Outside The Confines: Start planning your road trips!

I don’t know about you, but the release of the schedules for next season is always an incredible day for me. I have an annual tradition of looking at the schedules with a friend and deciding where we will take our baseball trips for the next year. And with travel having been difficult over the last couple of seasons, the 2022 season schedules have me more excited than usual.

We shared the Cubs version on Wednesday, but it has me wondering: do you plan your travel based on where the Cubs are playing, or do you just try to get to games wherever you happen to be? Or are you (like me) just trying to get to every stadium, and seeing your favorite team there is great if it happens to work out?

Or, do you not pay any attention to the schedule until the season arrives?

Regardless, schedules are now available, so if you’re a planner, it’s time to get planning!

• The only potential downside of getting excited for 2022 games is the potential of a work stoppage.
• Jon Greenberg and Stephen J. Nesbitt bring us this incredible 100-year history of baseball on the radio. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Andy Dolich looks at the ongoing issues surrounding Oakland’s new ballpark.
• The Mets opted not to finalize things with their first-round draft pick Kumar Rocker. Alex Coffey talks to other spurned pitchers who know how Rocker is feeling right now.
• Chet Gutwein looks at how late-inning leads are less secure this season.
• Jeff Passan gives us an overview of how things are going to look going into the second half now that the trade deadline is done.
• Which teams might be having some post-deadline regrets? Matt Kelly looks at seven teams who might be second-guessing things.
• Peter Gammons rounds up the 10 pitchers who will make the biggest impact over the final two months of the regular season. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• MLBPA is honoring the players who have reached the 10-year mark of service time.
• All our embeds today are related to the newly announced Field of Dreams uniforms.

• Brittany Ghiroli investigates the terrible living conditions many minor league players find themselves in. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Bo Bichette talks to FanGraphs’ David Laurila about his approach to hitting.
• Houston Astros pitcher J.R. Richard has passed away at the age of 71. Story by Wilton Jackson.
• Team USA will be facing Team Japan for a gold medal at the Olympics, shares Michael Guzman.
• Scott Kazmir is hoping to turn his positive Olympics experience into a pathway back to the majors, shares Joe Vardon. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Mike Petriello thinks Bryce Harper has a shot at being NL MVP.
• As the Dodgers look to bolster their starting pitching depth, they signed Cole Hamels. Jay Jaffe explores what that signing means for LA.
• Speaking of Dodgers pitching, the debut of Max Scherzer with his new team was a postseason-worthy performance, writes Nick Selbe.
• Kiley McDaniel looks at the top 50 prospects in baseball going into the second half.
• David Adler looks at the Field of Dreams throwback uniforms.
• And if you want to see a glimpse of them without clicking...

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.