Los Angeles Times

Expanded playoffs beyond 2020? Inside the MLB push — and the pushback.

LOS ANGELES - October Madness is just about upon us. In a virus-shortened Major League Baseball season in which more than half the teams make the playoffs, at least one is likely to have a losing record.

It wouldn't be the first time. In 1981, the Kansas City Royals made the playoffs with a 50-53 record. A player strike had interrupted the summer, and baseball celebrated its return by splitting the season in two. The Royals finished fifth in their division in the first half, then first in the second half, good enough for a ticket to October.

The split season was a gimmick, just like this season's 60-game

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