Buzz
This week, Major League Baseball revealed the schedule for the 2015 season. You might have noticed that it now starts and ends later than usual, but the 162-game format is still intact, just as it has been for years. But why exactly did MLB settle on this seemingly random number?
To understand this, we have to go back to 1920. While baseball existed before that, it was during this year that both the National and American Leagues agreed on a season length that would remain unchanged for over four decades. At that time, the math was simple: two leagues with eight teams each—there were no divisions—meant each team faced seven opponents. For a few years, teams played each rival 20 times, resulting in a 140-game season. In 1920, this was increased to 22 games against each of the seven rivals, split evenly between home and away, leading to a 154-game season.
Then came the league expansions. In 1961, the American League added the Los Angeles Angels and the Washington Senators. The following year, the National League introduced the New York Mets and the Houston Colt .45's. "After the first expansion, each team had nine rivals instead of seven, and the 154-game season didn’t add up," says MLB historian John Thorn. To face each rival 22 times would have required a 198-game season, so MLB decided on 18 games against each of the nine rivals, which resulted in 162 games.
(Thorn clarifies that in 1961, when the AL had expanded but the NL had not, the two leagues played seasons of different lengths. "Both World Series teams began their seasons on April 11 and finished on October 1," he explains. "The NL had more days off.")
Since then, the season has remained 162 games, though keeping it that way hasn't always been easy. "Even with further expansions, 162 became the de facto standard, and you had to get increasingly creative mathematically to maintain it," Thorn explains. "So, when we introduced two 6-team divisions per league in 1969, the—I believe brilliant—solution was to schedule more games against division rivals, which allowed the 162-game season to remain intact."
The creation of a third division in each league in 1994, the introduction of interleague play in 1997, the addition of the 30th team in 1998, and the recent realignment of the leagues, which led to permanent interleague games last season, have all made scheduling more complex. Yet, through it all, the season has remained a consistent 162 games.
Currently, teams play 76 games against division rivals, 66 against non-division league teams, and 20 interleague games, totaling 162 games. It works, though it feels somewhat arbitrary. The main reason for sticking to 162 games is simply the difficulty of making a change.
"No one wants to sacrifice home games," Thorn points out. "So, if we cut the season to 158 games, each team would have to forgo two home games, resulting in a loss of revenue." A longer season would mean the World Series would end even later in the year, and unless teams agreed to play in warmer, neutral locations—unlikely, given the potential revenue loss from ticket sales—this could lead to very cold weather for the championship games.
It's not just the complex logistics that have kept the season length the same (though considering the challenge of the MLB Players Association and team owners ever agreeing to add or remove a game, that might explain it on its own). Baseball, at its core, is a game of nostalgia. "Baseball is a religion," Thorn states. "It becomes the 11th commandment: 162 games."
