Big changes are on the way for the Home Run Derby, one of Major League Baseball’s most anticipated All-Star week events. According to a report by The Athletic on Wednesday, the Derby is set to abandon the timed format in favor of a fixed number of swings.

In this revamped format, participants will take 20 swings in the first round. The number of swings decreases to 15 for both the second and third rounds, adding an extra layer of strategy to the competition.

Adding a thrilling twist, batters who hit a home run on their final swing of any round will continue to bat until they fail to hit a homer.

For instance, if a player hits a home run on their 20th swing during the first round, they can keep swinging until they miss, potentially racking up additional home runs.

For example, if a player hits a homer on the 20th swing of the first round, they keep taking swings until they record an out.

The top four finishers of the eight-player pool from the first round will advance to the second round, where the top first-round finisher will face the player with the fewest homers in the first round.

The second and third seeds also will face off to decide the championship matchup.

One of the biggest reasons for the change, according to The Athletic, was the new viewing experience for fans. This year’s derby will be the first on Netflix, and the streamer’s personnel asked for feedback from MLB and players for ways to improve the competition.

With the previous structure utilizing a timer, players said they would get tired trying to take as many swings as possible before the clock expired. Players will now have the ability to build drama and anticipation between swings.

The Home Run Derby has undergone several rule and format changes since the event’s introduction in 1985. From that year through 2014, the competition used some form of an outs-based system. In 2015 at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, MLB introduced the clock to great fanfare.

Fans will see the newest setup in action in the 2026 Home Run Derby, scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern on July 13 at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park.

None of the eight participants has been announced, though Yankees slugger Ben Rice said this week that he “would love” to be part of the homer show.

NEW YORK (AP) — A tragic incident unfolded in Central Park on Wednesday when a runaway carriage horse caused a teenager to be thrown to the ground. The young individual has since succumbed to injuries, as reported by the police.

The unfortunate event occurred around 3 p.m., involving an 18-year-old and three others who were passengers in the carriage. As the horse raced uncontrollably, at least two of the riders were ejected from the vehicle, according to the New York Police Department.

Initially, the teenager was rushed to the hospital in critical condition, while the other passengers opted against seeking medical attention.

The Transport Workers Union, representing carriage industry workers, disclosed that the driver had stepped away from the carriage to take a photo of the passengers, an action that is against protocol.

Alexander Kemp, the administrative vice president of the union’s local branch, noted that the horse had only been working in the park for six weeks. He is advocating for a thorough investigation into the incident.

“Safety in the park has been a growing concern among many, and improvements are needed to be made with respect to all vehicles, including e-bicycles, delivery vehicles, pedicabs, and horse-drawn carriages,” he said in a statement.

Video showed the horse sprinting through the park as two people appeared to jump from the four-wheeled carriage. A second video shows the cab toppling over after clipping the wheels of another carriage on the park’s busy loop.

It’s a fraught moment for Central Park’s 150-year-old horse-drawn carriage industry. The industry has long been seen as a quaint attraction that offers tourists a romantic remnant of a bygone New York, while providing hundreds of jobs to drivers, along with many farm and racing horses. But they are now facing the growing threat of a ban from opponents who say the rides are both inhumane to horses and a danger to city residents.

Wednesday’s event follows several recent horse-related problems in the park, including the fatal collapse of a horse last week.

The Central Park Conservancy, the nonprofit which operates the park and came out last summer in support of banning horse-drawn carriages, said the back-to-back events should bring an end to the industry.

“A young man came to enjoy our park and lost his life,” the group said in a statement. “That is not an acceptable cost of an antiquated industry operating in the middle of one of the most heavily used public spaces in America.”

Central Park is nearly 850 acres and attracts millions of people every year.

On Tuesday, Michelle Obama honored her late mother, Marian Robinson, at a key event for her husband’s $850 million presidential library in Chicago.

Known for their close bond, Michelle and her mother shared years together in the White House, where Robinson played a vital role in helping to raise Sasha and Malia during the Obama administration.

Robinson passed away in May 2024 at 86. The family simply mentioned that she died peacefully, choosing not to reveal further details about her passing.

At the event, Michelle, now 62, took to the stage at the Barack Obama Presidential Center, donning a pencil skirt adorned with a sepia-toned photograph of her mother.

Despite swirling rumors about their marriage, Barack Obama showed affection by holding Michelle’s hand and kissing her cheek on stage. This public display came just a day before their first joint TV interview in ten years was set to air on Good Morning America.

Neither of them has yet addressed the viral moment UFC fighter Josh Hokit bellowed: ‘Michelle Obama is a man!’ during Donald Trump’s White House birthday event.

Michelle Obama paid tribute to her late mother Marian Robinson at a stakeholders event for her husband’s presidential library in Chicago this Tuesday

This Tuesday, Michelle, 62, took the stage at the Barack Obama Presidential Center wearing a pencil skirt splashed with a sepia photo of her mother

Amid a swirl of speculation about the state of their marriage, Obama stood beside Michelle onstage and kissed her cheek

Held this past Sunday and entitled Freedom 250, the UFC extravaganza saw Hokit triumph over Derrick Lewis on the White House’s South Lawn.

During a post-match interview with a grinning Joe Rogan, Hokit praised Trump ‘for having the b***s to put this s**t on,’ then after a few other remarks roared: ‘And lastly, Michelle Obama is a man! Am I right, America?’

His slur against the former First Lady drew a mixture of whoops and jeers from the live audience, while Trump discreetly took off the Josh Hokit chain he had been wearing around his neck, in footage obtained by TMZ.

As a roiling furor erupted online, Hokit doubled down, while UFC CEO Dana White sharply criticized his remarks in an interview with Time magazine.

‘I understand that the Obamas are public figures but I’m completely against saying nasty and false things about people’s families,’ said White. ‘Everyone knows my position on free speech but I hate that kind of nonsense.’

Meanwhile, the Obamas’ appearance at the 44th president’s library unfolded against the backdrop of a fresh controversy as contractors say they still haven’t been paid just days before its grand opening.

African American Contractors Association president Omar Shareef said seven workers contacted him to complaint about missed payments, Front Page Mag reports. 

‘It’s to the point that they wished they had never done [the project],’ Shareef told the outlet. 

Some subcontractors are missing as much as seven figures in payment, and many are feeling the pressure of keeping their businesses afloat. 

The 225-foot tall library dubbed the ‘Obamalisk’ is also facing backlash from critics who have branded its design ‘anti-Christian.’

The former First Lady was famously close to her mother, who moved into the White House during the Obama years; Robinson and Michelle are pictured in 2012

Robinson, pictured with Michelle, died in May 2024 at the age of 86, with the Obamas noting simply that she had ‘passed peacefully’ without disclosing a specific cause of death

Michelle (bottom right) is pictured with her brother Craig Robinson and their parents Fraser and Marian Robinson, who raised them on the South Side of Chicago

Neither of them has addressed the viral moment UFC fighter Josh Hokit bellowed: ‘Michelle Obama is a man!’ during Donald Trump’s White House birthday event

Pastor and author Todd Friel said the center’s design is an ‘intentional slight to God.’ 

The library is due to open with live performances, activities, food and art on Friday and is several hundred million dollars over its initial $300 million budget.

Much of the delay and rise in cost was pinned on the pandemic, but the ongoing spat with contractors has been largely public for many months. 

A $40 million federal lawsuit emerged between Thornton Tomasetti and one of the subcontractors involved in the project, as Tomasetti was accused of making false claims and racial discrimination, the Real Deal reported. 

Lakeside Alliance, the general contractor for Obama’s library, said tensions such as these are normal due to the size and number of moving parts involved in the project. 

In a statement to the Real Deal, Lakeside Alliance said that the Obama Center’s ‘contractual closeout – including the review and resolution of outstanding invoices, change orders and other project matters – continues long after the doors open.’

According to Fox News, Illinois GOP Chair Robert Grogan said: ‘One of their core promises was they were supposed to create an endowment as basically an insurance policy so the taxpayers wouldn’t get stuck with the bill.’

‘They promised hundreds of millions of dollars for it. It’s still sitting at the $1 million mark [where it stood] when they opened it up. So I don’t believe that they’ve kept that promise.

Obama’s Presidential Library, standing 225-foot tall, is set to have its grand opening with live performances, activities, food and art on Friday

The center, which ballooned over its original cost estimation of $300 million to $850 million, has faced mounting backlash as contractors claim that their invoices are going unpaid

African American Contractors Association President Omar Shareef told Crain’s Chicago Business that seven separate subcontractors have contacted him for help securing missing payments from the project

‘The fact that they have created this probably unsustainable edifice to an ego and then, eventually, if it goes under, who’s going to be caught with the bill time and time again? It’s the taxpayers of the city, citizens of Chicago and the state of Illinois.’

Adamson Plumbing President Mike Owen showed the outlet that, according to company spreadsheets, the firm is nearly $4 million in the red due to unnecessary rework, delays and over 100 change-order requests resulting in additional costs. 

The Obama Foundation told Fox that it is in compliance with its agreement with the city, which required the creation of an endowment but not a specific dollar amount. 

‘On the eve of our Grand Opening celebrations, we are pleased to reiterate that the Obama Presidential Center is fully funded with generous private contributions,’ the foundation said in a statemen to the outlet. 

In a statement to the Real Deal, Lakeside Alliance said that the Obama Center’s ‘contractual closeout – including the review and resolution of outstanding invoices, change orders and other project matters – continues long after the doors open’

The Obama Foundation told Fox that it is in compliance with its agreement with the city, which required the creation of an endowment but not a specific dollar amount

Some subcontractors are missing as much as seven figures in payment, and many are feeling the pressure of keeping their businesses afloat. Much of the delay and rise in cost was pinned on the pandemic

However, the library has not only faced backlash over subcontractors legal disputes but it has been the center of criticism from a right-wing pastor. 

Todd Friel, a pastor for Alpharetta Bible Church in Georgia who also hosts the show Wretched, slammed the library last week for its ‘anti-Christian’ concrete exterior. 

Friel described the design, dubbed ‘Obamalisk,’ as ‘downright ugly’ and noted comparisons to a Klingon prison or the Death Star from Star Wars. 

‘It looks like a World War II-era German anti-aircraft tower,’ he said on his June 9 show. 

‘It belongs in the Hunger Games. It was designed by Minecraft. In other words, the thing is downright ugly.’

Friel went on to say that the design, which was reportedly influenced by Obama himself, emulates ‘anti-Christian’ aesthetics. 

‘His new presidential center, I think, can be described as atheistic, anti-Christian, Marxist, and just another effort from Barack Obama to do what he’s been endeavoring to do now since he was nominated president, and that is to fundamentally change America,’ Friel said. 

The pastor also claimed that he believes the building to be a ‘tangible symbol’ of the former president’s ‘utterly destructive worldviews’ and an ‘intentional slight to God.’

Todd Friel, a pastor for Alpharetta Bible Church in Georgia who also hosts the show Wretched, slammed the library last week for its ‘anti-Christian’ concrete exterior

The pastor claimed that he believes the building to be a ‘tangible symbol’ of the former president’s ‘utterly destructive worldviews’ and an ‘intentional slight to God’

Friel argued that Obama’s design aligned with deconstructivism, which he described as ‘atheistic with a healthy heaping of post-modernism’ and tied to Marxist ideology

‘You don’t walk into a building and decide what it means; the building decides what it wants you to feel about reality,’ he continued. 

‘Why? Because buildings preach, and the Obama Center is a really lousy sermon.’

Friel noted several architectural philosophies, including the tradition rooted in Greco-Roman ideals which were Christianized later to allegedly reflect truth and beauty. 

He went on to note that deconstructivism, which draws from postmodern ideals and rejects those notions. The concept in architecture emerged largely in the 1980s, and was seen to break away from traditional notions of order and symmetry, instead looking to represent the unpredictable nature of modern life. 

Deconstructivism was influenced by the philosophy of deconstruction, which suggests meaning and knowledge are not fixed but open to interpretation. 

Friel argued that Obama’s design aligned with deconstructivism, which he described as ‘atheistic with a healthy heaping of post-modernism’ and tied to Marxist ideology. 

‘Traditional architecture affirmed order. Deconstructivism destabilizes it,’ Friel said. 

‘He doesn’t speak with his lips. He speaks with architecture. And what he is saying is as odious as ever.’

The pastor went on to argue that Obama’s library was a visual representation of, ‘I hate this America. I hate tradition. And I reject God’s ordering of reality.’

The Daily Mail reached out to the Office of Barack and Michelle Obama, the Obama Foundation, the African American Contractors Association and the Alpharetta Bible Church for comment.