On Tuesday, September 15, Major League Baseball announced that they will hold a “bubble” format for sites for the playoffs. The bubble has proved that is had helped to contain and slow the spread of COVID-19.

They also announced that the World Series will be played at the Texas Rangers home ballpark, Globe Life Field. Texas’ home ballpark is brand new and located in Arlington, Texas. The stadium also has a retractable roof with artificial turf.

The ballparks have been empty all season, but Major League Baseball is hoping for a chance to allow to seat 25% capacity of fans. Globe Life Field can seat up to a total of 40,000 fans.  This new format for the postseason is also not going to stay permanent.

2020 has been different for baseball. This year, the postseason will expand from 10 teams to 16 teams. The playoffs will begin with the top four seeds in each league will host wild card series. Than to follow, will be the best of three matchups for the American and National League.

The final 8 teams in the MLB playoffs will shift into the bubble format. This will help to limit the amount of travel that takes place. The four other stadiums that will be used during the playoffs will be Minute Maid Park, Petco Park and Dodger Stadium.

With the new format of playoffs, some players will be unable to see their family. New York Yankees starter Gerrit Cole stated, “It’s going to be tough — tough on the players, tough on the families, just kind of like it’s been tough for everybody this year.” It will be difficult, but it is something that these players will have to do.

According to rules from the MLB, a player may have up to six family members and guests stay at separate family hotels at the four sites. They said that they would make efforts to arrange visits in supervised, outdoor places. They want to maintain the safety of players to make sure they are still able to see the people that they love.

It is great to see that Major League Baseball is taking better precautions heading into the postseason. With more teams and more games to be played, this could be one of the most interesting postseasons in baseball history.