MLB, Players Reach Deal To Begin 60-Game Season To Start July 23 Or 24
PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) -- Baseball is back! After months of back-and-forth between MLB owners and the Players Association, the two sides finally reached an agreement to start the season.
Major League Baseball issued a 60-game schedule Tuesday night that will start July 23 or 24 in empty ballparks as the sport tries to push ahead amid the coronavirus following months of acrimony.
Each team will play 10 games against each of its four division rivals and four games vs. each of the five clubs in the corresponding division in the other league, according to details obtained by The Associated Press.
A team is scheduled to make only one trip to each city it visits in MLB's shortest season since 1878.
In a twist, the sides expanded the designated hitter to games involving National League teams and instituted the radical innovation of starting extra innings with a runner on second base.
Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper certainly seemed thrilled.
"Philly. We're finally coming home," he tweeted.
The Phillies' schedule has not been announced.
The announcement comes as another Phillies player and two staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 at the team's spring training facility in Clearwater. Additionally, a second player tested positive outside of the facility.
That makes seven players and five staffers who have tested positive.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
