![\"WhgbHlSq\"](\"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/wp-content\/WhgbHlSq.jpg\" "\\"WhgbHlSq\\"")
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s incredible when you think about it.\u00c2\u00a0 Teams in MLB play 162 games each, which should give ample opportunity to provide us with eight clear postseason clubs.\u00c2\u00a0 And yet every year, there are always several races that go right down to the wire.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
The teams go through their 162 game (sometimes more) marathon with the aim of \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcplaying in October\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.\u00c2\u00a0 The thing is, nowadays every team plays in October.<\/p>\n
Even the Pittsburgh Pirates.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcOctober\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 is no longer interchangeable with the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcpostseason\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. Not only does the regular season now extend past September, the World Series can extend into November as well.\u00c2\u00a0 That final point is something that MLB Commissioner Bud Selig has often expressed reservations about and now he is going to do something about it.<\/p>\n
The provisional 2011 regular season schedule has been released<\/a> and finally MLB has listened to the players and shortened Spring Training.\u00c2\u00a0 Not by much, only a few days in fact, but the end result is that the season will be completed in September and the World Series will be played one week earlier.\u00c2\u00a0 The hunt for October will once again be everybody\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s true primary target.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/p>\n In recent years, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve become accustomed to having a marquee season opener on Sunday night, courtesy of ESPN, and then watching most of the teams beginning their season on Monday.\u00c2\u00a0 Typically that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s meant baseball fans in Britain needing to take Monday and\/or Tuesday off work to enjoy all the action. However, next year there will be five opening games on Thursday 31 March, followed by the rest of the teams on Friday 1 April.\u00c2\u00a0 From a North American point of view, I could imagine that being a bit of a nuisance: Thursday is an odd day for a big season opener.\u00c2\u00a0 From a British point of view, it could actually work out very nicely.\u00c2\u00a0 Book the Friday off and you can enjoy a long weekend to celebrate the new season beginning.<\/p>\n The one potential complication with this plan is that the regular season might have already begun by 31 March.\u00c2\u00a0 Provisionally the San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks are planning to play two games in Taiwan sometime in late March (presumably early enough to give the teams a couple of days to recover before starting their Stateside season).\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n