Out of America’s big 4 sports, the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL, the MLB has the longest season by a mile. Each team plays 162 games over a 7 month span from March to November. The NBA and NHL are tied for second place with a mere 82 games.
Many people think the season is too long and there is no need to have 162 games. The MLB has even made new rules in the past few years to shorten the length of the games. When you look at it from the big picture, 162 games seems like overkill, but when you dive deeper, you start to realize why it’s necessary.
Baseball relies heavily on stats, which gets players their crazy expensive contracts, and shows just how good they really are. If you had a batting average of .300, which means you got a hit 3 out of 10 times in the MLB, you would be considered one of the best hitters in the game, but if you only hit .270, it would be a completely different story. Roberto Clemente hit .317 in his career and is in 66th place all time for batting average, while Cal Ripken Jr. hit .275 and is in 821st place.
If you only look at the numbers, you would think that Clemente was a much better hitter because he hit over .300 on average his whole career, while that might not be the case.
The difference between .275 and .300 is only about one more hit per week. The mental side of the game and being able to scrape out one more hit per week over a 7 month season is what really sets the players apart. Without the marathon of a season, you don’t get to see who can consistently perform over a long period of time.
There are about 2,000 games played between opening day and the start of the playoffs, which means there is no way you can watch all of the games, let alone all of your favorite teams’ games. I think this is a good thing though.
The beauty of a long season is it doesn’t put pressure on you to watch. Missing a game is never a big deal, as there is always one tomorrow. A casual fan can tune in once a week and still feel connected and tuned into the season, while an obsessive fan can watch everyday and enjoy themselves that way.
The long schedule also means individual games carry less weight, so a bad week doesn’t sink a team’s whole year — great teams prove themselves over time, and hot streaks and slumps naturally even out. By October, the teams left standing have genuinely earned it. Baseball fits into your life on your own terms, and that’s what makes the long schedule one of the sport’s greatest strengths.
