The Baseball I know

[DOUGHBOYS]

Almost all of us hope there is a baseball season.
We are starved for sports. We are starved for some semblance of normalcy.
Dammit, we want these players back on the field.
We are selfish sombitches.

There are so many things preventing baseball from happening this year that I don't think they could even cobble together an 82 game schedule.
Number one is time.
Every day we wake up from our bed is another day wasted of the possibility of baseball.
The logistics are just horrible too.
Players would have to be tested up the wazoo (not literally) and John Q Public hates the privileged receiving benefits not afforded them.
They would be flying into cities that may have become 'hot spots' for the virus. Major League Baseball would have to get approval from local municipalities and the Government on the fly.
What happens if a player gets the virus?
Quarantine for him?
Quarantine for his teammates?
Then what?
These are just a few things. There are many more.
And still not touched is the owners and players agreeing and all the money lost with empty stadiums.

The empty stadiums is enough for me to call the season.
Empty stadiums means it's not real baseball. Unless going back to High School when it was just family and girlfriends.
Crowds are a big part of the game.
The players feed off those crowds.
Do you think that players have home-away splits favorable to home because of the ball park in all cases?
If baseball is played without fans we can take away the line "Take me out with the crowds" from 'Take Me Out To The Ball Game'.
We can also take away "Buy me some peanuts and CrackerJack" too.
It's not real baseball at all.
Don't believe me?
Remember when Baltimore had the riots and a game was played there without fans?
Here is what Adam Eaton, who was playing for the White Sox against Baltimore related to the Baltimore Sun that day...

“The reason we are here is because of the fans and when they’re not present, baseball is a little different and it’s kind of tough to play”.
“You’re in the outfield thinking, ‘Should we really be playing baseball right now? Is that really the greater thing we should be doing?’ And I definitely think a lot of guys questioned that at the time.”
(Referring to the riots)

Eaton, the game’s first batter, stepped into the box to face Orioles right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez. It was a strange moment. “I thought I underestimated it,” Eaton said. “To be honest with you, when I first went into it I didn’t think it would be a big deal. There was almost this half-asleep feel because there was no energy. There were no people there. … There was no music. … It was almost like worse than a back-field spring training game.

“When you step into that batter’s box and there was no nothing, you had the realization that it was a big deal that there was nobody here. We’ve got to play because this is our job, but there’s a reason why there’s nobody here. It’s very somber in that sense.

“You’ve just got a lot of emotions running through your mind. As baseball players, as teams, we feed off energy and when there’s nothing there, it’s a very surreal and weird moment that I’ll never forget but I kind of wish I could.”

And now, because of our selfishness, we expect EVERY player to experience Eaton's feelings while a pandemic rages.
Sometimes I wag the finger at myself.
I'm selfish. I want baseball.
But when looking at it from a more panoramic view, I relent.
A shortened schedule with no fans and the possibility that it could all end in an instant anyways with a positive test.
That's not baseball.
At least the baseball I know.

[fwicker]

Well said. I agree with you.