Major League Baseball
The Major League Baseball ( MLB), also briefly Major League, the baseball association, which organizes the sport of the two North American professional baseball leagues - the National League and the American League.
League structure
The National League consists of 15 U.S. teams and the American League from 14 U.S. teams and one Canadian team. Both leagues are each divided into three divisions. In the professional sports in the U.S., the mechanism of ascent and descent is unknown. The composition of the teams in a league and its divisions is fixed and is changed only by the participating organizations as required. This can affect the regional redistribution of teams to divisions or the inclusion of a new team. Some teams are in league history also moved, mostly from the East Coast to another part of the United States; thereby partially also a name change took place.
Currently, there are plans to expand and add two new franchise. On July 30, 2012, the following candidates were announced: Charlotte, New York, Portland, Sacramento, San Antonio and Vancouver. Were rejected: Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Las Vegas, Norfolk and Austin.
Game Mode
The MLB season is made up of the regular season and post-season, the postseason is disputed only by the eight most successful teams in the regular season. The winners of the six divisions as well as the best second- placed teams from the two leagues (see Wild Card ) playing after the regular season tournament, with the World Series, the final of the MLB, ends.
Regular season ( regular season )
The regular season begins in late March and early April and ends in late September or early October. Each team will play here 162 games.
Since the 2013 season, each league has 15 teams divided into three divisions of five teams. Thus, each team has 20 Interlague games, 66 inter- division games and 76 games within their own division.
For the Interlague games each division plays against a certain division of the other league, and four games against local rivals from the other league ( Division Independent ). In 2013 this was as follows:
The pairings of local rivals are as follows. The rivalries are mostly geographical origin ( Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, etc. ) these are also maintained. The other pairings change annually. For 2013, the pairings were as follows:
The following dispositions were made for the 2014 season:
Post Season ( play-offs )
With the end of the regular season after the first Sunday in October (or the last Sunday in September ), ten teams reach the postseason. Six teams as winners of the divisions of both leagues and two teams in each league play each other " wild card " in a play which. Participation in these wild-card games is the best statistics of the teams that were not division winner is determined. The winners of the two " wild cards" then take part with the six division winners at a quarterfinal with eight teams - the ( American League Division Series and National League Division Series). In a best- of-five series, the semi-finalists are determined.
The semi-finalists play each against league rivals for the title ( Pennant ) of the National and American League a best- of-seven series ( American League Championship Series and National League Championship Series ).
World Series
In October, the winner of each league meet for the finals of the World Series. This meeting was first held in 1903, at that time as best-of -nine series, instead. Today, the World Series will be played in a best- of-seven series.
Inter League Games
Until 1996, teams from the National League and the American could only meet in the World Series, since 1997, there are already in the regular season Inter League games. The designated hitter rule is like this in the World Series in American League stadiums for both teams for use in National League stadiums, however, for both teams not.
Differences in the rules of the game
The rules of the National League and the American League hardly differ. Main difference is the Designated Hitter rule that allows it in the American League, durable to use instead of the pitcher ( pitcher ) on the offensive player as a batter, the on the defensive has no tasks. In Inter League Games of the League is played each according to the rules to which it belongs, the host team.
Audience
In the 2009 season, an average of 30,300 spectators attended the games of major league in the regular season. The best average attendance had while the Los Angeles Dodgers with 46 440 visitors, tail light were the Oakland Athletics with 17,400 visitors per Match. The total number of audience was the more than 2,400 regular season games during the regular season at around 73 million. The average cost in the 2010 season, a ticket $ 26.74.
MLB Draft
As in the other North American leagues in hockey, basketball and American football hosted the MLB since 1965 an annual Draft, the MLB Draft, in which the largest junior talents can be selected by the MLB teams.
Meaning of Major League Baseball
Similarly, the respective importance of the NBA, NFL and NHL, Major League applies worldwide undisputed as the best for their sport professional league in the world. Goal of every ambitious professional player is a place at a major league team. Only the best players in the non-North American professional sports leagues can prevail in the major leagues. The most important of these leagues are from East Asia and the Caribbean, they are the Nippon Professional Baseball ( NPB) from Japan, the Korean Baseball Organization ( KBO ) of South Korea, the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol (LMB ) and the Liga Mexicana del Pacífico (LMP ) from Mexico, the Liga de Béisbol Profesional de Puerto Rico ( LBPPR ) from Puerto Rico, the league Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional ( LVBP ) from Venezuela, the series Nacional de Béisbol from Cuba, the Chinese Professional Baseball League ( CPBL ) in Taiwan and the Liga Dominicana de Béisbol Invernal ( LIDOM ) from the Dominican Republic.
History
National League and American League have existed since 1876 or 1899. Then you were not in sports, but in business competition and claimed both the status as the top American League. Since the introduction of the World Series (1903), who deny each of the winners of the two leagues, both leagues are considered equivalent and operate together since then as Major Leagues.
Internationalization
When the organizers of the Major Leagues is thinking about an internationalization of the league. In addition to the U.S. team take only the Toronto Blue Jays in part ( up to and including 2004, nor the Montreal Expos, who only fought out some home games in Puerto Rico due to lack of fans in 2003, before they were ultimately based in Washington DC).
Since 2001 individual games from publicity reasons already be held in Mexico or Japan. Thus took place the first game of the MLB season 2008 in Tokyo, for example. The extension of this promotion on Europe is being considered.
In the long run more teams are expected to participate outside the United States on game mode the Major Leagues. Mexico City is considered as the most promising candidate. The international division of the MLB, Major League Baseball International ( MLBI ) support, world junior programs for the promotion of the baseball sport. In Germany, these programs are carried out successfully since 1996 and come under the title " Play Ball! " On. In March 2006, the first time was an international tournament with the participation of MLB professional players, the World Baseball Classic, held. European participants were 2006 and 2009, the Netherlands and Italy. In the third tournament in 2013 also still Spain joined as the European representative.