2017 Major League Baseball season
| 2017 MLB season | |
|---|---|
| League | Major League Baseball |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | April 2, 2017 – October 1, 2017 |
| Number of games | 162 |
| Number of teams | 30 |
| Regular season | |
| League Postseason | |
| World Series | |
The 2017 Major League Baseball season will be the 117th season of Major League Baseball in the modern era. The schedule was released on September 14, 2016.[1] The 2017 season will begin with three games beginning with the 2016 World Series champion Chicago Cubs traveling to St. Louis to take on the Cardinals on April 2, which will be ESPN's first Sunday Night Baseball game of the year. and the season will end on October 1.[1] The postseason will begin on October 3.
The 88th Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be held on July 11 at Marlins Park, home of the Miami Marlins. For the first time since 2002, the All Star Game will not determine home field advantage for the 2017 World Series. Instead, home field advantage will be awarded to the team with the better regular season record.[2] The World Series is set to begin October 24 and a potential game 7 is scheduled for November 1.
The 2017 Major League Baseball draft will begin on June 12.
Schedule
As has been the case since 2013, all teams will play their four division opponents 19 times each for a total of 76 games. They will play six or seven games against each of the other 10 same-league opponents for a total of 66 games, and 20 interleague games. The primary interleague matchups are AL East vs. NL Central, AL Central vs. NL West, and AL West vs. NL East. Teams will also play four games against a designated interleague rival.
Managerial changes
General managers
Offseason
| Team | Former GM | Reason For Leaving | New GM | Story/Accomplishments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona Diamondbacks | Dave Stewart | Fired | Mike Hazen | On October 3 General Manager Dave Stewart was fired, along with field manager Chip Hale.[3] On October 16, Mike Hazen agreed to become the Executive Vice President and General Manager.[4] |
| Boston Red Sox | Mike Hazen | Resigned | TBA | On October 16, Mike Hazen agreed to become the Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks.[4] |
| Minnesota Twins | Rob Antony | Interim | Thad Levine | On November 3, The Twins hired Thad Levine as their new Senior VP and General Manager. Levine will replace interim GM Rob Antony.[5] |
Field managers
Offseason
| Team | Former Manager | Reason For Leaving | New Manager | Story/Accomplishments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona Diamondbacks | Chip Hale | Fired | Torey Lovullo | On October 3, 2016, Chip Hale was fired as manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks.[6] Hale finished with a 148–176 record in his two seasons as manager. On November 4, 2016, Torey Lovullo was hired as the new manager.[7] |
| Atlanta Braves | Fredi González | Fired | Brian Snitker | On October 11, 2016, Brian Snitker was named as the new manager of the Atlanta Braves after completing the 2016 season as the interim manager.[8] Snitker took over for Fredi Gonzalez on May 17, 2016 and finished the season with a 59–65 record. |
| Chicago White Sox | Robin Ventura | Resigned | Rick Renteria | At the conclusion of the 2016 regular season, Chicago White Sox manager Robin Ventura resigned. On October 3, 2016, Rick Renteria became the team's new manager.[9] Ventura finished his five seasons in Chicago with a record of 375–435. |
| Colorado Rockies | Walt Weiss | Resigned | Bud Black | On October 3, 2016, Walt Weiss resigned as manager of the Colorado Rockies after four years without a winning record.[10] Weiss finished with a 283–365 record during his tenure. On November 6, 2016, the Rockies announced they were hiring Bud Black as manager.[11] |
Uniforms
Wholesale changes
The Arizona Diamondbacks tweaked their uniform set that was unveiled last season. The pant stripes now reach to the hip, while the gradient below was removed. The road uniform lettering is also changed to improve visibility.
The San Diego Padres unveiled new home and road uniforms, with noticeable changes such as the team name and the removal of yellow on the home uniforms, the bowtie-shaped lettering in the city name on the road uniforms, and the interlocking "SD" on both uniforms.
Alternate changes
The Kansas City Royals unveiled an updated version of their gold-trimmed white uniform, featuring gold numbers and blue lettering. It will be paired with a blue cap featuring the gold 'KC' lettering, and will be worn on Friday home games.
Anniversaries and special events
The following teams will wear commemorative patches for special occasions
| Team | Special Occasion |
|---|---|
| All teams | Pink ribbons for breast cancer awareness (May 14, Mother's Day) |
| Blue ribbons for prostate cancer awareness (June 18, Father's Day) | |
| Atlanta Braves | First season at SunTrust Park |
| Boston Red Sox | 10th anniversary of 2007 World Series championship |
| Chicago Cubs | 2016 World Series Championship |
| Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim | 15th anniversary of 2002 World Series championship |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 60th season in Los Angeles |
| Miami Marlins | 20th anniversary of 1997 World Series championship |
| 2017 All-Star Game | |
| Minnesota Twins | 30th anniversary of 1987 World Series championship |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 35th anniversary of 1982 World Series championship |
| San Francisco Giants | 60th season in San Francisco |
| Seattle Mariners | 40th anniversary of the franchise |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 25th anniversary of 1992 World Series championship |
Venues
This will be the Atlanta Braves first season at SunTrust Park in Cumberland, Georgia. It succeeds Turner Field as the Braves home ballpark. The first game at SunTrust Park will be on April 14, 2017 against the San Diego Padres.
There were plans to host some games at Olympic Stadium in London, England during the season but the plans were dropped after a lack of time for negotiations.[12]
Television
National
United States
This will be the fourth year of the current eight-year deals with Fox Sports, and ESPN and TBS. Fox will air eight weeks of baseball on Saturday Night leading up to the 2017 Major League Baseball All-Star Game which will also air on Fox. Fox will then televise Saturday afternoon games for the last four weeks of the regular season. Fox Sports 1 will televise games on Tuesday nights and on Saturdays both during the afternoon and night. ESPN will televise games on its flagship telecast Sunday Night Baseball, as well as Monday and Wednesday nights. TBS will televise Sunday afternoon games for the last 13 weeks of the regular season. Fox and ESPN Sunday Night Baseball telecasts will be exclusive; all other national telecasts will be subject to local blackout.
TBS will televise the National League Wild Card Game, Division Series, and Championship Series. ESPN will televise the American League Wild Card, Fox Sports 1 and MLB Network will televise the American League Division Series, and Fox and Fox Sports 1 will televise the American League Championship Series. The World Series will air exclusively on Fox for the 18th consecutive year.
Radio
Local
Philadelphia radio station 94.1 WIP-FM renewed its contract with the Philadelphia Phillies for the 2017 season.
National
ESPN Radio will air its 20th season of national coverage, including Sunday Night Games, Saturday games, Opening Day and holiday games, the All–Star Game, and Home Run Derby, and the entire postseason.
Retirements
- Joel Hanrahan, who last pitched in the majors in 2013, announced his retirement on November 15, 2016.[13]
Retired numbers
- David Ortiz will have his #34 retired by the Boston Red Sox during the season. It will be the 11th number retired by the organization.[14]
References
- 1 2 Newman, Mark (September 14, 2016). "Save these dates: MLB releases 2017 schedule". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
- ↑ Blum, Ronald (December 1, 2016). "All-Star Game no longer determines Series start". Associated Press. New York City: AP News. Associated Press. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
- ↑ Marshall, John (October 3, 2016). "Diamondbacks fire Stewart, Hale after another losing season". Associated Press. Phoenix, Arizona: AP News. Associated Press. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
- 1 2 Piecoro, Nick (October 16, 2016). "Arizona Diamondbacks name Mike Hazen general manager". The Arizona Republic. Gannett Company. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
- ↑ Bollinger, Rhett (November 3, 2016). "Levine formally named general manager". MLB.com. Minneapolis: MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
- ↑ Piecoro, Nick (October 3, 2016). "Arizona Diamondbacks: Dave Stewart, Chip Hale out". The Arizona Republic. Gannett Company. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
- ↑ Gilbert, Steve (November 8, 2016). "D-backs introduce Lovullo as new manager". MLB.com. Phoenix, Arizona: MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
- ↑ O'Brien, David (October 11, 2016). "Brian Snitker named Braves' new manager". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Cox Enterprises. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
- ↑ Kane, Colleen (October 2, 2016). "Robin Ventura leaving White Sox, says organization 'needs a new voice'". Chicago Tribune. tronc. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
- ↑ Saunders, Patrick (October 3, 2016). "Walt Weiss resigns as Colorado Rockies manager, citing poor working relationship with front office". The Denver Post. Digital First Media. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
- ↑ Kosmider, Nick; Saunders, Patrick (November 6, 2016). "Bud Black reaches agreement with Colorado Rockies to become new manager". The Denver Post. Digital First Media. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
- ↑ "MLB abandons plans to stage 2017 fixture in London". BBC Sport. BBC. July 12, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
- ↑ Berry, Adam (November 15, 2016). "Former All-Star closer Hanrahan retires". MLB.com. Pittsburgh: MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
- ↑ Abraham, Peter (October 2, 2016). "David Ortiz feted at Fenway in final regular season game". The Boston Globe. Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC. Retrieved October 4, 2016.