When does the MLB 2022 season start? | MLB Opening Day Schedule
Baseball season is upon us! MLB Opening Day is inching closer and closer and after a slight delay caused by the lockout, the first since the 1994-1995 strike, we're ready to play ball! Mark it on your calendar folks, MLB opening Day begins April 7 2022.
It will be an exciting start as the first game will be between arch rivals the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. The first pitch will be at 1:05PM ET. This will be followed by the Milwaukee Brewers traveling to Wrigley Field to face the Chicago Cubs. The match is scheduled to begin at 2:20 PM ET. Here is the complete schedule of the nine-game slate for Opening Day (away team/home team/venue/first pitch):
The new-look New York Mets will travel to the nation's capital to face the Nationals. The newly named Cleveland Guardians will look to make a fresh start against the Royals in Kansas City. The Houston Astros will travel to reigning AL MVP Shohei Ohtani's yard in Anaheim. To round up Opening Day, Fernando Tatis' led San Diego Padres will visit the D-Backs in Arizona.
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This late-season start came off the back of a well-publicized owner-initiated lockout that lasted for 99 days. This was the second-longest work stoppage in baseball history after the 232 day stoppage in the 1994-1995 season.
Several changes will also be implemented in the Majors for the new season. The National League will now adopt the designated hitter rule. The expanded playoff format will now cater to 12 teams. According to reports, a Ghost Runner will remain on second base to start the extra innings. There will now be a draft lottery to prevent teams from tanking. And for the first time in the league's history, advertising and sponsors will be allowed on players' uniforms. This will include patches on jerseys and decals on batting helmets.
MLB Opening Day Trivia
Baseball has been America's favorite pastime for more than a century and its Opening Day has been a tradition that everyone is looking forward to every season. Let's take a look at some facts about MLB Opening Day:
- April 22, 1876 - The first (per se) MLB Opening Day happened 146 years ago. It was the first National League game ever played when the Boston Red Stockings/Caps defeated the Philadelphia Athletics, 6-5 at the Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia.
- Ceremonial first pitch - Now a staple in baseball, the ceremonial first pitch was first done by US President William Howard Taft in 1910 preceding the game between the Washington Nationals and the Philadelphia Athletics. Every other president after him with the exception of Jimmy Carter and Donald J. Trump has thrown the pitch on an Opening Day.
- April 5, 2012 - the longest MLB Opening Day game in history happened between the the Toronto Blue Jays and the now Cleveland Guardians that lasted for 16 innings. The team from Canada won the game, 7-4.
- No-hitter - Of the 314 recognized no-hitters by the MLB, only one has occured on Opening Day. That distinction belongs to Hall of Famer Bob Feller who was only 21 years old when he did the feat against the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park in Opening Day 1940.
- International game - from being American's Favorite Pastime in the early days, the MLB has become a global game throughout the years. Eight (8) MLB Opening Day games across four (4) countries and venues are in the record books. The first one happened in 1999 when the San Diego Padres faced-off against the Colorado Rockies in Estadio de Beisbol de Monterrey in Monterrey Mexico. Other international venues that hosted MLB Opening Day games are the Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney, Australia, and as recently as 2019, the Tokyo Dome, in Tokyo, Japan.
What a wonderful day March 20th, 2019 was!
#Mariners vs #Athletics in Tokyo for the Opening Day Series! Game 1 of 2!
Can't wait to step foot in #Japan again! #memories https://t.co/iRsTJXWDwd