The Major League Baseball regular season is composed of 162 games played during the year against the 30 teams in the league.
Since 1903, MLB has been divided into two leagues, the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). Both leagues signed a national agreement in 1903 to be combined under the MLB banner and start a championship title game known as the World Series, which has the best team of the AL face the best team from the NL.
While MLB has changed a lot over the years, with more teams and games being played now than back in 1903, it has still been a pastime sport that all Americans love and enjoy to this day.
American League
The AL has 15 teams divided into three divisions, each having five teams in those divisions. The three divisions in the AL are the East, Central, and West divisions.
The New York Yankees have won the most AL Pennants in history out of all the AL teams with 40.
Only five teams have the chance to make it to the MLB playoffs and an AL Pennant after the regular season is completed.
One team from each division with the best record will make the MLB playoffs, while two additional teams that have the best record but didn’t win their division will play against each other in a one-game elimination match in the MLB playoffs.
The winner of the AL playoff bracket will win the AL Pennant and have a spot in the World Series.
National League
The NL has 15 teams divided into three divisions, each having five teams in those divisions. The three divisions in the NL are the East, Central, and West divisions.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have won the most NL Pennants in history out of all the NL teams with 24. Only five teams have the chance to make it to the MLB playoffs and an NL Pennant after the regular season is completed.
One team from each division with the best record will make the MLB playoffs, while two additional teams that have the best record but didn’t win their division will play against each other in a one-game elimination match in the MLB playoffs.
The winner of the AL playoff bracket will win the NL Pennant and have a spot in the World Series.
MLB World Series
Baseball’s championship game, the World Series, puts the best of the AL against the best of the NL in a best-out-of-seven series.
When the World Series first began in 1903, the World Series was a best out of nine series between the best AL and NL teams.
The format would go to seven in 1905; the two teams set to play the 1904 World Series never played due to the NL champion New York Giants’ refusal to play the game.
The World Series would go back to a best-out-of-nine format for three years from 1919 to 1921 before returning to the best-out-of-seven format in 1922.
MLB All-Star Game
MLB baseball has what is known as the All-Star game midway through the baseball season.
The game puts the best players from AL teams against the best players from teams in the NL in a one-game matchup.
The game was thought to have lost its luster during the 2000s, which prompted MLB Commissioner Bud Selig to raise the stakes for the game.
Starting in 2003, the winning league of the All-Star game would receive home-field advantage for the World Series, a move that was seen to help bring a competitive spirit back to the All-Star game.