OT: Baseball is screwed!

[Scoe]

Anyone associated with baseball (umpires, team chefs, stadium workers, team staff, etc.) all had the option to opt out of the season. No one forced them to participate.

As for the others (hotel staff, airlines / airport staff) either they only have a job now because the MLB is using their services or their hotels / airlines would be serving other customers, many of which are not frequently tested and under strict protocols like the MLB players are.

I'm not trying to minimize the risk of Covid or call it a hoax. I actually had it myself last month (I live in Nashville) and luckily it wasn't bad, but I know for others it can be. But unless we plan to literally shut everything down until we have a widely available vaccine, which could be another year or two, life should go on, albeit while doing what we can to minimize the risks. People in the MLB circle and those they come in contact with are far safer than the essential workers in the general public like grocery store clerks, nurses, Fedex drivers, etc, because of the constant testing the players undergo.

It can be done people gotta have better discipline, sports teams gotta basically have military discipline to pull this off.

 

[Vuce]

This doesn't bode well for ncaa sports

You are right. There won’t be full seasons of nba, nfl, college football or hoops. All done til 2021

 

[the Q]

I think it's a bit crazy that the NBA is trying to finish their season but they're the only ones with a prayer. They went a full week without a positive COVID test.

MLB, NFL, etc. that think they can get away with normal travel don't have a prayer.

I’d bet on the nhl over the nba.

 

[Scoe]

Hasn't exactly been protocol during games, either. As much as I loved watching the Yankees again I cringed every time someone high-fived or hugged in the dugout. Not to mention Boone wasn't even wearing his mask correctly half the time. This was always going to be difficult seeing as we never (even tried) to get levels down to as low as Germany or other European countries before they brought back soccer.

Crazy thing is Clint Frazier of all people took it the most seriously then he gets screwed over getting sent down.

 

[superjohn]

You are right. There won’t be full seasons of nba, nfl, college football or hoops. All done til 2021

Move every college sport to the Spring, by then it should be clear to us we have to live with this.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I think it's a bit crazy that the NBA is trying to finish their season but they're the only ones with a prayer. They went a full week without a positive COVID test.

MLB, NFL, etc. that think they can get away with normal travel don't have a prayer.

It's no different for college basketball in the fall/winter. We need to prepare for that.

The reality is you play the games, guys test positive and you simply don't worry about that or you don't play. It's not reasonable to think you can actually play and travel and not have people test positive.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

MLB did not have a plan for this.

There is too much money at stake to trust anyone to do the right thing

Not defending Lou Williams, but going to Magic City just for the food is actually plausible. Dumb move considering the optics, but it is plausible.

 

[UCfor3]

Anyone associated with baseball (umpires, team chefs, stadium workers, team staff, etc.) all had the option to opt out of the season. No one forced them to participate.

As for the others (hotel staff, airlines / airport staff) either they only have a job now because the MLB is using their services or their hotels / airlines would be serving other customers, many of which are not frequently tested and under strict protocols like the MLB players are.

I'm not trying to minimize the risk of Covid or call it a hoax. I actually had it myself last month (I live in Nashville) and luckily it wasn't bad, but I know for others it can be. But unless we plan to literally shut everything down until we have a widely available vaccine, which could be another year or two, life should go on, albeit while doing what we can to minimize the risks. People in the MLB circle and those they come in contact with are far safer than the essential workers in the general public like grocery store clerks, nurses, Fedex drivers, etc, because of the constant testing the players undergo.

That's kind of the point though. Baseball is not essential. There is a lot of real estate between life must go on and play baseball so we have something to watch on TV. I want life back as much as anyone, but if we continue with half measures this will only extend longer.

 

[freescooter]

Good I'm also rooting for the same thing.

The jury is still out on that. Before we can jump to any conclusions we need to figure out where the players got virus (most likely). Was it in the general course of traveling to and from the hotel and ball park? Or were the players going out to bars and restaurants in Miami / Atlanta?

I will agree, that if it they players were following the protocols and picked it up inside the strict rules the MLB has laid out, the season should be reconsidered. But if the players broke those protocols, then we can't fault the system.

No. But people are people. All it takes is 1 person, even unintentionally/ accidentally to do something dumb and you can go from all the protocols you want to what, 15 cases.

 

[Pawsox]

Yankees/Phillies has been postponed

Hopefully, Joel Sherman is wrong saying it is cancelled and not just postponed. Big difference between those two words.

 

[Scoe]

Yankees should just play 3 vs the Orioles in the Bronx, would make sense travel wise as the Orioles just played 3 games in Fenway.

 

[HuskyHawk]

That's kind of the point though. Baseball is not essential. There is a lot of real estate between life must go on and play baseball so we have something to watch on TV. I want life back as much as anyone, but if we continue with half measures this will only extend longer.

What is essential is irrelevant really. Every job is essential to the people who have those jobs. Baseball players have very short careers. The case for college sports is much weaker, but you still have players who will potentially miss their window.

As @superjohn said, at some point we will need to just accept that this disease is out there and people get it and move on with living normal lives. I don't think we are there yet, but people thinking it is going away, even in places with low spread, aren't being realistic. Whether half measures or full measures, this is still going to extend indefinitely.

 

[BlueDogs]

It probably is wishful thinking on my part considering how pitiful the Red Sox starting rotation is this year. It could be a "long" short season for the Sox. I'll just have to reminisce about the 4 series wins in the 2000s!

Unfortunately pitching is a disaster and will be all year, and the offense is not loaded with enough weapons to cover for it. Not impressed with the managers moves already 3 games in. Ownership is not interested in winning and looking to milk the past.

 

[TXHuskyFan]

But, but you can’t catch it from surfaces.

 

[August_West]

Anyone associated with baseball (umpires, team chefs, stadium workers, team staff, etc.) all had the option to opt out of the season. No one forced them to participate

Do teachers have that option this fall?

 

[UCfor3]

Who thinks it's going away? The states that "got on with their life" are hotspots now. Miles between Connecticut or Europe and what we see in Florida now. Having sports outside a bubble in hotspot states is destined to fail right now. Do the work now and you have a chance later on. It's hard feeling bad for millionaire baseball players missing a year when them playing affects so many people other than themselves. Millions are out of work. Players missing a season barely registers. They will still be insured even without playing unlike other people. I do feel bad for all the minor league players though.

 

[HitDog]

Hopefully, Joel Sherman is wrong saying it is cancelled and not just postponed. Big difference between those two words.

it was originally announced as canceled but they are now using postponed.

 

[M.S.G.]

Do teachers have that option this fall?

Yes and no.. Depending on having pre-existing conditions and if you're tenured the union has sent us emails saying it's an available option. However, I would imagine the paper trail needed would be extraordinary.

As far as baseball, it was a matter of time. With loose rules pretty much up and down the board, leaving these guys to their own devices it hasn't shocked me to see 3-4 guys pop up as positive per day.

It was fun while it lasted! This weekend was fun as hell being able to flip around on the MLB ticket from game to game all afternoon and evening... Oh well!

 

[Scoe]

If this is true just wow. I would have thought Mattingly would be smarter then this, shame on MLB too.

 

[sledog]

When u slide over the back fence to go to a strip club, u'r asking for it. Whatever u believe on the guidlines, pro athletes don't have both oars in the water.

With politics re-introduced into pro sports, attendance, even TV watching, will plummet. Krapchick lesson went unheeded.

 

[BGesus4]

We need a complete and total lockdown, i.e., no citizens leaving their houses for any reason whatsoever, until midnight madness. #casualfan

 

[UConnMike04]

Look at it this way: ATL plays Miami last week in a scrimmage for a few games. ATL plays the Mets. Miami plays the Phillies. Yanks play Phillies and Mets are in Boston. Symptoms can take 5-14 days to start showing and usually 5-7 days for a positive test. That means just this week alone the Marlins, Mets, Phillies, Braves, Yanks and Boston could’ve been exposed. The season won’t be cancelled now (although I wonder if it would’ve been diff had it been the Yanks or dodgers, Cubs, etc instead of the Marlins), but I give it till mid-August latest.

 

[jibsey]

We need a complete and total lockdown, i.e., no citizens leaving their houses for any reason whatsoever, until midnight madness. #casualfan

This is the only thing that would work or something very close to this. Manfred did a bad job.

 

[Lynyrd]

 

[Rico444]

Look at it this way: ATL plays Miami last week in a scrimmage for a few games. ATL plays the Mets. Miami plays the Phillies. Yanks play Phillies and Mets are in Boston. Symptoms can take 5-14 days to start showing and usually 5-7 days for a positive test. That means just this week alone the Marlins, Mets, Phillies, Braves, Yanks and Boston could’ve been exposed. The season won’t be cancelled now (although I wonder if it would’ve been diff had it been the Yanks or dodgers, Cubs, etc instead of the Marlins), but I give it till mid-August latest.

Not to derail this thread, but this sort of thing just makes it obvious that kids going back to school is going to be a disaster.