PLAY BALL! Baseball is officially coming back in July, but there will be new riles attached to the shortened season.

Less than an hour after announcing the league would hold off on setting its 60-game season until players agreed to a new operating manual, Commissioner Rob Manfred made it official: Baseball will be returning in July.

It will be the shortest season in MLB history, set to begin July 23rd or 24th with each team playing four divisional rivals 10 times, plus four games against five teams from the other league, Manfred says. The games will be scheduled so each team has to make only one trip to each city they visit.

And YES, all games will be played in empty stadiums.

The new season will also bring in some new rules. Here are a few of the notable changes for the 2020 season: The National League will be able to use designated hitters, pitchers will be required to face a minimum of three batters, and teams will get a runner on second base at the start of extra innings.

What do you think about the new rules? Are you excited about the return of baseball even without a roaring crowd? Maybe they will use backing tracks for games just to make it seem like you are really there.

6-24-20