MLB
changes World Series home-field format rules
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[December 03, 2016]
(Reuters) -
Home
field advantage in the World Series will go to the pennant winner
with the better record rather than the league that wins the All-Star
Game, according to details of Major League Baseball's new labor
agreement revealed on Friday.
MLB averted its first labor glitch in two decades on Wednesday when
it reached a tentative five-year labor deal with the union
representing its players.
Former MLB Commissioner Bud Selig came up with the old rule in 2003
after the prior year's All-Star Game ended in a tie when teams ran
out of pitchers.
Selig's rule replaced another equally debatable rule that saw home
field in the championship series alternate back and forth between
the American League and National League.
Critics of Selig's format pointed to the 2016 season which saw the
Chicago Cubs, despite posting a MLB-best 103 wins in the regular
season, cap off their remarkable World Series comeback from a 3-1
deficit with two wins on the road.
In a bid to keep the All-Star Game competitive, MLB and the MLBPA
said in a joint statement that all players on the active roster of
the winning All-Star team shall share equally in a $640,000 bonus.
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![](../images/120316pics/sports53.jpg)
MLB commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr. answers questions from media
during workouts the day before game one of the 2015 World Series
between the Kansas City Royals and New York Mets at Kauffman
Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Dec/03/images/ads/current/johnsonrealestate_lda_CHRISTMAS_2016.png)
Among other
details of the new deal, the two sides agreed on an international
play plan in which clubs will stage games or tours in Mexico, Asia,
Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and London over the next five
years in order to grow the game.
The deal also includes a strengthened domestic violence policy and
an increase in the number of random drug tests.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Steve Keating) |