Play Ball!

 

 

By Andrew Rosario

 

 

Spring training was moving along entering the month of March. Two weeks later and after the NBA shut down their season, Major League Baseball closed all of its spring training facilities. Soon after that, commissioner Rob Manfred announced opening day would be cancelled with no date established when that first pitch would be thrown. With the Coronavirus/Covid19 pandemic taking thousands of lives in this country alone and with social distancing being emphasized, it is not sure when sporting events will resume. When it dose, there is a very good chance that no fans will be in attendance. 

 

The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) kicked off April 12th and the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) began earlier this month. The games were played with cardboard cutouts of fans in the stands. That is not the only organized sport that will have to played in that type of environment. The English Premier Soccer League which was shut down in March is set to resume June 1st. This upcoming weekend, Bundesliga and their second tier team from Germany will play in empty stadiums. La Liga from Spain are looking at June 12th to reboot their season. Italy’s team Series A have been cleared to practice May 18th but they have yet to establish a date to resume their season. The government shut down the France season all together two weeks. This after the Dutch Eredivisie did the same thing. The death toll in Italy due to the virus as of this past Monday is more than a horrific 31,000, France’s death rate has exceeded 26,000. Here in the United States the death rate has almost doubled those figures to the tune of more than 81,000.

 

 

 

 

It is why Manfred and the powers that be from MLB have been hesitant to set a date to the return as America’s Pastime. What has been discussed is what the league might look like when the games resume. No matter what they decide, one thing is for sure: The traditional 162 games will not be played. One scenario has a North, South and East division where all games would be played in Florida. The other division would have the Northeast, West and Northwest playing games in Arizona. This plan would eliminate the regular American and National Leagues as fans have come to know them. For this season anyway. The postseason format would be changed as well. First, two more wild card teams would be added increasing the number of postseason teams from 10 to 14. The top seeds would get a first round bye while the remaining division winners and wild card would face each other in a best 3  series. The proposed changes did not get positive responses from Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer or Phillies shortstop Didi Gregorious. Bauer blasted Manfred saying “your proposal is absurd for to many reasons,” he began. “You have absolutely no clue about baseball. “You’re a joke.” Gregorious reply wasn’t as harsh. “Why are we changing this lovable sport so much,” he asked.

 

Whatever changes that will be made have to be approved by both MLB and the Players Association. MLBPA President Tony Clark issued a statement saying in part, “expanding the playoffs in a sensible way is something worth discussing.”

 

With most cities undergoing mass social distancing and people being told not to leave their place of residence for fear of contracting or spreading the virus, there is a very strong possibility that when games resume, the fans will not be allowed to attend. At this, point realignment of the teams and what the playoffs look like is not among the fans main concerns. They just want to hear these two words: Play Ball!