How does Major League Baseball determine who plays their opening day games home and away?
405320
I'm not sure about all teams, but I know that the Cincinnati Reds, since they were really the first "Professional" team, had the honor of always opening at home every year. I don't know if this is still true, but when I was growing up and following baseball in the 70s, the Reds vs. their opponent would be the only game played on Day 1, and then the rest of the major leagues wouldn't open until the next day.\n\nI'm not sure about the Orioles... their history does not go back as far as the Reds (obviously), they trace their roots back to when they were the St. Louis Browns. There was a National League team called the Baltimore Orioles in the 19th Century, but that team has no direct link to the present-day Orioles.\n\nNot really sure if it's random or if there is perhaps a pattern to it, maybe with most teams alternating home and away openers.\n\nPerhaps a Reds fan out there could tell us if the Reds still open at home every year.
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A walkoff home run is a home that wins the game for the home team. This can be a home run when the game is either tied or when the home team is behind after the top of the ninth inning. I guess to explain it even better here is an example.\n\nThe the Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs are tied in the bottom of the ninth inning that the Cubs are playing at home. Then someone hits a home run and the game is over. That is what a walk off home run is.\n\nI hope this helps.
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Schedule is set for all but two games of the season in advance; those last two games are based on order of finish in the divisions.\n\nEach team plays 16 games:\n1. In division: You play everyone twice, home and away (6 games)\n2. In conference:\na. You play all of the teams in one other division in your conference once, home or away, such that if you played them at home last time that you were set up to play them this way, you will visit them the next time.  The division you play against rotates every year, so if you're an AFC East team, you may play all of the AFC South teams one year, the Central the next, and the West the third year (4 games)\nb. You play the other two teams in your conference who finished in the same position you did that aren't in the division you're playing above.  (2 games)  So, if you're in the AFC East and you finished third, and your division plays all of the AFC South teams, you will also play the third place team in the AFC North and West.  Home and away for these games are already set up.\n3.  Out of conference: You play all of the teams in one division in the other conference. (4 games) This rotates as well, so that you'll play every team in the other conference once every 4 years, and the sites are reversed after 4 years, so you will visit every other team at least once every 8 years.
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it has nothing to do with which pitch was hit out, and only the home team can hit a walk off home run.\n\nA walk off home run is a home run hit by the home team in the bottom of the 9th inning (or in extra innings) that wins the game. \n\nIt's called a walk off home run because the teams walk off the field after the play, because the game ends at that point.
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Opening Day occurs in cities all around the United States and even Canada.  The odds of Opening Day being universally delayed is small.  Since the weather couldn't possibly be bad everywhere, it would take a national crisis to delay Opening Day festivities in all cities.  Each year Opening Day ceremonies are threatened, and sometimes cancelled, due to weather conditions.  Baseball opens in the Spring which means rain, and in some northern cities chilly temperatures.  I was at Yankee Stadium for Opening Day in 1996, and it snowed.  They played the entire game, but it was cold and miserable throughout.
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Here you go taken straight from the MLB rule book (Rule 10.04 Runs Batted In).\n\nRUNS BATTED IN \n10.04\n(a) Credit the batter with a run batted in for every run which reaches home base because of the batter's safe hit, sacrifice bunt, sacrifice fly, infield out or fielder's choice; or which is forced over the plate by reason of the batter becoming a runner with the bases full (on a base on balls, or an award of first base for being touched by a pitched ball, or for interference or obstruction).\n\n(b) Do not credit a run batted in when the batter grounds into a force double play or a reverse force double play. \n\nSee the link below for the full details.
165654
I don't think they do it by games, I think they do it by innings - some games take longer than others, and sometimes a pitcher may only pitch part of a game (hence the distinction between SP and RP).  Your local AD would probably have that information.
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Rules for picking your favorite team:\n\n1) You can only have one favorite team.\n2) once selected you can only change your favorite team under extraordinary circumstances. \n\nNow how do you pick your team?\n\nThe easist and most rational method is to support your hometown team.  You live in Columbus, so you don't really have one, but the Reds and Indians, both being from Ohio warrent consideration.  \n\nAlso, in Columbs you have the Clippers which is the AAA afiliate for the Washington Nationals.  This would be a great option because you can start rooting for these players at a reasonable price while they are promising stars on the come.  And then transfer that right into watching MLB games.\n\nA final way is to look around the league and find a franchise that you think is run well and pick them.  Of course if you do this you must remember rule number 2, there is nothing worse than a bandwagon jumper, to truly be a fan you have to stick with them through the bad times, it makes to good times that much better.  Also remember if you go this route don't choose the Yankees, 'cuz that's like rooting for the house in blackjack.
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Teams consist of nine players who use a leather-covered hard ball, a wooden (in the professional game) or aluminum bat, and padded gloves. Additionally, the batter, catcher, and home-plate umpire wear special protective gear. Teams alternate turns in the field and at bat, the home team batting last. One turn at bat for each team constitutes an inning, and nine innings constitute a game. In the field there are a pitcher, a catcher, four infielders, and three outfielders. The pitcher throws overhand, employing a variety of deliveries (fastball, curve, knuckleball, etc.), from the raised pitcher's mound to home plate, a distance of 60.5 ft (18.4 m). An opposing batter attempts to hit the pitches and safely reach base, while the fielders attempt to put the batter out through various plays. A batter who misses three pitches, or fails to swing at three judged hittable, is out on “strikes”; but if the pitcher first throws four pitches out of the strike zone, the batter obtains a base on balls, or “walks” to first base. A run is scored every time a batter becomes a runner and crosses home plate after touching each base in the prescribed order. When the fielding team puts out three batters (or runners), the teams exchange places. If the score is tied at the end of nine innings, play continues into extra innings until one team has scored more runs than the other in an equal number of turns at bat.
1100995
The Wikipedia links have much of the story, but the real answer is that the team owners decide, usually by authorizing the league to make changes.  Today that would be a decision of all the owners on behalf of MLB, as when the leagues expanded and when the Milwaukee Brewers were moved from the American to the National League.\n\nWhy do some states (and cities) have teams in both leagues?  Competition, pure and simple.  The American League itself was founded for that reason, and it was why the original Baltimore Orioles became the New York Yankees.  In fact, part of the 1905 agreement that established the World Series as an annual affair specified that the American League would not move a franchise to Pittsburgh to compete with the Pirates.\n\nThe New York Mets and Houston Astros - indeed all of the expansion franchises and most of the recent franchise moves -also exist because of competition.  When the Giants moved to San Francisco, a minority shareholder who opposed the move, Joan Payson (who also unsuccessfully tried to buy the Giants from Horace Stoneham and thus prevent the move), had enough money to back a new major league, the Continental League, which would have teams in Atlanta, Buffalo, Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Houston, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York and Toronto.  (All these cities except Buffalo now have major league teams.)   The AL and NL folded and added four new teams, the others being the second Washington Senators franchise (now the Rangers) and the Los Angeles Angels (no "of Anaheim" in those days).  The man who organized the Continental League, William A. Shea, is the man for whom Shea Stadium is named.  Payson became the first owner of the Mets.\n\nSometimes moves occur because the team owner wishes to move to greener pastures, as with the Giants, Dodgers, Athletics, the Milwaukee (ex-Boston) Braves and the Seattle Pilots (now the Brewers).
410894
Most teams sell out their Opening Day game whenever it is.  The difference between an Opening Day crowd and a regular weekday crowd is much greater than that between it and a weekend crowd, so it makes economic sense to hold it on a weekday.  Or, in short: it's better to sell out a game that would otherwise have a small crowd than one that would have a big crowd.
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They do have doubleheaders in baseball, sometimes its due to a game that may have been canceled due to weather or something.  So they have to make that game up, usually when the team is in town again.  But, unless you have tickets to both games your not going to see both games.  What they do is honor the tickets for the date the game was suppose to be played and those people get in, but then have to leave when the regular scheduled game is going to begin.  If you love watching baseball you don't mind 3 hour games, if the game is going that long then your seeing one of two things, either greet pitching/defense or great hitting, most of the time its great pitching/defense.
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baseball. Home is refering to home plate.
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Opponents are out, but it is usually March when then release the home and away schedules.\n http://www.nfl.com/schedules/tv/2006_opponents#schedule
207721
It matters what teams are playing
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The All-Star Game is an event where players that were voted the best by fans get to play each other, grouped by league (American or National). It usually happens on the Tuesday of the second week of July. The players who are voted best by fans are the only ones who get to play. The All-Star game does have an MVP voting, and the league that wins has its league champion have homfield advantage in the World Series. Unless teams get rained out and the game is rescheduled after the game, all teams have played 81 games, halfway through the season. \n\nThe All-Star game has a home run derby the night before the game, a competition to see who can hit the most homers in several rounds. Click on the link for a lot more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Run_Derby\n\nThe game determines who has homefield advantage in the World Series because in 2002 the game ended in a tie, and they wanted to give the teams a reason to keep playing. More info on 2002 All-Star Game, and the All-Star Game in general:\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Baseball_All-Star_Game
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Most times, the rosters are only announced right at the start of the game.   You can often see the Managers hand their roster to the umpires before the game starts.