During Monday’s Bumper to Bumper Sports with Ben Love, we were asked about why the season is 162 games long in Major League Baseball. After major research (i.e. Google), we figured out why.
According to baseball historian John Thorn, the reason why the season is 162 games a year all comes down to math. All the way back in the 1920s, the two leagues only had eight teams each, so each of these teams would have seven “rival” teams and they would face off 20 times a season to make it an even 140. Around this time the number of times each team would face off increased to 22 times to make it 154 games.
Fast forward to 1961 and the league begins to expand and because of this the 154 game season didn’t make sense in terms of math. If the old rule of 22 games against a rival kept going, then it would be a 198-game season! Thankfully, the decision was made to make it 18 games per rival for nine rivals and that added up to the 162 games we know all too well.
Do you think the season should be shorter? Would that make baseball a lot better?
-Clint Domingue