Major League Baseball (MLB) is comprised of 30 teams, 16 in the National League and 14 in the American League. Each league is further subdivided into three divisions, East, Central and West, with five teams per division, except the NL Central with six teams and the AL West, which has only four. The regular season runs from April through September, with a brief preseason in March and league playoffs followed by the MLB World Series championship in October.
Home teams win on average 53.6% of the time. This translates to a 7.2% advantage over road teams which is a smaller disparity compared to Basketball and Football.
The solutions for many current problems, on and off the fields of Major League Baseball have been known for over 100 years. How MLB implements play, promotion, and presentation of our National Pastime is what it is - past time to reconsider and redirect their efforts to benefit, not damage, the Game's rich history and future progress. There are no unknowns. NONE! Everything has been seen and done before.
Over the past 15 years, MLB has witnessed a tremendous change in league wide competitiveness. Most of this can be attributed to realignment and a new playoff system that was devised after the strike in 1994. As most of you know, each league went from having two divisions to having three. Four new playoff teams were added - two in each league. As a result, pennant races have become more exciting. The realignment accomplished exactly what MLB wanted; more teams alive and kicking for a longer portion of the season. This, in turn, has generated more fan interest leading to more ticket sales and higher TV ratings. Of course, there were other rules introduced which helped make the regular season more meaningful and dramatic.