Henry and Holly Stephenson know a thing or two about constructing a sports calendar.

To play in 2020, baseball is reimagining almost everything—fans, rosters, spitting. And, of course, its schedule.

A typical MLB schedule is an incredible act of calendrical harmony: 2,430 games in 26 weeks that ensure each team is treated fairly, travel is workable, and television executives are happy. (That’s without getting into the finer elements, such as considering weather, the All-Star Break and accommodating stadium events like concerts.) The schedule is built and released months in advance. Now, due to the coronavirus, MLB faces ripping up 2020 and revamping it under dramatic constraints.

MLB’s current proposal describes an 82-game season cut on divisional lines to limit travel. There’s no version of the previously announced schedule that could accommodate that—it requires an entirely new one drawn from scratch. But, unlike many of the tasks that the league is now