Baseball Coming Soon

I can never recall a time during the middle of May that baseball wasn’t being played. Usually this time of the year calls for baseball, the NBA playoffs, and the Kentucky Derby. This year, we have none of the above…for the first time since 1918. As a baseball fan, the question becomes when exactly baseball will return.

Over the past several weeks, Major League Baseball has been devising a plan to return this summer, with numerous changes potentially just for this shortened season. The regular season could potentially only be 80 to 100 games…depending on how many double headers could be played in the projected time frame for the sport. Major League Baseball is proposing a three- division season, with ten teams per division, all of which will be determined by location to reduce travel. It seems that stadiums could be empty for the season, which would be disappointing if you told me this back in February, but in the wake of this pandemic, I would happily sit this season out and not attend any games until the 2021 season if this were to allow me to watch baseball once more.

Under this proposed plan by the Commissioner of baseball Rob Manfred, Spring Training would endure a “part two” if you will, to get players back into game shape, which could begin in June with the season beginning in July, possibly ending sometime in November. Different locations have been proposed, including regular stadiums from each team but also spring training facilities in both Florida and Arizona. To dramatically reduce travel, teams could just play in their spring training stadiums. This is something that has been on the table for some time now, but a decision could be made shortly on this matter.

Baseball will look much different this year, but for an avid fan like myself, whatever it takes to see players back on the diamond again.