The closest a team could come to a 154 game season would be to play each of their 9 opponents 17 times, but that math only worked out to a 153 game season. So baseball decided to add 8 additional games to the season so one team could play all 9 of their opponents 18 times (9 opponents x 18 games = 162 games).
1541927 Major League Baseball season
colspan=“2”>1927 MLB season |
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Duration |
Number of games |
Number of teams |
colspan=“2”>Regular Season |
TIL: There are 6 players in MLB history to play 164 or more games in an MLB season.
The 2021 Atlanta Braves, who finished the regular season 88-73 (who only played 161 games because one of them got rained out and thankfully ended up being irrelevant) and had the lowest win total of any team in the 2021 Major League Baseball Postseason bracket, just won the World Series.
Seattle’s 116 wins in 2001 are tied with the 1906 Cubs for the most in a single season in baseball history. Chicago went 116-36 in 1906 and had a better winning percentage than the 2001 Mariners (. 763 vs. . 716), but 116 wins is the all-time record.
Team | League | Current Status |
---|---|---|
Buffalo Blues^ | FL | Defunct |
Newark Peppers | FL | Defunct |
Boston Braves^ | NL | Atlanta Braves |
St. Louis Browns^ | AL | Baltimore Orioles |
Any regular season MLB game in which an American League team is matched up against a National League team is considered interleague play. These games count towards official team and league records.
Babe RuthMLB Season History - 1919
colspan=“2”>HOME RUNS |
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1. Babe Ruth |
2. Gavvy Cravath |
3. Frank Baker |
4. Benny Kauff |
The Yankees won 110 games and lost 44 for a . 714 winning percentage in 1927, finishing 19 games ahead of the second place Philadelphia Athletics, then swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in four straight games in the World Series.
Several players have competed in 163 games during a regular season, but one has played in an MLB record 165 and another 164. Both of those feats were accomplished during the 1962 season. The Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants ended the season tied with the same record in the 10-team league.
As these tie-breaker games counted as part of the regular season and MLB teams have 162-game regular season schedules, the tie-breaker games were sometimes referred to as “Game 163”.
The season marked the opening of the new Busch Stadium in the footprint of the previous incarnation of Busch Stadium. The team only played 161 games in the regular season that year as an Astros loss to Atlanta in their final game made playing a final game unnecessary.
In 2021, the Atlanta Braves had an estimated value of 2.1 billion U.S. dollars.
The Atlanta Braves were sold by Time Warner (which had assumed control after the merger with Turner Broadcasting) to Liberty Media in 2007.
The Cincinnati Red Stockings made their mark as the first openly professional baseball club in 1869. Members of the team would go on to form a club that still plays ball today, the Atlanta Braves.
1994: Divisional Realignment and the Wild Card
With 14 teams in each league, both leagues switched to a three-division format in 1994, adding a Central Division in each league and realigning the East and West Divisions. In each league, the East and Central Divisions had 5 teams, while the West Division had 4 teams.
MLB’s expansion fee will undoubtedly be 10 figures. For the players, expanding to 32 teams would mean an additional 52 active MLB roster spots and an additional 80 40-man roster spots. It also means more minor-league affiliates and more opportunities.
1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings. The 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings are the only team to ever accomplish an undefeated season in baseball history with a record of 57-0.
1906 Chicago Cubs. The 1906 Chicago Cubs are the winningest single-season team in MLB history.
2001 Seattle Mariners.
The San Francisco Giants have the most overall wins (11,301), while the Tampa Bay Rays have the fewest (1,826). The Philadelphia Phillies have the most losses, with 11,112, while the Arizona Diamondbacks have the fewest, with 1,946.
The National League had eight original members: the Boston Red Stockings (now the Atlanta Braves), Chicago White Stockings (now the Chicago Cubs), Cincinnati Red Stockings, Hartford Dark Blues, Louisville Grays, Mutual of New York, Philadelphia Athletics and the St. Louis Brown Stockings.
States that have never had an official MLB team
These states are: Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
MLB and the MLB Players’ Association agreed to the more balanced schedule format as part of the new collective bargaining agreement. “The new balanced schedule will feature all 30 Clubs playing each other for at least one series in 2023,” MLB chief operations and strategy officer Chris Marinak said in a statement.
The number one reason a team elects to do a day-night doubleheader is cash. The day—night double header allows two games to be played in one day with the team still receiving two gates worth of cash. This is not possible in a back to back game since all the fans remain in the ball park during the break.
The new schedule will include 64 such games for each team, down from 66. Teams will play six games against six of their league opponents and seven games against four of their league opponents.