games, but the Astros are not a top draw in Anaheim. The Angels’ interleague schedule is highlighted by a visit to Wrigley Field, for an April 12-14 series against the Chicago Cubs, and by a June 21-23 series against the St. Louis Cardinals that would mark Pujols’ first games at Busch Stadium as a visiting player. The Angels also play interleague series against the Cincinnati Reds (home and away), Milwaukee Brewers (home) and Pittsburgh Pirates (home). In Pujols’ 11 years in St. Louis, the Cardinals won the World Series twice, and Pujols won the National League MVP award three times. He spurned the Cardinals to sign a $240-million contract with the Angels. In 2015, he said he would not expect the St. Louis fans to boo him. Advertisement “I’d be shocked if they do it,” Pujols said then. “If they do it, then I understand. There’s nothing that I can do. But I would be really surprised if that happens.” [UPDATED 10:30 a.m.: Adds information about Angels’ games in Mexico.] bill.shaikin@latimes.com Follow Bill Shaikin on Twitter @BillShaikin<doc-sep>
You won’t have to wait as long for baseball this offseason. Major League Baseball announced the 2019 schedule Wednesday, and games will begin a week earlier than they did in 2018. Those games won’t open in the United States. The Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics will play a two-game series in Japan on March 20 and March 21. Unless you’re an extreme fan, we don’t expect you to dig through the entire 2019 season schedule. Thanks to us, you won’t have to do that. Below, we’ve compiled five things you need to know about the 2019 MLB season. Opening day of the 2019 MLB season features every team After the series in Japan, MLB will hold its opening day March 28. The league is following suit from 2018, meaning all 30 teams will play a game that day. That’s how it used to be done in the past. Opening day will take place on a Thursday in 2019, so clear your work schedule now. The 2019 MLB season will be the earliest opening day on record Going off what MLB deems as opening day, this will be the earliest the league has ever held the event. It’s not by much. The previous record for earliest opening day came in 2018, when regular season play began March 29. The 2019 MLB season will beat that by a day. Still, anything that makes the offseason shorter is fine with us. The 2019 MLB season is going to Europe The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox will play a two-game series in London on June 29 and June 30. It will mark the first time major-league games will be played in Europe. The teams will play in London Stadium. Albert Pujols is going back to St. Louis for the first time Albert Pujols hasn’t played in St. Louis at all since he left via free agency after the 2011 season. That should change in 2019. The Los Angeles Angels will visit Busch Stadium to play the St. Louis Cardinals on June 21-23. Those games will mark the first time Pujols has returned to St. Louis as an opposing player. We’re sure the Cardinals will find a way to celebrate his return. Story continues The 2019 MLB draft might be a bigger deal MLB has only scheduled three games on June 3. That happens to be the first day of the 2019 MLB draft. In 2017, MLB held nine games on the first day of the draft. That number dropped to five in 2018. With the league again shrinking down the number of games, that could signal that it is trying to make the MLB draft a must-watch event. The 2019 MLB season is getting an early start. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) – – – – – – – Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! More from Yahoo Sports: • Nationals lampoon: Harper era ends in failure • Amid scandal, President Trump goes after NFL again • Terez Paylor: 9 NFL teams best-suited for RB Bell in 2019 • Pete Thamel: Day of reckoning looms for Urban Meyer