2016 MLB season | |
---|---|
League | Major League Baseball |
Sport | Baseball |
Duration | April 3, 2016 – November 2, 2016 |
Number of games | 162 |
Number of teams | 30 |
Regular season | |
Season MVP |
AL: Mike Trout (LAA) NL: Kris Bryant (CHC) |
League Postseason | |
AL champions | Cleveland Indians |
AL runners-up | Toronto Blue Jays |
NL champions | Chicago Cubs |
NL runners-up | Los Angeles Dodgers |
World Series | |
Champions | Chicago Cubs |
Runners-up | Cleveland Indians |
Finals MVP | Ben Zobrist |
The 2016 Major League Baseball season began on April 3, 2016 with a Sunday afternoon matchup between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates, the two teams with the best regular season records in 2015, at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. The regular season ended on Sunday, October 2, 2016, and the postseason on Wednesday, November 2, 2016, with the Chicago Cubs coming back from a three games to one deficit to defeat the Cleveland Indians in the World Series and win their first championship since 1908.
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game's 87th edition was played on July 12 at Petco Park in San Diego, California, home of the San Diego Padres. The American League was awarded home-field advantage in the World Series by winning the game 4–2.
As was the case in 2015, teams were scheduled to play 19 games against each division opponent for a total of 76 games, and six or seven games against each team from the other two divisions in its league for a total of 66 games. The Civil Rights Game was not played this year.
All teams were scheduled to play 20 interleague games throughout the season. For 2016, the interleague matchups were to be AL East vs. NL West, AL Central vs. NL East, and AL West vs. NL Central.