Clock Is Ticking On Baseball
June 10, 2020 at 1:13 a.m.
Clock Is Ticking On Baseball
By Roger Grossman-
Owners are mourning the loss of every game not played so far because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and are staring at the massive loss of revenue from not having fans in the stands of any of the games that are played.
IF there are any played, that is.
The players don’t like the way it looks for them either.
The players already agreed to pro-rated salaries back in March, and now ownership is talking about cutting their pay even more.
And, the players reason that they are the ones who will be “risking their health and safety” to play games. They will be the ones who will be throwing the ball back and forth, hitting it with the bat they touch with their hands, tagging baserunners with their gloves and all of the things that violate basic health guidelines we’ve been under since March.
I just can’t see a guy standing behind the pitcher’s mound wiping down baseballs with Clorox wipes after every pitch.
The bigger issue for me when it comes to the players is that, in order to protect everyone involved, players may be placed in a season-long quarantine.
They won’t be in the physical presence of their families at all. No eating out on the road. They won’t even be allowed to hang out with the people on their own team.
Nothing.
So you can see both sides of this, right?
The owners aren’t making any money and enough of the players are hesitant to get back on the field to put us in a stalemate.
Normally, I have a pretty clear feeling on who is right and who is wrong, but not on this one. Not only that, I am resistant to pitch my tent in the camp of the sentiment that says “they’re all too rich and they should just play because it’s the right thing to do.”
I can’t do that, either.
A few weeks back, I said it was time for the NBA and NHL to give up trying to repair and complete their 2019-2020 seasons. I said it was time to for everyone involved to cut their losses and get ready for their drafts and fall training camps.
Now, I’ll add that if baseball doesn’t start playing real games by Independence Weekend, they should scrap their 2020 season too.
Football has already put it out there that they are planning to play this season—on time, as scheduled.
Do you think many people are going to pay much attention to regular season baseball games when football is games are going on? Nope. No way.
Baseball has one chance, and it’s to get people together for training this week and start playing games on July 3 in an 82-game schedule.
And, make no mistake, we could really use baseball games to be played as soon as possible. It would be a signal to us that we are taking steps toward getting back to…to…whatever you want to call it (I get yelled at by people when I use the word ‘normal’ in a sentence).
But in a game that doesn’t have a clock, the proverbial clock is ticking on baseball in 2020.
The ticking is getting louder and louder and louder.
Hope the players and owners do something before that ticking stops.
Owners are mourning the loss of every game not played so far because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and are staring at the massive loss of revenue from not having fans in the stands of any of the games that are played.
IF there are any played, that is.
The players don’t like the way it looks for them either.
The players already agreed to pro-rated salaries back in March, and now ownership is talking about cutting their pay even more.
And, the players reason that they are the ones who will be “risking their health and safety” to play games. They will be the ones who will be throwing the ball back and forth, hitting it with the bat they touch with their hands, tagging baserunners with their gloves and all of the things that violate basic health guidelines we’ve been under since March.
I just can’t see a guy standing behind the pitcher’s mound wiping down baseballs with Clorox wipes after every pitch.
The bigger issue for me when it comes to the players is that, in order to protect everyone involved, players may be placed in a season-long quarantine.
They won’t be in the physical presence of their families at all. No eating out on the road. They won’t even be allowed to hang out with the people on their own team.
Nothing.
So you can see both sides of this, right?
The owners aren’t making any money and enough of the players are hesitant to get back on the field to put us in a stalemate.
Normally, I have a pretty clear feeling on who is right and who is wrong, but not on this one. Not only that, I am resistant to pitch my tent in the camp of the sentiment that says “they’re all too rich and they should just play because it’s the right thing to do.”
I can’t do that, either.
A few weeks back, I said it was time for the NBA and NHL to give up trying to repair and complete their 2019-2020 seasons. I said it was time to for everyone involved to cut their losses and get ready for their drafts and fall training camps.
Now, I’ll add that if baseball doesn’t start playing real games by Independence Weekend, they should scrap their 2020 season too.
Football has already put it out there that they are planning to play this season—on time, as scheduled.
Do you think many people are going to pay much attention to regular season baseball games when football is games are going on? Nope. No way.
Baseball has one chance, and it’s to get people together for training this week and start playing games on July 3 in an 82-game schedule.
And, make no mistake, we could really use baseball games to be played as soon as possible. It would be a signal to us that we are taking steps toward getting back to…to…whatever you want to call it (I get yelled at by people when I use the word ‘normal’ in a sentence).
But in a game that doesn’t have a clock, the proverbial clock is ticking on baseball in 2020.
The ticking is getting louder and louder and louder.
Hope the players and owners do something before that ticking stops.
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