What season is baseball played in

Baseball perhaps has one of the longest seasons among sports. And the most popular reason for this is the number of games. As expected, the number of games in a season has a direct correlative effect to the length of the season.

To know how many games in a baseball season, we will have to look into its history, traditions, standards, and many other trivia. Knowing the number of games in a baseball season will surely set your expectations when watching competitions.

Number of Games in a Baseball Season

An MLB (major league baseball) season sees a total of one-hundred sixty-two (162) games. Also referred to as the regular season, this period commences in April or late March through October.

Note that the game count above does not cover the rest of the games in the World Series play-offs or training pre or post-regular season. The nature of the games played outside the regular season is longer than expected and does not necessarily follow a time frame.

Why Does Baseball Have Many Games in a Season

The number of games in a baseball season sufficiently covers the complex task of differentiating teams from each other.

Before baseball transitioned into its professionalized state, it saw individual matches between “gentlemen’s clubs.” However, simultaneous with the founding of the National League in 1876, baseball experts realized that the matches were not apt for determining the best team within a period.

To address the issue, the same National League experts came up with the series.

The series focuses on having several successive games played by the same two opposing teams within days. Thus, it would be safe to presume at this point that the introduction of the series gave birth to a lot of games per season– a phenomenon we experience in baseball to this day.

Team managers found the practice of many games in MLB season to be economically favorable as they could lessen the amount of traveling between matches.

In addition to the points mentioned above relating to regular season baseball games, we need to analyze three major areas: fans’ convenience, physical freedom, and a bigger contest sample required.

The large number of games makes viewing easy for the fans. Missing a game or two doesn’t affect fans’ engagement, as the winner of the league cannot be decided by a match alone.

Moreover, unlike other sports, baseball is not too physically demanding. Yes. It can expose players to the risk of injuries, but it should not be as exhausting as sports that require athletes to move constantly, so game extensions are not necessarily a problem.

Lastly, baseball players will have ups and downs in terms of performances. To determine the better (or more consistent teams), more contests are to be administered.

How Many Months Are in a Baseball Season

A regular or MLB (major league baseball) lasts for six (6) months. Although approximated, this period has proven to cover a total of 2,430 games.

The total number of games can be dissected based on the given one-hundred sixty-two games to be played by thirty teams involved (both from National and American Leagues).

How Many Games at the Start of the National League

Baseball became a professionalized enterprise during the establishment of the National League. During this time, baseball events saw only a total of seventy (70) games in every season, only to double into a total of one-hundred-forty (140) by 1901 with the addition of the American League. You can check now our post for more about how long baseball games last.

Teams have since been playing in the two leagues.

Which Year Saw the Next Increase in the Number of Games

1920 saw the introduction of the all-new one-hundred fifty-four games per season. From then, the number of games remained unchanged until 1961, when it was reconfigured into today’s one-hundred sixty-two game placement.

What is the Current MLB Schedule

In 2020, a year that saw very minimal cash flow given the looming pandemic, the announcement of the Major League Baseball 2021 season came very early.

It is perhaps the earliest schedule ever announced in baseball history because even before the first game of the 2020 regular season, the schedule for the following year was already released.

For 2021:

• Start of the regular season: April 1
• End of the regular season: October 3
• Start of the postseason: October 5
• Start of world series: October 26
• End of world series: November 2

For 2022:

• Expected start of the regular season: March 31

Announcement on the 2022 MLB regular season was posted on August 5, 2021.

Conclusion

Baseball is indeed one of the rare sports that takes an extended season to complete. And it has all the right reasons to be so. Currently, it takes a total of one-hundred sixty-two games to end a season, requiring approximately six months.

Knowing how many games in a baseball season requires tracing its historical roots, assessment standards, and other factors.

A powerful swing and the ball is flying across the field, just one hit, and we might never forget the thrill it brings. I do not know about you, but I never do. Every baseball game is the chance to compete with others and cooperate with your teammate. It is among my biggest passions. 

Out of all the different sports in the world, baseball has one of the longest seasons. Once the baseball season starts in April you can find a baseball game on TV on almost any day for the next six months or so. Because of how long the season is, a lot of people wonder how many games are in a baseball season.

The regular season in Major League Baseball consists of 162 games in a season. However, some teams can play fewer than 162 games if they have a make-up game towards the end of the season where the outcome does not impact the standings.

To most people, 162 games sounds like a lot, but this only includes how many games are played during the regular season. For the rest of this article, we’ll look at how many games a team can play if you also factor in games from Spring Training and the playoffs. We’ll also go over how it’s possible for a team to play fewer than 162 games and how it’s possible for a team to play 163 games during the regular season.

All MLB Teams Play 162 Games in the Regular Season

As a general rule, each MLB team plays 162 games each season. And because there are 30 teams that each play 162 games, there is a grand total of 4,860 scheduled games for every MLB season.

However, playing 162 games a season was not always the norm. Prior to MLB’s 1961 season, each team in both the American League and National League would play 154 games in a season.

At the beginning of the 1961 season, the American League added 8 additional games to their schedules to create the first-ever 162 regular-season schedule in Major League Baseball. Then at the beginning of the 1962 season, the National League followed suit by also adding 8 games to their schedules to also create a 162 game season.

For more historical context, below is a quick chart that outlines how many regular-season games were scheduled by year, starting with the year 1900.

The above chart only goes back to the year 1900, but to see additional history around how many games were played each year, check out the history of Major League Baseball schedules on Wikipedia.

Non-Playoff Teams Can Play Fewer Than 162 Games

Most of this article discusses how many additional games a baseball team can play, but it turns out that it’s quite common for a team to play less than 162 games in a season. Do MLB teams have to play all 162 games?

As a general rule, all MLB teams have to play all 162 games, but if a game gets canceled and the outcome of that game will have no impact on the final standings, those two teams do not have to make up that canceled game.

As it turns out, this is something that is fairly common. If you look at the stats from the previous years, you’ll see it is pretty consistent that two teams in the MLB played 1 fewer game than the rest of the league.

For example, in the 2021 season, the record for the Colorado Rockies was 74-87 (161 games) and the record for the Atlanta Braves was 88-73 (161 games). These two teams had a game towards the end of the regular season that was postponed due to a soggy field and the only time the two teams could make up the game was the day after the regular season was scheduled to end.

As it turned out, making up that postponed game would have had no impact on playoff standings so both teams opted to not play that makeup game and both teams ended their season with 161 games played.

There are a variety of reasons for baseball games to be postponed due to bad weather or bad field conditions. For more information, read about the 9 reasons why baseball isn’t played in the rain.

Some MLB Teams Play 163 Games in the Regular Season

Baseball is full of one-off statistics so it makes sense for people to wonder if there are one-off statistics for the number of games played during the course of a regular season. How can you play 163 games in a season?

In the MLB, teams can play 163 games in a season if they are tied for a playoff spot after the standard 162 game season concludes. This extra regular-season game is referred to as “Game 163” and it is a one-game playoff that determines which team will advance to the playoffs.

It may come as a surprise to some baseball fans to learn about an extra regular-season game, but there are a handful of teams that have played 163 games during their regular season.

During the 2018 MLB season, 4 teams were credited with playing 163 games. On October 1, 2018, the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies while the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs. Both of these tie-breaking games were considered to be part of the regular season so all 4 teams ended up playing 163 games during the 2018 season.

However, as part of the MLB’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, there will not be a Game 163 during the 2022 season. Instead, a formula will be used to break a tie instead of a one-game playoff. Although it’s yet to be determined if there will be a possibility of a Game 163 beyond the 2022 season.

MLB Teams Play About 30 Spring Training Games Each Year

Spring Training in the MLB usually begins around the end of February or the towards the beginning of March. On the other hand, Spring Training will end either towards the end of March or the beginning of April. This means that almost the entire month of March is consumed by Spring Training.

For most seasons, Major League teams will play around 30 Spring Training games each year. However, if there is some type of delay to the season, the number of Spring Training games can be reduced.

For example, there was a potential lockout at the beginning of the 2022 MLB season and Spring Training was not able to begin when it normally began. Because of this delay, most MLB teams played between 15 and 20 Spring Training games in 2022.

This means that on top of the normal 162 games a player can play in a season, there are roughly 30 more Spring Training games they could be playing before the regular season even begins.

MLB Teams Can Play Up to 22 Games in the Playoffs

After the regular season comes to an end, the playoffs begin. Although the MLB playoffs are arguably the best time of the year, it means there is about another month of baseball left. How many baseball games can MLB teams play in the playoffs?

MLB teams that make the playoffs can play anywhere from 2 games to 22 games, depending on how many games they win.

Starting in the 2022 season the MLB implemented an expanded postseason. The way the expanded playoffs work is that there are 4 rounds in the MLB playoffs:

• Wild Card Round (best of 3)
• Division Series (best of 5)
• League Championship Series (best of 7)
• World Series (best of 7)

When added up, one team has the potential of playing 22 games in the playoffs. Of course, this means that a team would have to draw out all 4 playoff rounds to the final game, which is unlikely, but it still gives you an idea of how many more games one team has the potential of playing.

On the other hand, this playoff format also means it is possible for one team to make the Wild Card Round, lose their first 2 games, and be done for the season.

Why Does Baseball Have So Many Games?

As a general rule, baseball has more games than other sports because it is a non-contact sport, which makes it less physically demanding than other sports. In addition, having a large sample size of games helps determine which players and teams are the best.

These are just two common reasons why a baseball season is so long. Read more about the 5 reasons why baseball has so many games.

Conclusion

To sum it all up, Major League Baseball teams normally play 162 games in a season. But if you factor in the potential for one less game, all the Spring Training games, a possible Game 163, and all of the playoff games, one team has the possibility of playing anywhere from 161 games to 213 games in a season.