Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball.

Specifically, MLB refers to the organization that operates the National League and the American League, by means of a joint organizational structure that has developed gradually between them since 1903.

It is currently composed of 30 teams - 29 in the US and 1 in Canada.

Each season consists of 162 games (with an additional game, or games, in case of a tie breaker needed to determine playoff participation), which generally begins on the 1st Sunday in APR and ends on the 1st Sunday in OCT, with the playoffs played in OCT and sometimes in early NOV.

The same rules and regulations are played between the 2 leagues with one exception: the American League operates under the Designated Hitter Rule, while the National League does not.

Utilization of the DH Rule in interleague play, the All-Star and World Series games is determined by the home teams league rules.

Under the direction of Commissioner of Baseball, MLB hires and maintains the sports umpiring crews, and negotiates marketing, labor, and television contracts.

MLB maintains a unique, controlling relationship over the sport, including most aspects of minor league baseball.

The production/multimedia wing of MLB is New York-based MLB Advanced Media, which oversees MLB.com and all 30 of the individual teams websites.

MLB is divided into 2 leagues, the American League, with 14 teams, and the National League, with 16 teams. Each league is further subdivided into 3 divisions, labeled East, Central, and West.

In 1903, the 2 leagues began to meet in an end-of-year championship series called the World Series.


A baseball uniform is a type of uniform worn by baseball players, and sometimes by non-playing personnel, such as managers and coaches.

By the end of the 19th century, teams began the practice of wearing one of 2 different uniforms, one when they played in their own baseball stadium and a different one when they played on the road.

Spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season.

Early July marks the midway point of the season, during which a 3 day break is taken when the MLB All-Star Game is staged.

The All-Star game pits players from the National League (NL), headed up by the manager of the previous NL World Series team, against players from the American League (AL), similarly managed, in an exhibition game.


When the regular season ends after the first SUN in OCT (or the last SUN in SEP), 8 teams enter the post-season playoffs.

6 teams are division champions; the remaining 2 wild-card spots are filled by the team in each league that has the best record but is not a division champion (best second-place team).



3 rounds of series of games are played to determine the champion:

1. AL Division Series and NL Division Series, each a best-of-5 game series;
2. AL Championship Series and NL Championship Series, each a best-of-7 game series played between the surviving teams from the ALDS and NLDS; and
3. World Series, a best-of-7 game series played between the champions of each league.


MLB has several blackout rules. A local broadcaster has priority to televise games of the team in their market over national broadcasters.



Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between 2 teams of 9 players each.

The goal is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of 4 bases arranged at the corners of a 90-foot square, or diamond.

Players on one team (the batting team) take turns hitting against the pitcher of the other team (the fielding team), which tries to stop them from scoring runs by getting hitters out in any of several ways.

A player on the batting team can stop at any of the bases and later advance via a teammates hit or other means.

The teams switch between batting and fielding whenever the fielding team records 3 outs.

One turn at bat for each team constitutes an inning; 9 innings make up a professional game. The team with the most runs at the end of the game wins.

This game and the related rounders were brought by British and Irish immigrants to North America, where the modern version of baseball developed.


Baseball on the professional, amateur, and youth levels is now popular in North America, parts of Central and South America and the Caribbean, and parts of East Asia.

The game is sometimes referred to as hardball, in contrast to the derivative game of softball.


Each top-level team has a farm system of one or more minor league teams. These teams allow younger players to develop as they gain on-field experience against opponents with similar levels of skill.



In the first World Series, played in 1903, the Boston Pilgrims (AL) defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates (NL).

In World Series play, the AL holds a decided advantage, having won 58 championships to the NLs 41.

The first All-Star game was held in Chicagos Comiskey Park in 1933 as a means for baseball to showcase its star players.

Over the years, the NL has won 49 All-Star games and the AL has won 31.

Unfortunately, the 2002 game ended in a tie, the lone time that has happened in All-Star history.


During World Series play and inter-league play, where AL and NL teams play each other, the rules of the home team apply.


Nationals Park is the current ballpark for the Washington Nationals of MLB.

It is the first LEED-certified green major professional sports stadium in the US.

The facility hosted the 2008 seasons first game (in North America), when the Nats took on the Atlanta Braves on March 30, 2008.


The first game played there was a collegiate baseball game.

The ballpark, designed by Populous (formerly HOK Sport) and Devrouax and Purnell Architects and Planners, seats 41,888 fans and cost $611 million to build. The Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol building are visible from certain areas of the stadium.

The parks name echoes the original name of the early-1900s ballpark used by the Washington Senators/Nationals, which was called National Park until it was rebuilt and renamed Griffith Stadium.



The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.,. The Nationals are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseballs National League.

The team moved into the newly-built Nationals Park in 2008, after playing their first 3 seasons in RFK Stadium.


The Nationals name originates from the two former Washington baseball teams who held the same name (used interchangeably with Senators). They are nicknamed the Nats, a shortened version of the Nationals name that was also used by the old D.C. teams.


The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. The Mets are a member of the East Division of Major League Baseballs National League.

The Mets were founded as an expansion franchise in 1960 and began play in 1962.

The club came into existence as a replacement for New Yorks 2 previous National League teams, the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants, who relocated to California following the 1957 season.


In organized baseball, several people help the game run smoothly. They include managers, coaches, and umpires.

The visiting team always bats first, or at the top of the inning, while the home team takes the field.


Baseball is played on a level field, which usually covers about 2 acres (0.8 hectares).

The playing area is divided into the infield and the outfield. Together, these 2 areas make up fair territory. The rest of the field is called foul territory.

One corner of the diamond is marked by a 5-sided piece of rubber called home plate.

At the 3 other corners of the infield - moving counterclockwise from home plate - are 1st base, 2nd base, and 3rd base. Each base is marked with a canvas bag


MLB

Sport : Baseball
Founded : 1876
No. of teams : 30
Country(ies) : US and Canada
Most recent champion(s) :
Philadelphia Phillies
Most championships :New York Yankees (26)

METS

New York Mets Established : 1962
Major league affiliations :
* National League (1962 - present)
East Division (1969 - present)
Colors : Blue, Orange, White, Black
Ballpark : Currently Citi Field (2009-)

Major league titles
World Series titles (2) : 1969 , 1986
NL Pennants (4) : 1969 , 1973 , 1986 , 2000
East Division titles (5) : 1969 , 1973 , 1986 , 1988, 2006
Wild card berths (2): 1999 , 2000

Nationals:

Washington Nationals Established : 1969
(Based in Washington since 2005)

Major league affiliations :
* National League (1969 - present)
East Division (1969 - present)
Colors : Red, Navy Blue, Gold, White
Ballpark : Currently Nationals Park (2008-)

Major league titles
World Series titles (0) : None
NL Pennants (0) : None
East Division titles (1) : 1981
Wild card berths (0): None


National League (NL), is the older of 2 leagues constituting MLB, and the worlds oldest existent professional team sports league. It is sometimes called the Senior Circuit.

Sport : Baseball
Founded : 1876
No. of teams : 16
Country(ies) : US
Most recent champion(s): Philadelphia Phillies
Most championships: Los Angeles Dodgers (21)


Result : WSH 7, NYM 1
Winning Pitcher : Lannan (3-5)
Losing Pitcher : Maine (5-4)

>City(s) = Washington DC; State(s) = DC; Country = USA.
>Title = MLB - NL - New York Mets VS Washington Nationals, DC, US - Video.
>Keywords = Major League Baseball, MLB, NL, New York, New York Mets, Washington Nationals, Ballpark, DC, National League, American, AL, US, Canada playoff, Hitter Rule, DH, interleague play, All Star, World Series games, home team, minor League Baseball, East, Central, West, championship, wild card, Players, pitcher, outs, innings, rounders, hardball, ourtripvideos, our, trip, videos, crlapindfrn, LEED, Nats, division, outfield, foul territory, home plate, Senior Circuit (80)
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