New York ? The major league baseball schedule for 2011 features a midweek start in March, a midweek ending in September and the Chicago Cubs’ first visit to Fenway Park in nearly 100 years.

The new slate is designed to meet commissioner Bud Selig’s goal: to have the World Series over in October. Game 7 this year is set for Nov. 4.

Five openers are scheduled for Thursday, March 31, with games at Cincinnati, Washington, St. Louis, Kansas City and Yankee Stadium. One of them is expected to be moved up to the night of March 30.

Starting in 1999, the season had been slated to start on either a Sunday night or Monday afternoon — except for some special neutral-site trips.

The regular season is set to end on Wednesday, Sept. 28, with games such as Philadelphia-Atlanta, Colorado-San Francisco and Yankees-Tampa Bay. The last time a season finished on any day other than Sunday was 1990. This new way, the playoffs could begin in September.

The Cubs open interleague play on May 20 with a three-game series in Boston. The Cubs last played at Fenway Park in the 1918 World Series.