Major League Baseball needs to go back to a 154-game schedule
Braves Ronald Acuna Jr.’s 2024 season ended prematurely on Sunday with another ACL tear. Acuna is only 26 years old but 2024 was his 7th Major League season. Writer Joe Posnanski pointed out that maybe Acuna playing 159 games in 185 days in 2023, all at a stratospheric level, was too much for a body, anybody, to bear.
Joe noted that former MLB pitcher Brandon McCarthy felt position players have always handled it, but pitchers would benefit from having to cover fewer games. With all the pitcher injuries this and every season, something’s gotta give right? Joe suggested a five-game a week 125-game season starting in early April and ending September 28th. That’s a better season span, but at 125 games total, it’s a bridge too far. Cutting more than 20% of the MLB schedule would disconnect baseball from its own history.
Where the 162-game schedule originated
Before expansion in 1961 MLB teams played 154-game schedule. Once there were 10 teams in the American League instead of eight, playing nine other teams (rather than seven), did not divide well over 154 games so the schedule was increased to 162 games. The National League still had eight teams in 1961 but added the Mets and Astros in 1962 to match the AL’s 10.
In the modern era, which began in 1901, from 1904–1960, the schedule for all MLB teams was 154 games*. In 1961, the birth of the 162-game season also brought the birth of the asterisk, which was attributed to (unfairly some feel), to Babe Ruth’s sometime ghostwriter and American League President Ford C. Frick after Yankee Roger Maris broke Ruth’s season home run record smashing 61 in 1961.That was also the first year there were 10 teams in the A.L., and the first year of the new 162-game schedule. It was Frick’s opinion that the move to 162 games was only temporary as he expected baseball to expand to 12 teams in each league ultimately moving the schedule back to 154 games.
*This does not include the pandemic year of 1918 when teams played about 125 games and the World Series was played in September.
When the MLB season was increased by eight games players, unsurprisingly, were not paid 5% more to accommodate the 5% increase in workdays. But team owners were rewarded with 5% more games to charge fans to watch their team play. This was when gate receipts were the primary revenue driver for MLB before selling broadcast rights became what it is today. The MLB player’s union was still non-existent with the MLBPA not being created until 1966.
Baseball owners could live just fine with a 154-game schedule
For years we’ve heard the drone that baseball owners would never give up the revenue driven from a schedule of 162 games vs. 154 games. But with the lion’s share of revenue coming from broadcast rights and licensing, eight additional games while important, would not be that great a sacrifice for the owners to make. Rob Manfred and the commissioner’s office are already down the road with the idea of adding even more postseason games which means even more revenue. A USA Today article last year was revealing. Manfred had noted when regarding annual games taking place in London in front of sellout crowds*, that going back to a 154-game season was a possibility. Making baseball a truly global sport would necessitate fewer games, not more.
“There are things that could be done in the schedule in order to create more window of an opportunity for play here,” commissioner Rob Manfred said, via the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “There’s been conversation over the years about 154 (games) as opposed to 162. That would be an easy alternative.”
*Next month the Mets and Phillies will play a two-game series in London June 8th and 9th.
A return to a 154-game schedule has a lot to offer. It should be noted that the big market teams like the Yankees, Mets, and Dodgers would suffer more than others in terms of lost revenues. But those teams can handle it better than all the other teams. It’s been discussed on and off in recent years and a 2018 Fangraphs article noted the overall loss of revenues would be 1% or less of total MLB revenues. It’s time to stop worrying about the money issue.
More off-days for players would be a good thing
Few professional sports have the grind that is MLB. If the start and the end of the season were to stay where they are — late March until early October, moving to a 154-game schedule would allow for one fewer game to be played by each team every three weeks. That would be in addition to the off days they have in the existing schedule. Or the season could start week later and end a week earlier. This would enable the playoffs to be expanded without having World Series games being played any later than they already are, which is into early November. Would baseball fans see a better product if that product was played out in fewer games? If it were to have an impact on reducing player injuries, then the answer is a resounding yes. All-time records would remain mostly compatible since baseball has a long history with a 154-game season.
Moving back to a 154-games season would engender grousing from fans and players who would note that breaking all-time season records would become more difficult. But Hack Wilson’s MLB record 191 RBIs in 1930 and Lou Gehrig’s AL record 185 RBIs in 1931 were accomplished in 154-game seasons. Gehrig did play in 155 games in 1931 — a season in which the Yankees somehow played to two ties. However, Barry Bonds’ 73-homer season would seem a bit safer. That’s not an important reason to keep the 162-game schedule. Changing to 154 games would be better for everyone and fans and most players would not miss the lost eight games.
Here’s what I wrote about the Mets this past week:
https://mlbreport.com/2024/05/baty-and-the-mets/
https://mlbreport.com/2024/05/greatest-mets-catchers-in-team-history/
https://mlbreport.com/2024/05/mets-players-that-might-be-on-the-move-before-seasons-end/
About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com.
