The highest level of professional baseball is Major League Baseball, also known as MLB. 30 teams across two leagues play 162 games in a regular season from April to October. This establishes a seeding order for a playoff. In October, five teams in each league play in a single elimination tournament until a champion is crowned in the American and National League. Once those two teams are decided they meet in what is known as the World Series.

The World Series has been played been since 1884, although most don’t acknowledge a true World Series format until the modern era of baseball began in 1903.

“Ballparks like Cathedrals”

Baseball teams play in stadiums known as ballparks. The unique thing about ballparks is each one is different. The rules of associated to a baseball field are universal in several areas. For example, all bases are 90 feet apart. But the dimensions of a baseball field are distinct to each individual ballpark. This is what makes visiting different ballparks such a tourist attraction.

In Boston at Fenway Park there is a 37-foot wall in left field known as the Green Monster. In Chicago at Wrigley Field, the outfield wall is covered in ivy that grows over brick. In Miami, home to the Miami Marlins, there is 65-foot sculpture that stands beyond the wall in left-center field. It lights up and shoots water when a home run is hit.