MLB is the longest-game league among any sort of sport. Each team plays a lot of games in regular seasons. But how many games in the MLB season? Here’s the answer.
In the MLB regular season, each team plays 162 games. A total of 30 teams play in MLB. The total number of games stands at 2,430. Aside from these, there are games in the postseason.
In this guide on how many games in the MLB season, I will talk about the number of games in different stages and situations. To know more about the MLB game number, let’s dive deeper.
How Many Games in the MLB Season? The Regular One
How many games played in an MLB season are related to many things. Here, things include the regular season, the number of games for each team, the postseason, etc.
By the way, how many games in the MLB season indicates the number of games in the regular season. Though all other games are not counted as regular MLB games, I will also talk about them in detail as well.
Here, I will talk about every aspect of the MLB season game played, which will help you to get insight into the game numbers in the MLB season.
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How Many Games Are in the MLB Regular Season?
In the regular MLB season, there are 162 games for each team. Please don’t be confused. I mean 162 games for each team, not the total games of the regular season.
By the way, the total of games in the MLB regular season stands at 2,430. This is a long journey, no doubt.
The MLB regular season starts in late March or early April. The season lasts till late September or early November.
Some new fans may be confused with the total number of games. They think if each team plays 162 games, then how come the total number of games can be 2,430?
But it’s not that complex. Because each team must face the others. So, if you multiply 162 by 30 teams, the total number is 4,860. Now, you have to divide the number by 30, and you will get 2,430 games.
However, you may ask why such a calculation. It’s actually I face such fellow fans who are confused about this simple calculation. That is why I mentioned it.
How Many Innings in an MLB Regular Season?
Do you like to be more thrilled by knowing another fascinating thing? Think about the total innings in the MLB regular season. How many innings are there?
There are an average of 9 innings in an MLB game. So, if you multiply 2,430 by 9, you will get 21,870 innings in a single MLB season. Mad thing!
Note: These calculations are about the MLB regular season. Also, the number of games can be increased or decreased for various reasons, which I will discuss later.
Also, the number of innings of the game can also be increased or decreased. So, this is the theoretical official calculation. But if the situation changes due to any particular reason, the number of games and innings will be changed.
How Many Home Games in an MLB Season?
For the regular season, the number of home games for the home team is 81. That means equal games in the home ballpark and in the away.
The number of games might be changed if you count other games in the postseason and the preseason. But these numbers aren’t uniform and will be changed every year.
Why Does the Number of Games Increase and Decrease in the MLB Regular Season?
The main reason for decreasing number of games in the MLB season is the weather. So, how does bad weather impact the number of games?
Still, there are many baseball ballparks that have no roofs, whereas there are only 7 MLB Stadiums With Retractable Roofs. So, most games are played that don’t have retractable roofs.
So, it may rain, and the match washes out. Also, it may be a doubleheader, and a doubleheader can also be washed out due to rain. On the other hand, the team may not have a schedule to make up the games.
As a result, the number of matches can decrease.
On the other hand, the opposite also happens, and the season lengthens. Let me explain the reason here.
After each team played 162 games, there might be two teams tied in the statistics to go to the postseason. In this situation, the two teams that are in tied positions must play a tiebreaker game.
By the way, this is a single-game situation. The team that wins the match will go to the postseason. Moreover, this is the only situation when the season gets extended once.
Why Are So Many Games in the MLB Season?
As of now, you should have understood that there are so many games in the MLB regular season. But what makes so many games in a single season?
First and foremost, this is the tradition. You may see many people explain in various ways, but ultimately, this is the tradition of MLB.
By the way, aside from tradition, there are also underlying reasons as well.
A long season helps to keep them in practice and get more statistical career data. Also, the teams who will be qualifying for the postseason also get opportunities to stick with the games.
As a result, they can show their highest potential in the postseason. Otherwise, a long break in the games will hamper the performance in the postseason.
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How Many Games in the MLB Spring Training Season?
Now, let’s talk about the games that are not counted as regular games in the MLB season. Before and after, there are games in Spring Training, All-Star Games, and games in the postseason.
By the way, before the teams get into the MLB regular season, teams participate in the MLB Spring Training games. The training season starts in late February and lasts till the end of March or early April.
However, each team plays around 30 preseason games in the Spring training season. Though the games can be more or less, ultimately, there are almost a total of 450 preseason games taking place.
The purpose of the Spring Training season is to practice for the regular season. Here, the coaches can test the new players in their potential positions.
This helps them to pick among the new players in the regular games. On the other hand, the established players can get back in the game and continue their practices for the regular games.
How Many Games in the All-Star Game?
The All-Star Game is held annually on the second or third Tuesday in July. The regular season gets a break for the game.
There is only one game held in the All-Star Game. The top players from both leagues (AL and NL) participate in the game. There are no regular season games scheduled from the day before the game through the two days after the game.
The last annual game in 2023 is already held on July 11 in the T-Mobile Park, Seattle, Washington. The next year’s game is scheduled for July 16, 2024, in the Globe Life Field, Arlington, Texas.
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How Many Games in the Postseason?
With the latest format of the MLB postseason, 53 postseason games can be played. On the other hand, the lowest number of games can’t be less than 32 games.
Have you become puzzled with the calculation? Then, let me explain the postseason format well. Now please, give proper attention. This is something complex to understand. If you don’t give proper attention, you will be confused about the number of games.
From the 2022 season, there are 12 teams that are qualified for the postseason playoff. 6 teams from each league (AL and NL). They are given seed numbers from No. 1 Seed to No. 6 Seed.
By the way, the postseason games are also not counted as regular MLB games. The postseason is divided into four series. They are as follows.
Consult the following image to understand the format of the MLB postseason playoff before knowing the format in detail with game numbers.
1. Wild Card Series (WCS)
The Wild Card Series is the opening round of the MLB postseason. From the 2022 MLB season, the Wild Card single-game elimination is eliminated from the postseason. Instead of the single-game elimination in the Wild Card Series, it became the best-of-three Wild Card Series.
There are four (4) Wild Card Series in the postseason. Two for the American League, which is called the American League Wild Card Series or ALWCS. On the other hand, the other two WCS are called the National League Wild Card Series.
Since the 2022 season, the postseason has been allowing 12 games for the playoff, and the format of the series has changed. To understand better, here is the list of the teams with how they seeded is mentioned below.
The seed format below is applied in both the American League and the National League.
- No. 1 seed: Best league record
- No. 2 seed: Second-best division winner
- No. 3 seed: Third-best division winner
- No. 4 seed: Best record among Wild Card teams
- No. 5 seed: Second-best record among Wild Card teams
- No. 6 seed: Third-best record among Wild Card teams
Seed 1 and seed 2 will be directly bye (qualified) for the Division Series. On the other hand, the Wild Card Series will be held between Seed 3 and Seed 6.
On the other hand, Seed 4 will play against Seed 5. This will happen for each league (Al and NL). There will be best-of-three games in each Wild Card Series in each league. To qualify for the Division Series, a team must win two games in the best-of-three.
So, the number of WCS is 4 here for both leagues.
By the way, there will be 3 games in each series. If both teams win in two consecutive games, this match will be played between them. But if a team in one series wins two consecutive games, the third game won’t be played.
So, the game’s number in the Wild Card Series can be anything between 8 and 12.
2. Division Series (DS)
Like the Wild Card Series, there are also 4 series in the Division Series. The Division Series is a best-of-five series where a team must win 3 games to qualify for the league championship.
The Division Series is named the American League Division Series (ALDS) for AL and the National League Division Series (NLDS) for NL.
Every series has 5 games, so the total number of games is 20. Like the previous one, here, the number of games can be reduced if any team wins a consecutive 3 games out of 5.
By the way, the Division Series is called the Quarter Final of the postseason.
3. League Championship Series (LCS)
The League Championship is the semifinal of the postseason. There are two LCS series for two leagues. One is for the American League Championship Series (ALCS), and one is for the National League Championship Series (NLCS). The series is formatted best-of-seven. Here, two leagues consist of 14 games.
Like other series, the game can be reduced if any team wins 4 consecutive games or four games before the last match.
4. World Series (WS)
Here comes the final championship of the MLB season. In the World Series, the game is formatted like the LCS, best-of-seven.
The two teams win the series in the ALCS, and NLCS play against each other. Since this is the last and a single series, there are a maximum of 7 games here.
Also, the games can be reduced as well. By the way, the winner of the final best-of-seven is the World Series Champion, and they are awarded the Commissioner’s Trophy.
Wrapping Up
So, how many games are in the MLB season? Each team plays 162 games, and there are a total of 2,430 games in the regular season. The number of games can be more or less.
However, the games in the preseason and postseason aren’t counted as regular games. Though the postseason isn’t counted as the regular games, the World Series Champion is determined by playing the final playoff in the World Series final.
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Hello everyone. My name is Jason Butler, and I live in California, America. I was a professional AAA Minor League Baseball player. I lost my chance of playing MLB for injury issues, but I did not lose my love for baseball. I attended the coaching training program and am now working as a coach in a small school in San Diego.
I always love to share my experience and knowledge if that can help you. Play baseball, and stay fit.