Remember a few weeks ago? When there were no real meaningful baseball games being played? That was awful. The offseason seems interminably long, especially in those last few weeks of spring training. Our fantasy teams have been drafted, we’ve probably made plans for a game or two at least, and the rosters are pretty much set. Come on, we implore baseball.
So all that is to say that each week of the season would be tied for first if we made a list of the best weeks of the year for baseball. Any baseball being played is best.
But six months is a long time. It’s one of the best parts about it, but invariably we’ll be distracted by the other few things that are worth our time that are not baseball for half the year.
For your convenience, I have ranked the best weeks of the MLB season, to know when you should pay the most attention, and when the grind wears on you a bit. Maybe plan a vacation those weeks.
You’ll notice a couple of the “weeks” are actually more than seven days– the All-Star break and the first week of the season are lumped in with the weeks surrounding them. There are 25 discrete “weeks” of the regular season. The website Hashtag Baseball has a fantastic week-by-week schedule grid for the 2023 season that was instrumental in putting this list together and I’ll be referring to it throughout the season.
As always, my rankings are thoroughly researched, scientifically tested, and immutable.
1. Week One: March 30- April 9
It’s here! Oh my gosh, it’s finally here! When I was a kid, I would lay awake the night before my birthday, unable to sleep thinking about whatever it was that now incomprehensibly seems exciting about getting another year older (presents, probably). I would look at the clock in my room, thinking for sure it was close to morning. 3:42 AM. I’d close my eyes and try to calm myself, and promise that I wouldn’t open my eyes until it was light outside. I’d fall asleep, wake up and couldn’t resist peeking at the clock to see how long had passed. 3:46 AM.
The start of baseball season is like that.
2. Week Twelve: June 19- June 25
This is peak baseball season. The weather has adopted a predictable summer rhythm, as has the game itself. Not too hot (or at least, it hasn’t started to wear on you yet in seasonal climates), much like the standings or player performances aren’t 100% baked in at this point. There’s plenty that can happen after now! It’s also not too cold– that is, we don’t have sample sizes near zero. We can start to take away some things, believe in some teams and be disappointed in others.
3. Week Seventeen: July 31- August 6
This week encompasses the trade deadline, which is another kind of start to the season. Teams in contention have added new players– great ones, maybe! Those of us suffering through our favorite teams’ endless rebuild, meanwhile, have a new group of prospects or young players to daydream on! We’ll miss our star outfielder, you tell yourself, but this new guy was his old team’s sixth highest ranked prospect, according to the tweet I just saw and was also the first time I had heard his name! World Series 2027, here we come!
4. Week Twenty-Five: September 25- October 1
We’ve focused mostly so far on beginnings, but endings can be cool, too! Even if your favorite team is out of it, the last week of the season typically provides drama in other playoff races. If you’re going to a game, you’re either in the position of seeing a team in the playoff chase, which is cool, or a team that’s out of it. I actually don’t mind those late season games with non-playoff teams. There’s plenty to appreciate whether it’s call ups playing for next year, or seeing professionals be, well, professional. It’s a nice way to take in the last games of the season before playoff baseball and then, the offseason. Soak it in while it’s here.
5. Week Eleven: June 12- June 18
The rest of June rounds out the top few here, but the earlier we go in the month the less “into” the season we are.
6. Week Ten: June 5- June 11
7. Week Twenty-Four: September 18- September 24
Still plenty of playoff race intrigue, even if it’s not coming down to the wire.
8. Week Twenty-Three: September 11- September 17
9. Week Two: April 10- April 16
The hot starts to the season are now more than a week old and start to get fun. Every year we tell ourselves it’s a small sample size, but deep down we’re all rooting for it– anything– to be real. There are also easy and cheap tickets to be had after the hullaballoo of opening week. If there’s good weather in here somewhere, the first nice-day game of the season is one of the best you’ll go to all year.
10. Week Fifteen: July 10- July 23
This is the All-Star break, and I’m a bit torn. There’s no baseball, and for like, a lot of days. And the All-Star Game itself is not above criticism. Ultimately, I still enjoy the celebration of baseball that’s the All-Star Game and Home Run Derby (and the Future Stars game). It’s nice to have a bit of a break from fantasy rosters and to gear up for the stretch run.
11. Week Nine: May 29- June 4
These next few weeks all are fairly close to the part of the season where we can start to identify trends and are getting to fall into the rhythm of the season, but the farther away from June we are, the less we’re able to have confidence in the storylines we’ve developed in our heads in the early going.
May also tends to have a lot of “special holiday uniforms,” which I’m not a fan of. This is not a criticism in any way of those holidays or occasions that MLB is honoring, but the pink bats and camo hats just seem to take me out of the feeling that it’s the “regular season.” It’s a small aesthetic complaint.
12. Week Eight: May 22- May 28
13. Week Seven: May 15- May 21
14. Week Six: May 8- May 14
15. Week Five: May 1- May 7
16. Week Four: April 24- April 30
17. Week Thirteen: June 26- July 2
18. Week Sixteen: July 24- July 30
Not a bad week by any means, but we’re halfway between the All-Star break and trade deadline. The heat of summer is starting to wear on you.
19. Week Fourteen: July 3- July 9
Fourth of July is one of the days that I always want to go to a game but never seem to be able to make. Everyone has plans, the games are crowded, and it’s prime vacation time with the built-in holiday. I find it to be the case with people in baseball, as well. When I wrote up our announcer rankings and went back to listen to some games, I had to skip this week because so many regular announcers take their vacation around this time so they can pair it up with All-Star break. Teams may shut down some of their regulars so they can get an extra-long break headed into the All Star Game, as well.
20. Week Twenty-Two: September 4- September 10
Not quite into playoff mode yet, hanging on to the last vestiges of August.
21. Week Three: April 17- April 23
Too early to draw any conclusions on the season and unpredictable weather start to wear off the novelty of the new season. Also, everyone on my fantasy roster is somehow injured at this time.
22. Week Twenty-One: August 28 – September 3
Here we are. The dog days of August, they call ’em. It’s a weird spot where (we think) we know who the teams are and the best teams in each league have probably started to gather some separation from the second division clubs, but there’s still a long way to go until the playoffs. We don’t anticipate many huge surprises anymore with still a lot of baseball to be played.
23. Week Eighteen: August 7 – August 13
24. Week Twenty: August 21- August 27
Slightly beats out the preceding week of the schedule, because school is back in session and some teams start their game times slightly earlier to adjust. That’s an hour earlier that games start on MLB.tv in the evening!
25. Week Nineteen: August 14- August 20
Still beats the best week of the offseason, though.
Unsplash | James Lewis / Jingda Chen / Mark Duffel
Photo by Juan DeLeon/Icon Sportswire
Adapted by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)
Brilliant!