As October ushers in autumn, Major League Baseball’s marathon 162-game, six-month, 30-team quest for supremacy has seen 20 of its membership fall by the wayside leaving their fans with only the annual recourse of the defeated ‘wait till next year.’ For the other ten teams that made it to the finish line with varying degrees of success, the marathon has turned into a sprint with teams hoping to find a way to win eleven more games (twelve if they are one of the four teams that received a provisional entry to post-season festivities via a one-game wild card invitation.)
Those two wild-card games begin the action Tuesday, and Wednesday, followed by five-game American and National League Divisional playoff matches, seven-game League Championship Series all leading to the World Series set to begin October 23 and concluded, if a full seven-game series is needed, appropriately on Halloween.

Recently, at the funeral for Tom O’Malley Sr., father of former Major League and Japanese Leaguer Tom O’Malley, the baseball theme that the family has long enjoyed was clearly evident. At one point in the service, the priest quoted Leo Durocher, the long-time MLB player, and manager. “Baseball is like church. Many attend, but few understand,” Durocher once uttered. While those in attendance chuckled, I couldn’t help but think just how true that statement is.

Now, in the midst of football season, the gridiron fan’s mindset goes thru a weekly evolution. By mid-week, their anticipation builds into a near fever-pitch by the weekend’s game time. Depending on the outcome of the game, there is instant celebration or a down-turned depression that lasts until the new week begins. Then it is ‘Monday morning quarterbacking time’ dissecting the ‘why-didn’t-they-do-its’ of their team’s play leading back to the anticipation of next weekend’s game.

The ten-game, twelve-game or 16-game journey of their favorite high school, college or professional team could perhaps be compared to a race car driver whose pedal-to-the-medal race to the finish line could be abruptly ended by a blown tire or spin out in a quarter turn. Its pace can be hectic.

By contrast, baseball is a more cerebral game, slower in pace, a daily companion that is always there for you to enjoy from the chill of early spring to the beauty of fall’s splendor. If your team loses today, there is always tomorrow to look forward to. Some may find it boring, but then there are those who regularly attend church and leave the edifice without understanding the game plan just delivered from the pulpit.

But as baseball fans look with anticipation to October’s championship month, the rules under which the playoffs are determined leave many wondering if they really understand the rationale behind it all.

The American and National Leagues each consist of 15 teams divided into three five-team divisions in each league. During the 162-game regular season, teams play what is referred to as an unbalanced schedule, meaning that each team plays the other four teams in their respective division more times than they do the other ten teams in their league. Consequently, teams play 76 games within their division (19 games against the other four teams), 66 games with the other ten teams in your league (either six or seven games) and 20 interleague games (rotated by playing four games against the five teams in a yearly selected division of the other league).

Fuzzy math? Yes.

For instance, the American League East Division is made up of the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays and the Baltimore Orioles. The Red Sox and Yankees are annual powerhouses that play each other 19 times. Seeing those teams play each other so often makes for some compelling games, but is it overkill? The Orioles probably think so as they have to play those two teams 38 times, or 23% of their entire season’s schedule and will finish an unheard of 60 games out of first place.

Playing in the same division, it is conceivable Tampa Bay could end up winning more games than the Cleveland Indians who ran away with the AL Central Division and find themselves with a distant third place finish.

Common sense and fair play would seem to indicate that if 30 teams are striving to win the same championship the road to the title game should be the same. A square peg can’t be fitted into a round hole, eliminating a truly balanced schedule where each team plays the others the same amount of time. As that would equate to 5.4 games against each other.

With 30 teams each having their own interests finding an equitable solution is nearly impossible with geographical balance, travel costs, established rivalries, gate revenues, and TV influence all part of a complicated equation. So sit back and enjoy the month-long chase for the championship. Indeed, millions will be watching with many questioning the process that evolved from March to October.