Benetti: Maybe it's time to mix up schedule a bit

This week's column comes from the American League Central road.

I was dispatched this weekend by ESPN Radio to call Royals-Twins on Friday and Rangers-Tigers on Saturday and Sunday. So I'm calling three games in cities where the White Sox will play 19 games this season (10 at Detroit, nine at Minnesota).

Overall, the Sox will play 19 times against the Tigers (9H/10A), 19 times against the Twins (10H/9A), 19 times against the Royals (9H/10A) and 19 times against the Indians (10H/9A). That accounts for 46.9% of the schedule.

Just less than half the Sox games will come against four teams.

I have learned a great deal at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Mall of America is iconic. The ribs in Kansas City are tough to beat. And Zingerman's in Ann Arbor - where one of the founders is a Sox fan - is just a car ride away from Detroit.

These are all lovely ways to spend some time.

But I think fans might like to see more variation in the schedule. Wouldn't you like to see Mike Trout play in Chicago for more than four games? If Trout - the best player of this decade by most metrics - is unfortunately hurt Sept. 25-28, White Sox fans won't be able to see him in their home park for at least a year.

That is to say nothing of pitchers, who can miss a series because of injury or rotation happenstance.

Take, for example, Texas' Yu Darvish, who, despite a wash of a 2015 season, has been one of the Top 20 pitchers in Major League Baseball over the past five-plus seasons (16.5 Wins Above Replacement, according to FanGraphs, 18th in MLB since 2012).

Over that time, Darvish has pitched once at the home of the Sox. If you didn't make it to the South Side on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2013, you've never seen the supremely talented Darvish pitch on the road against the Sox.

There certainly are costs and benefits within MLB's scheduling. It is a difficult process, for sure.

The current schedule likely yields a more accurate division winner than one which, say, had each AL team play every other AL team roughly 10 times.

There's also less travel, which benefits players and teams from a fatigue and cost perspective, respectively.

But with the advent of the second wild card, which puts more teams in play for a postseason berth that does not hinge on division standing, there seems to be a competitive rationale for fewer divisional games, too.

Knowledge of the game comes with seeing all of the teams.

In 1993, when I was 10, the Sox made the playoffs and lost in the ALCS to the Toronto Blue Jays.

I vividly remember following Blue Jays first baseman John Olerud's attempt to hit .400 that season from some seats on 35th and Shields.

I looked back at that schedule. The first time the Jays came in was early in the year, April 30 through May 2. Olerud left Chicago with a .455 batting average.

When the Jays came back in, July 19-21, Olerud was hitting .396. He went 3-for-6 in the first game of the series to raise his average to .398. The next two games he went a combined 2-for-6 and left town at .396.

I know I can watch Mike Trout, Yu Darvish, Felix Hernandez, Aaron Judge and Zach Britton whenever I want thanks to MLB.TV. There's just something transformative about being in the same park and seeing it in human motion.

• Jason Benetti is a play-by-play broadcaster for the Chicago White Sox, as well as ESPN. Follow him on Twitter @jasonbenetti.