There’s been a lot of discussion about the season resuming at some point with or without live attendees in close proximity to one another. The thought of empty stadiums is pretty weird, to say the least. However, what are the odds someone can actually clean all the germs off the seats and other publicly touched parts of the inside of a stadium?
Most of us watch ballgames on TV or over the Internet. Even in a fully sold out stadium the total number of people who would be experiencing the game after passing through the turnstiles is about 50,000. While that’s not a small number, compare that to the millions who would see the game via a type of broadcast with video or via a radio crew.
Some folks are advocating skipping the 2020 season entirely while others are saying a 60-day wrap up of August and September is sufficient. What’s that old joke -- ideas are like, um, posterior orifices? Everybody’s got one.
Long before the days of online baseball game simulations we survived the winter and off-days by playing games like Strat-O-Matic to give us a sense of what might happen if the games we desired to see actually took place. I remember the first time someone introduced me to the concept of fantasy baseball I felt as if I’d found my role in life as a team owner and GM since my baseball skills were pathetic even by Little League standards.
Personally, I think there’s great value in bringing back some of the real games even if played to empty stadiums. People mostly listen to, watch or view online the actual games much more so than attending them. Yes, it will be mighty weird seeing a 50,000 seat stadium devoid of attendees. It might give some folks Marlins or Orioles nightmarish visions. However, to preserve the health of the fans and, more importantly, to reenergize the fanbase by giving them actual competition, it’s the right thing to do.
I’m less concerned about resumption of air travel as the environment is much smaller and easier to clean than an entire stadium. Besides, no one only wants to see games between their home team and whatever other team is in driving distance. Isn’t the bus just as susceptible to germs and viruses as an airplane? When was the last time you saw a clean bus, anyway?
Until such time as the teams are ready to resume an official if abbreviated schedule, perhaps it is time to revive the Strat-O-Matic or Nintendo or other simulated game and let the real players take ownership of the teams. It’s not perfect, but it markets the players and the game itself to the fans. It can be done from the comfort of the player’s home and it keeps the baseball fires burning.
Another option is already being exercised with the broadcast stations airing videos of actual games and series that took place long before there was a pandemic. I’m sure there will be marathons of baseball movies and documentaries following in the near future. We all miss the game and at this point will gladly take what we can get.
The Mets and Yanks could play Acho other 80 times. No travel.
ReplyDeleteThank God Ozark opened up again.
ReplyDeleteI'm actually more concerned about next season.
ReplyDeleteYou have to think of the players and the long, extended curve of this illness. What happens when one guy in the clubhouse for one of the teams is diagnosed? Will we be living in a world where, shrug, that's okay now? Until there's some kind of reasonable vaccine, it's hard for me to see this moving forward.
Jimmy
Jimmy
DeleteEverybody has too much time on their hands right now, including Mets suits.
Why not concentrate on producing a new contract for Stroman and a year extension for Syndergaard?
Lastly, imagine no season:
Stat lines -
Porcello and Wacha: 0-IP, 0.OO
I always felt Wacha and Porcello would be untouchable.
ReplyDeleteI am one of those Americans who is in the high risk category. So I would not be going to a game until a vaccine is available and I see how well it works. Because of that and for American morale I think MLB should start up baseball this year With empty stadiums to start with. If someone has gotten the virus and is immune to it they should get a card that says they are immune. Then only these people can go into stadiums to watch the game in person. They say some people have had the virus without having symptoms and are immune. They say we can develop a test for these people. These people should be tested and if that is the case given a card that allows them into events with large gatherings.
ReplyDeleteLet’s discuss the players. Most players if given a vote would say let’s play baseball. Most young people who get the virus only experience cold like symptoms or none at all. We have the flu every year and we don’t stop baseball. I read one player suggested they at first they can wear masked. I feel after every half inning all the ballplayers wash their hands for twenty seconds before going out on the field.
Everyone is in rush to cancel the season without thinking of creative ways to have a season. During the 1918 pandemic they had a season and a World Series. Yes mistakes were made and more people died then should have. But we should be smarter and learned what we can do right from the last pandemic.
I asked this question once before and never got an answer. Are MLB players going to be paid their normal salary if they never play a game this season? If not will they get unemployment?
ReplyDeleteDo you think Amazon workers should go to work? How about Target or Walmart workers? Some of these workers wanted to go on strike, do you know what happened to them? They got fired.
Major league players are under contract to be paid, so logic would say that the pandemic is not their fault and the owners are indeed obligated to pay them. That is why so many other companies are furloughing their staffs so they can avoid this financial obligation. Contracts are a good thing for workers which is why so few workers have them.
ReplyDeleteApparently the number is $4000 per day for 60 days:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.foxnews.com/sports/mlb-veterans-pay-suspended-season-coronavirus