Major League Baseball announced Monday its postseason schedule, which could see the World Series played at the latest date in history. With an expanded 12-team postseason field, MLB may be looking at the latest World Series in history should the Fall Classic run the full seven games. This postseason will mark the debut of Major League Baseballs’ new 12-team postseason format. A lot is still up for grabs during MLBs 2022 regular season, and teams already know their playoff dates. The 2022 MLB postseason kicks off Friday, Oct. 7, with Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, which will take place over three straight days. ESPN Radio will provide national, live radio coverage of all 2022 postseason games, starting with the Wild Card Round and ending with the conclusion of the World Series.
As for WWE, Friday Night SmackDown will be removed from FOX at least for an episode during the American League Championship Series since the network holds the right to televise each match of the Series. The American League has one additional day off between matches one and two of the Division Series. Between games four and five, neither league has a day off. Teams will have to travel and play back-to-back games as a result. The issues start on October 7 with all 4 Wild Card Series matches. They may extend to November 5 – the latest ending date in MLB postseason history due to a lockout-delayed 2022 season opener. Since then, each league has held an interleague championship series (ALCS and NLCS) before the World Series to determine which teams advance, with these Series, in turn, being preceded by division series since 1995 and wild-card games in each league since 2012. The 2001 and 2009 World Series ended on November 4 of the relevant seasons, which is the current record for the latest date a postseason game has been played.
After the 2002 Major League Baseball All-Star Game ended in a draw, MLB decided to award the home-field advantage for the World Series to the winner of the All-Star Game. The World Series features the pennant-winning team from the American League facing off against the winner of the National League over a best-of-seven series to determine which team would bring home the Commissioners Trophy, awarded to the winning World Series team. If a best-of-seven World Series is tied 3-3 between the remaining first two teams, and an additional seventh game is needed to determine a winner, those teams host a game on November 5. The Series would be best-of-three, with the winner moving to the Division Round. The number of games played in the MLB’s 2022 postseason depends on the times teams need to win each Series, eventually cutting to move on and become the World Series champions.
