MLB

Major League Baseball (MLB) is the top level of professional baseball in North America, made up of 30 teams split evenly between the American League and the National League. Every club plays a 162-game regular season, which traditionally opens in late March or early April and runs through late September or early October — close to six months of near-daily baseball. October is reserved for the postseason, a knockout bracket that ends with the World Series, a best-of-seven championship round.

Games come in series of two to four against the same opponent, so most teams play five to seven days a week. Weeknight games usually start in the early evening local time, while weekend and getaway-day games often begin in the afternoon. A typical game now lasts roughly two and a half to three hours, and because ties are not allowed, extra innings can stretch that further. Since first pitch shifts with each ballpark's time zone, a countdown that converts start times to your local clock is the simplest way to plan a viewing night.