Why is the Major League Baseball season so long?
It’s a question baseball fans have probably asked themselves, and each other, a few million times since the sport was first played well over 100 years ago.
But for the first time that I can remember, a major leaguer is questioning the length of the season, which — with the playoffs factored in — lasts more than seven months. And that doesn’t even include Spring Training.
During his weekly appearance on ESPN 1000 in Chicago, Cubs superstar first baseman Anthony Rizzo said: “I think we play too much baseball.”
He added, “In a perfect world, we’d start the season later and play a few scheduled doubleheaders going into an off day.”
I’d like to consider myself somewhat of a baseball purist, but I’ve been open to some rule changes over the years, ie: instant replay, the wild card playoff system, etc.
Are 162 games too much? Yes, especially when you compare baseball to other sports.
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The NHL and NBA have 82 game seasons. The NFL plays 16 games, while it’s 18 in the CFL. There are 34 games in the MLS season, 38 in England’s Premier League, and golfers on the PGA Tour can play up to 48 tournaments including a handful of unofficial events like the Ryder Cup.
Baseball is such a stat-driven league, more so than any other, and so shortening the season will have an impact on the game’s time-tested records.
But Rizzo isn’t just thinking about lightening the load for players, there is a big impact on fans.
Who wants to sit in a cold and virtually empty stadium in the middle of April?
It probably won’t ever happen, but I’d be interested to hear what team owners and the league think about it.
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