2020 MLB Postseason — “Bubble Edition”
Flashback to New Year’s Day, January 1st, 2020. Everyone joyful of new beginnings, resolutions being made. The NFL is beginning to start their 2019–2020 postseason, NCAA football is approaching their National Championship game. Life is good. Fast-forward to March of 2020. The United States begins to see their first wave of COVID-19 cases. Who would have thought that we would be seeing a global pandemic to start the year. And here we are in October still continuing to see U.S. cases rise, including our own President Donald J. Trump and first lady Melania Trump. But as a country, we must stick to our roots and become more united than ever to overcome these struggles.
Facing the difficulties that the COVID-19 pandemic threw at us, the MLB and commissioner Rob Manfred had to generate ideas on how to continue their season, including a postseason format. Manfred took a similar approach to how the NBA and NHL went on with their seasons’, but with some tweaks. The MLB was not even able to start their 2020 season, as it begins in April, and that is when the virus surfaced in the States. Manfred and MLB officials then went on to propose a 60 game season, starting in the 3rd week of July. MLB teams then were playing scheduled games, but only on their respective coastlines. All American League (AL) and National League (NL) teams traveled, but did not travel across country. This way, it creates a safe boundary for organizations to maintain social-distancing protocols by the CDC.
Attached below is an article published by MLB:
Protocol for the MLB states that all players, team officials, and essential personnel must be tested for COVID-19 every day. If at least one member of the organization tests positive, that team’s next scheduled game will be postponed to a later date. Luckily, the MLB did not see many positive tests as it could have made much worse problems for the season to stay on pace. One rule implemented was any postponed game will result in a 7-inning (versus regular 9-inning) game. The postponed game would also result on playing the game on a date where they already have a game, thus being a double-header match-up.
For the postseason, the MLB declared a “best-of-3” Wild Card series for all teams. Teams will face off in the lower seeds home stadium for 3 games if necessary. The conclusion of the Wild Card series will begin the Divisional series, where all teams will be located in designated locations; Houston, Arlington, San Diego, and Los Angeles. AL teams will be located in the California cities, and the NL teams will be located in the Texas cities. From then on out, the League Championship series will be located in Arlington and San Diego. And last but not least, the World Series will be located in Arlington, TX for all games.
Attached below is an article published by ESPN:
The MLB and commissioner Rob Manfred absolutely crushed this idea out of the ballpark. Instead of holding a “bubble system” for the entire season, they were able to work around the idea by creating instinctive ways to continue on with their season. Though, it is unfortunate that no fans are able to attend the events. Baseball fans across the country will just have to wait to see another year of hoping to attend a game, but for now we should enjoy that sports are being played and broadcasted for our entertainment.
Sources:
2020 MLB playoffs schedule, bubble locations and how to watch every postseason game. (2020, September 15). Retrieved October 04, 2020, from https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29892536/2020-mlb-playoffs-schedule-bubble-locations-how-watch-every-postseason-game
Swinton, E. (2020, September 15). MLB Announces Neutral-Site Locations for 2020 Playoffs. Retrieved October 04, 2020, from https://www.si.com/mlb/2020/09/15/mlb-netural-sites-cities-stadiums-locations-bubble-plan-2020-playoffs
Feinsand, M. (2020, July 06). Play Ball: MLB announces 2020 regular season. Retrieved October 04, 2020, from https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-announces-2020-regular-season
Is this finally the Dodgers’ year? Our baseball writers make their postseason picks. (2020, September 29). Retrieved October 04, 2020, from https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2020-09-29/mlb-postseason-bracket-our-experts-make-their-picks-dodgers
