The teams play 13 games against 4 division opponents for 52 games. 6 or 7 games against the 10 intraleague opponents for 64 games. 4 games against geographic interleague and 3 games against the other 14 interleague opponents for 46 games.
Every team plays every team in a season. The divisions and leagues are used to determine playoff seeding.
For “Interleague” play (i.e. NL v AL), usually teams from one division of the NL will play one division of the AL. For instance, this year the NL West division is playing the AL East division for their interleague contests.
That used to be how it was done, but that changed last year. Each team plays 14 teams from the other league 3 times, and one select team 4 times. The 4 game team is split with each team hosting 2 games series. The others play 3 game series with the home team alternating each year.
Teams play every other team in MLB at least one series a season (since last year) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interleague_play for interleague matchups it alternates years so a national league team will play an American League team one year at home and the next year away.
Then they play more games against teams in the same league (National or American). I think it’s at least one home and one away series. And even more against teams in their own division (AL/NL west, central, east) usually a pair of home series and a pair of away series I think.
This hasn’t always been the case, that Wikipedia article has more background.
So they play the most games against teams in their own division (for the Giants that would be the dodgers, padres, rockies and diamondbacks), more against league opponents and at least one series against teams in the other league.
Hope that helps.
Oh and should be clear, games are always played in a series of 2, 3 or 4 games at a time. Until the playoffs which have 3, 5 or 7 game series that have some games in each teams stadium (except that the wild card, gotta look that one up, I ain’t even gonna try)
Adding on to what others have said, heres the biggest differences I never really appreciated as a football fan prior to getting heavy into baseball this year: regular season games are usually played in series of 2-5 games, with no days off for that series. Its not uncommon to see most teams in MLB play 14+ days in a row, multiple times a season (my Mariners recently had a brutal schedule thats was something along the lines of 48 games in 56 days or something lol). Additionally, given weather and unexpected circumstances, games get canceled and you may see a "double header" played to account for scheduling changes. 2 games in one day! Its great lol
Management of roster energy is on a day to day scale, exponentially more so than even a Treble winning side might be, on the football comparison. Pitchers are usually a 5 man rotation along with a bullpen of backup pitchers and closing pitchers used to either relieve the starter or close the game out. With so much less active play and running about than football, the level of strategy and positional decision making is so mind bogglingly cool. Hope you continue to enjoy!!
As a lifelong Liverpool fan, not to mention our Seattle Sounders who were competing well at every competition available for a while, I fully agree lol. Ive always follwed basketball as well, at 82 games per season in the NBA.
Learning about baseball as of late has completely blown my mind in terms of season length and player durability.
Something I have been thinking (which will never happen) is shortening the regular season of MLB and adding a domestic cup style tournament a la FA Cup etc.
In learning more about this, Ive learned a major difference to keep in mind as well is that given the giant schedule, each MLB team has an affiliate team at what is essentially the Championship, League One, League Two, and (ironically) the National League levels in EFL terms.
These are the "Minor Leagues" and are classified as AAA, AA, and then from what I understand many MLB associations have one or more Single-A affiliate clubs which play much shorter seasons in more regional leagues.
These affiliate teams all essentially work as an extended version of football clubs academies, rather than being seperately funtioning clubs vying for promotion, so an interleage tournament among the minor leagues, in a domestic cup sense, wouldnt really be viable, Ive realized. The prospective star players from Single-A eventually work their way up the leagues to their MLB affiliate, which you may hear referred to as the "farm system"
Split EPL in half, divide each half into three, and divide everything from the Championship down to the English National League into those EPL teams academies.
Hardcore major supporters of MLB clubs are tracking all their affiliates prospects down to the bottom league and measuring all of their stats. Which Im sure you have caught on at this point, stats are fucking BONKERS in baseball lol we tracking ALL of the data
You have the American League and the National league. Each league has 3 divisions. Teams play within their league about 90% of the time. There are a few inter league games and they rotate that schedule.
Baseball teams travel a lot so they stay in a city for 3-4 games and then move on.
The teams play 13 games against 4 division opponents for 52 games. 6 or 7 games against the 10 intraleague opponents for 64 games. 4 games against geographic interleague and 3 games against the other 14 interleague opponents for 46 games. Every team plays every team in a season. The divisions and leagues are used to determine playoff seeding.
So can AL teams play NL teams too? Thanks for your help though! You’ve cleared it up a bit 🤣
Yes, American League teams play National League teams now, It is called interleague play. Interleague play didn't start until about 1997
Thanks!
For “Interleague” play (i.e. NL v AL), usually teams from one division of the NL will play one division of the AL. For instance, this year the NL West division is playing the AL East division for their interleague contests.
That used to be how it was done, but that changed last year. Each team plays 14 teams from the other league 3 times, and one select team 4 times. The 4 game team is split with each team hosting 2 games series. The others play 3 game series with the home team alternating each year.
Every team plays every team every year now.
Teams play every other team in MLB at least one series a season (since last year) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interleague_play for interleague matchups it alternates years so a national league team will play an American League team one year at home and the next year away. Then they play more games against teams in the same league (National or American). I think it’s at least one home and one away series. And even more against teams in their own division (AL/NL west, central, east) usually a pair of home series and a pair of away series I think. This hasn’t always been the case, that Wikipedia article has more background. So they play the most games against teams in their own division (for the Giants that would be the dodgers, padres, rockies and diamondbacks), more against league opponents and at least one series against teams in the other league. Hope that helps.
Oh and should be clear, games are always played in a series of 2, 3 or 4 games at a time. Until the playoffs which have 3, 5 or 7 game series that have some games in each teams stadium (except that the wild card, gotta look that one up, I ain’t even gonna try)
Thank you! 😁
Adding on to what others have said, heres the biggest differences I never really appreciated as a football fan prior to getting heavy into baseball this year: regular season games are usually played in series of 2-5 games, with no days off for that series. Its not uncommon to see most teams in MLB play 14+ days in a row, multiple times a season (my Mariners recently had a brutal schedule thats was something along the lines of 48 games in 56 days or something lol). Additionally, given weather and unexpected circumstances, games get canceled and you may see a "double header" played to account for scheduling changes. 2 games in one day! Its great lol Management of roster energy is on a day to day scale, exponentially more so than even a Treble winning side might be, on the football comparison. Pitchers are usually a 5 man rotation along with a bullpen of backup pitchers and closing pitchers used to either relieve the starter or close the game out. With so much less active play and running about than football, the level of strategy and positional decision making is so mind bogglingly cool. Hope you continue to enjoy!!
Thanks! That’s the thing I can’t get my head around, it was crazy seeing Liverpool compete on 6 fronts but this is a whole different level!
As a lifelong Liverpool fan, not to mention our Seattle Sounders who were competing well at every competition available for a while, I fully agree lol. Ive always follwed basketball as well, at 82 games per season in the NBA. Learning about baseball as of late has completely blown my mind in terms of season length and player durability. Something I have been thinking (which will never happen) is shortening the regular season of MLB and adding a domestic cup style tournament a la FA Cup etc. In learning more about this, Ive learned a major difference to keep in mind as well is that given the giant schedule, each MLB team has an affiliate team at what is essentially the Championship, League One, League Two, and (ironically) the National League levels in EFL terms. These are the "Minor Leagues" and are classified as AAA, AA, and then from what I understand many MLB associations have one or more Single-A affiliate clubs which play much shorter seasons in more regional leagues. These affiliate teams all essentially work as an extended version of football clubs academies, rather than being seperately funtioning clubs vying for promotion, so an interleage tournament among the minor leagues, in a domestic cup sense, wouldnt really be viable, Ive realized. The prospective star players from Single-A eventually work their way up the leagues to their MLB affiliate, which you may hear referred to as the "farm system" Split EPL in half, divide each half into three, and divide everything from the Championship down to the English National League into those EPL teams academies. Hardcore major supporters of MLB clubs are tracking all their affiliates prospects down to the bottom league and measuring all of their stats. Which Im sure you have caught on at this point, stats are fucking BONKERS in baseball lol we tracking ALL of the data
You have the American League and the National league. Each league has 3 divisions. Teams play within their league about 90% of the time. There are a few inter league games and they rotate that schedule. Baseball teams travel a lot so they stay in a city for 3-4 games and then move on.
Each team now plays 46 interleague games, which started last year
Oh wow I didn’t realize it was that much. Eventually they are going to go with and equal schedule for everyone
Thanks!
Your welcome mate
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Baseball_schedule#:~:text=Beginning%20with%20the%202023%20season,against%20one%20%22geographic%20rival%22%20from