The Major League Baseball season is underway, but perhaps you’re still unpacking the many unusual things under the new collective bargaining agreement.
You’ve already come to terms with the designated hitter in the National League, and even though the Brewers haven’t played an extra-innings game yet, surely you’ll re-acquaint with the runner-starting-on-second concept, a holdover from the past two seasons, once the 10th inning begins (though that won’t be the case in the playoffs).
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But there’s more forthcoming, in case you haven’t heard:
There will be a ‘true’ doubleheader at American Family Field in September
The roof was supposed to keep these from happening, wasn’t it?
This won’t be the first time a doubleheader will be played in the Brewers home stadium; there were three of them (seven innings per game) in the bizarre 2020 season thanks to a series of cancellations related to COVID-19.
But this will be the first time the games will run a full nine innings apiece. To make up for the San Francisco Giants series that was wiped out by the delayed start to the 2022 season (on account of the lockout), Milwaukee will play two games against the Giants on Thursday, Sept. 8, starting at 3:10 p.m.
Brewers fans will first confront the oddity of the rescheduled Giants series next week, on Monday, April 25, when the Brewers will fly home from one Pennsylvania location (Pittsburgh) to play a single game against the Giants with a 5 p.m. first pitch, then fly back to Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) for the next series. Yikes.
Milwaukee’s other first-week series wiped out by the delayed start, against Arizona, will get tacked on to the end of the season and run Oct. 3-5 at American Family Field. The Brewers will close the season with eight straight home games as a result.
Twelve teams make the postseason this year, but Game 163 won’t happen anymore
Say “Game 163,” and Brewers fans immediately think of the 2018 battle at Wrigley Field against the Cubs to win the National League Central. That stands to be the only connotation of the phrase going forward, because Game 163 isn’t going to happen under the new format.
Brewers fans are probably aware that 12 teams make the playoffs now (six in each league) and the Wild Card game as we know it is dead (good riddance to memories from 2019). But if they wind up tied for the division or a final playoff spot, it’s going to come down to a tiebreaking formula much like it does in the NFL, with no game to decide the winner.
After head-to-head record, tiebreaking criteria include intradivision record (that’s record against your own division foes, apparently even if two teams from different divisions are vying for a spot), interdivision record, record in the last half-season of interleague games and then the last half of interleague games plus one, continuing until the tie is broken.