Starting October 5th, the MLB will attempt to have a postseason bubble. Beginning on September 29th is the Wild Card Series which has never been done before in Major League Baseball. Each league will have eight teams seeded one through eight with the top four seeds playing at their home stadiums.  After that series is completed, the rest of the postseason will take place in 4 different bubbles. 

The American League will play at Petco Park in San Diego and Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The National League would then play at Globe Life Field in Arlington and Minute Maid Park in Houston.  

Before the shortened season began, the league offices and the Players Association had a heated back and forth on how the season would begin.  Tensions are still high with the potential of a lockout in 2022.  

The question is can the MLB find a way to complete a full playoff without any positive COVID-19 cases while keeping the players happy? Dan Hayes of The Athletic (Minnesota) says, “The 4 different bubbles make a ton of sense because we’ve seen a few outbreaks of COVID-19 from the St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins which postponed a chunk of games.”  

He adds, “This is probably one of the best decisions the MLB has made over the last handful of years.”

The truth of the matter is that it is up to the players whether the bubble works or not.  The MLB can enforce all the rules and regulations they want, but it’s on the players if an outbreak occurs within a team.  

He says, “Players are not thrilled about the bubble, but they want to play for a World Series.”  

“Obviously, they aren’t fond of the idea of being in a bubble for upwards of a month, but they are mostly frustrated by the lack of communication from the league offices.” He adds, “Although players are appreciative of the fact they’re allowing their families to be with them in the bubble.” 

In the NBA and NHL’s bubbles, they didn’t allow the players to have any family for the first month.  

The lack of communication is not a surprise since the commissioner of baseball Rob Manfred has been faulted many times before for this reason.  There was almost no season at all because Manfred was not mediating the arguing between players and the owners of the teams.  

As the season comes to a close and the playoff teams begin to head into their bubbles, the MLB and its fans will have to sit back and see if the plan works.  Through the extensive protocols the MLB has put into place while still allowing the players to be around their families it sure does look like Major League Baseball can pull this feat off.  Hayes, who has been a writer for various MLB teams, thinks it will work just fine if everyone does what they are supposed to do.