How Baseball Works
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The Major League Baseball season lasts from April 1 to September 30, with each team playing 162 games. That equates to one day off every ten days, making baseball a “game-a-day” sport. Teams often play “series” of three games on successive nights against the same opponent, either as a “homestand” of two or three series or as a “road trip” of two or three series. So a fan can expect a week of home games, followed by a week or so of nothing but Baseball on TV. If a match is “rained out,” it is generally rescheduled later in the season as a “double header” which means double games in a day.
Today, a doubleheader consists of one game in the afternoon and one in the evening (the “night cap”), which is very taxing on a pitching staff (since there is no time for recovery). In the past, doubleheaders were occasionally organized (for instance, on public holidays), giving spectators two games for the price. Nevertheless, in modern baseball, they sell individual tickets for each game. There is usually at least a couple of hours between games, not least to enable the first game’s audience to depart and the second game’s crowd to enter.
Most midweek games in contemporary baseball are played in the evening, under floodlights (to allow people to watch the game after work). In contrast, many weekend matches are enjoyed during the day.
American and National League
There are two “Major Leagues” in Major League Baseball: the American League (AL) and the National League (NL), each of which is divided into three divisions. Almost the bulk of the games played by clubs are within their league. However, a limited number of “interleague” games have been played since the late 1990s.
The Designated Hitter rule is the primary distinction between the American League and the National League (in use in the American League, so pitchers do not hit for themselves and are not used in the National League). When an National League team plays an AL steam, the standard Hitter rule applies only to matches played in the ballparks of the AL thus not matches played in NL ballparks.
Each team’s initial goal is to win their divisional title, and if that is not possible, to finish as the best runner-up in their league (the Wild Card). Suppose two clubs are deadlocked for a divisional title or a wild card position. In that case, a one-game playoff is held the day after the season finishes to decide the winner.
Conclusion
The start of Major League Baseball games is determined by the day of the week, the number of games in a series, holidays, and other variables. Because most games begin at 7 p.m. in the local time zone, there are more night games than day games, although baseball is typically played during the day. The purpose of more night baseball games is to draw more spectators to ballparks and watchers from home, as most fans are at work or school during the day. Except for Cubs’ home games, games are nearly entirely played at night on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays.
For more on baseball, read.
Who Holds The Record For Most Consecutive Games Played In Major League Baseball History? ‘
