4.2 Shortened Seasons

Some MLB seasons were shorter than others.

graph code 
game_count_df <- Teams |>
  select(yearID, G) |>
  group_by(yearID, G) |>
  mutate(obs_count = n()) |>
  ungroup() |>
  distinct() |>
  
  # compute mode by year
  group_by(yearID) |>
  slice_max(order_by = obs_count, n = 1) |>
  ungroup()
game_count_df |>
  filter(yearID > 1973) |>
  mutate(season_bool = ifelse(G == 162, "normal season", "shortened season")) |>
  ggplot(aes(x = yearID, y = G)) +
  geom_bar(aes(fill = season_bool),
           stat = "identity") +
  labs(title = "Length of MLB Seasons by Year",
       subtitle = "past 30 seasons",
       caption = "data source: Lahman",
       x = "season",
       y = "number of games played\nby most teams") +
  scale_fill_manual(values = c("#AAAAAA", "#2905A1")) +
  theme_minimal() +
  theme(legend.position = "bottom",
        legend.title=element_blank())
  • 1981: strike-shortened season
  • 1994: strike-shortened season
  • 1995: strike-shortened season
  • 2000: pandemic-shortened season

4.2.1 Fun Fact!

According to Redditor u/pnabf

The Braves, who have 4 championships in their franchise history, have never won a WS when playing 162 games in a season

Let us check that!

Teams |>
  filter(franchID == "ATL") |>
  filter(WSWin == "Y") |>
  select(franchID, yearID, WSWin, G)
##   franchID yearID WSWin   G
## 1      ATL   1914     Y 158
## 2      ATL   1957     Y 155
## 3      ATL   1995     Y 144
## 4      ATL   2021     Y 161
  • 1995: strike-shortened season
  • 2021: Sept 16 game was canceled due to rain