Why did they go to 162 games in Major League Baseball?

Answer 1

Both the American League and National League went to a 162 game schedule from a 154 game schedule when they expanded from 8 teams to 10 teams (AL in 1961, NL in 1962). This was done so each team could play the other 9 teams the same number of games.

When the AL and NL were 8 team leagues, the teams played 22 games against each other in a season (154 divided by 7 equals 22). By adding 2 teams, if the AL and NL played 154 games in a season, there would be teams playing more games against one team than another team (154 divided by 9 equals 17.111). Going to a 162 game schedule meant the teams could play each other 18 times in a season (162 divided by 9 equals 18).