2012 Baseball Season

The 2012 Major League Baseball season, will begin on March 28 with the first of a two game series between the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.[1] On November 22, 2011, a new contract between Major League Baseball and its’ players union was ratified, and as a result, an expanded playoff format adding two clubs will be adopted no later than 2013 according to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The stateside portion of the regular season will start April 4 in Miami, Florida with the opening of the new Miami ballpark, as the newly renamed Miami Marlins host the defending world champion St. Louis Cardinals. The season is scheduled to end on Wednesday, October 3. The entire master schedule was released on September 14, 2011.

The season will mark the last for the Houston Astros as a member of the National League. Following the sale to new owner Jim Crane, the Astros agreed to move to the American League effective in the 2013 season, and will be assigned to the West Division, joining their in-state rivals, the Texas Rangers. In addition, an expanded postseason could be in place beginning this season, with the addition of another wild card team in each league.

The Major League Baseball All-Star Game’s 83rd edition will be held on July 10 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. The winning league will earn home field advantage for the 2012 World Series, beginning on October 24 and scheduled to end no later than November 1. The Civil Rights Game will be held at Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia.