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MLB Season Structure: 162 Games to the World Series
A season-long map of baseball: 162 regular-season games, six division winners, six wild cards and a postseason that ends in October.
Baseball has the longest regular season of the major US sports, so the way it is organized matters if you want to follow a pennant race.
The regular season
Each of the 30 clubs plays 162 games, beginning in late March or early April and finishing at the end of September. Teams play on most days, usually in series of two to four games against the same opponent.
Leagues and divisions
The American League and National League each have 15 teams split into East, Central and West divisions of five. Teams play the most games against their own division, but also face every club from the other league during the year.
Who makes the postseason
- Three division winners from each league.
- Three wild card teams from each league, which are the best records among non-winners.
- That makes 12 teams in total.
The playoff rounds
- Wild Card Series: best-of-three; the top two division winners in each league get a bye.
- Division Series: best-of-five.
- League Championship Series: best-of-seven, deciding each league's pennant.
- World Series: best-of-seven between the American and National League champions.
Reading a baseball score
Baseball games are divided into nine innings rather than timed periods. If the score is tied after nine, extra innings continue until one team leads at the end of a complete inning. On LiveNFLTV, each MLB game page shows a line score with runs, hits and errors by inning.