Determining the number of major league games which have occurred in history is something of an inexact science. Record keeping was a bit spotty once upon a time. There’s the political question of whether you count the random upstart leagues that merged into or at least greatly influenced the National and then the American Leagues. And of course you have to ask yourself why we don’t count playoff games given that they’re, you know, way more important.
But let’s save all of that and just go with it, shall we? Here’s the press release from MLB:Major League Baseball will celebrate the 200,000th regular season game in its history during the last weekend of the 2011 regular season, as confirmed by the Elias Sports Bureau, MLB’s official statistician. It is estimated that the milestone game will occur during the full slate of games on Saturday, September 24th. Because of considerations like rainouts and other potential circumstances, the precise game will be identified as the occasion approaches.
“We are proud of this achievement,” said Commissioner Alan H. (Bud) Selig. “And now that we have determined that we will not count any Cleveland Indians games which took place between 1969 and 1994 as ‘Major League’ games, determining our final count was made considerably easier.”I may have taken that last quote out of context. I accidentally deleted the press release and wrote it from memory.