2023 MLB World Series Game Schedule
For baseball fans, a 162-game season and the September playoff chase are just the beginning. As entertaining as the past few months have been, it’s all just the opening act for the upcoming playoffs and the 2023 MLB World Series. This is the time of year when fans want to go to great lengths and pay extra attention to the baseball schedule and how they can get their hands on MLB tickets for the most important games of the year. Let’s take a closer look at the schedule for the MLB postseason, including the 2023 World Series, to ensure you won’t miss a minute of the action this October.
Last Day of the Regular Season
The last day of the 2023 MLB season falls on Sunday, October 1. As has become customary in recent years, the schedule that day calls for every game to start at more or less the same time. All 15 games on the schedule will begin between 3:05 and 3:15 EST. Of those 15 games, ten will be played between division rivals. Also, close to half of the games could have some type of playoff implications, including a game between the Mariners and Rangers, who are among the contenders for both the AL West title and a Wild Card spot. With MLB no longer making a 163rd game possible to settle tiebreakers, one way or another, all playoff spots and seeds will be known by the end of the day on October 1.
Wild Card Round
After one day off following the end of the regular season, the Wild Card Round will begin on Tuesday, October 3. All four Wild Card series will begin that day with no off days during the three-game series. Therefore, one team will host all three games. With the two best division winners in each league getting a bye, the remaining division winner and the best Wild Card team in each league will serve as the home team during the Wild Card Series.
Divisional Round
After the Wild Card Round, there will be one day off before all four Divisional Round series begin on Saturday, October 7. The American League series will have a day off after Games 2 and 4, while the National League series will have off days after Games 1, 2, and 4. If necessary, a decisive Game 5 for either American League series will be played on October 13, while a potential Game 5 for either National League series will be played on October 14.
League Championship Series
With the two ALDS series ending no later than October 13, the ALCS will begin on October 15. There will be off days for travel after Games 2 and 5, and if the series goes to seven games, Game 7 will be played on October 23. Meanwhile, the NLCS will begin on October 16. Likewise, off days for travel are scheduled after Games 2 and 5. If the NLCS goes seven games, the decisive Game 7 will be played on October 24.
World Series
No later than October 24, we will know the matchup for the 2023 World Series. Depending on how long the League Championship Series lasts, there will be a minimum of two days off before the start of the World Series. Game 1 of the 2023 World Series is scheduled for Friday, October 27. There will be off days for travel after Games 2 and 5. Of the two teams in the World Series, the team with the better record during the regular season will host Games 1 and 2, as well as Games 6 and 7, if necessary. The other team will host Games 3 and 4, as well as Game 5, if necessary. If the World Series lasts seven games, the decisive Game 7 will be played on Saturday, November 4.
Getting Tickets
Getting MLB playoff tickets is a dream of every MLB fan. Unfortunately, it’s far easier said than done. For starters, playoff tickets don’t go on sale until late in the regular season or after the regular season is over. Individual teams are in charge of selling tickets for the games that they host. However, until a team is locked into a specific seed, they don’t know what games they will be hosting and can’t start to sell tickets.
The other caveat is that most teams make playoff tickets available to season-ticket holders and fans who purchased partial season ticket packages. These fans are typically given access to playoff tickets before the general public. Naturally, once tickets go on sale to the general public, there is a huge rush to buy tickets, with a full allotment of tickets to a game sometimes selling out in minutes. In other words, unless you are a season-ticket holder, it can be difficult to buy MLB playoff tickets straight from the box office.
Therefore, the secondary market is usually the best place to find MLB playoff tickets. The best deals for playoff tickets are usually for day games rather than night games because fewer people are available to attend day games on a weekday. Likewise, the most expensive tickets are typically for each team’s first home game of a series and any game in which the home team has a chance to clinch the series. For the best deals, go to games in the middle of a series. Finally, the best deals for a game can often be found on the day of a game. While this doesn’t always work out, fans who are patient usually tend to find the best deals on the secondary market for MLB playoff tickets.