Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada. Specifically, Major League Baseball refers to the organization that operates the National League and the American League by a joint organizational structure that has developed gradually between them since 1901 (the National League having been in existence since 1876). In 2000, the two leagues ceased to be separate legal entities, with the commissioner's office assuming all responsibilities for running MLB. MLB effectively operates as a single league and as such it constitutes one of the major professional sports leagues of the United States and Canada. It is currently composed of 30 teams — twenty-nine in the United States and one in Canada. In conjunction with the International Baseball Federation, MLB also manages the World Baseball Classic.
Each season consists of 162 games per team (with an additional game, or games, if a tie breaker is needed to determine postseason participation), which typically begins on the first Sunday in April and ends on the first Sunday in October, with the postseason played in October and sometimes into early November. The same rules and regulations are played between the two leagues with one exception: the American League operates under the Designated Hitter Rule, while the National League does not. Use of the DH rule in interleague play and the World Series is determined by the home team's league rules. As of 2010, the All-Star Game uses the DH rule regardless of location.
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