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Expansion Provides An Opportunity To Get This MLB Playoff Format Right

If the unspoken rationale for a Major League Baseball season being this  long is to provide ample runway for the best teams to identify themselves, then the system is failing. The current playoff format is neither getting the right people on the bus, nor getting them in the correct seats on said bus.  This could all change in an instant, however. The year that MLB ultimately expands to 32 clubs is the year that this mess of a bracket could start to make sense. Note: I do say "could." The solution is sitting on the table, but it isn't a guarantee that Commissioner Rob Manfred doesn't muck it up by tweaking too many variables in the equation. Six teams per league, two byes, and two best-of-three "play-in" series need to be locked in as the constant. Playoff expansion should not come with any league expansion. I'll scream it until the day I die: An eight-team bracket in both the American and National Leagues would take too long, negate the need for any regu
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An Early Look At Vegas' New Ballpark: Design Considerations, Part II

How would the Vegas ballpark's centerfield shot rate against all others in the league?  As outlined in Part I , Las Vegas has a real opportunity to stand apart from the pack when it becomes a Major League Baseball city.  The following grades are not for the ballpark as a whole, but strictly the view of its surroundings from a second-deck, day-game view. The goal was to standardize a perspective.  The search was to find something as close to directly behind home plate that matched the above criterion.  I also wanted a middle-tier ticket price; not the noseble eds, but not the comfy chairs that get seen on TV every pitch, either. This represented the average line of sight. The caveat is that the following images discredit the peripheral vision and capable legs most humans possess. The entirety of the in-person experience is unarguably cropped out of each photo. And I'll be the first to admit: Sitting at a few of these locations wouldn't take much more than a 30° turn of the h

An Early Look At Vegas' New Ballpark: Design Considerations, Part I

The Las Vegas Athletics appear to officially be a thing; hopefully not carrying that mouthful of a moniker in the moving vans from Oakland.  With a new  land deal inked , we can infer the  long-speculated relocation  will indeed happen.  The Vegas A's (that's better) will likely play their first MLB season in 2025, but it'll likely take two additional years before their brand new home is complete. Until then, they will be vagabonds up there with the 2005-06 New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. For starters, they have a super awkward bed to sleep in next season. They'll have to see out the lease of RingCentral (Oakland-Alameda County) Coliseum in front of a betrayed fan base. Sounds like going on a non-refundable vacation with an ex the week after the breakup.  My hope is both sides agree to terminate that final year and avoid the confrontation. It won't be the celebratory send off ("Thanks for the Championship memories") anyone in the front office currently