Major League Baseball is trying to spice things up for the Home Run Derby, using a bracket format and four rounds instead of three. Here's how it'll work:
Each hitter will get seven outs per round, instead of 10.
Round 1 will feature 10 participants – five from each league. The leader from each league gets a bye into Round 3, and two players from each league will be eliminated.
Round 2 will pit the second- and third-leading home run hitters from each league.
Round 3 will be the semifinals, pitting the winners of Rounds 1 and 2 from each league.
Round 4 will be the finals.
At the end of any round, if two or more players are tied each player will get three swings to hit as many homers as possible. If they're still tied, they'll each get one swing until the tie is broken.
JOE CHRISTENSEN
