Posted on 04/10/2020 9:39:53 PM PDT by dangus
MLB is talking with the players' union to play 2020 with a radical realignment, replacing the National League and American League, in effect, with the Grapefruit League and the Cactus League. All games would be played in front of empty stadiums in Florida or Arizona. I would be so thrilled if this could be worked out; nothing could help restore the national spirit like bringing baseball back! Yes, it might seem wierd for some people to see empty stadiums, but who hasn't seen a Marlins game?
But here's the thing: Once we've temporarily done with the traditional leagues, why go back? The AL and NL are merely divisions now... except for the fact that they've always kept separate records. But once 2020 blurs those records, why re-establish the separation? Why not permanently restructure baseball on geography, giving fans much greater ability to travel to see their favorite teams on the road. Of course, this doesn't particularly benefit geographically isolated teams like Denver as much as teams in clusters, like the Yankees and Mets.
Check out these divisions:
Boston -- New York -- New York -- Toronto -- Philadelphia -- Washington -- Baltimore
Pittsburgh -- Cleveland -- Detroit -- Cincinnati -- Tampa -- Florida -- Atlanta
Chicago -- Chicago -- St. Louis -- Milwaukee -- Kansas City -- Texas -- Houston -- Minnesota
San Diego -- Anaheim or Los Angeles of whatever -- Los Angeles -- Oakland -- San Francisco -- Seattle -- Phoenix -- Denver
Imagine the rivalries! 2 divisions per league, 2 wild-card teams per division (or none). No interleague play needed. I mean, who wants to see Philadelphia play Denver when you could watch then play the Yankees, or even the Orioles?
That's what I would prefer as well.
Estimated losses: $1 million a game.
20000 per game at $50 a seat. Last year it was 28317 fans at $33 plus ballpark food and drinks and parking... over an 81 game season plus playoffs and the World Series.
I’m furloughed from baseball now. No baseball, no fans. No fans, no revenue. No revenue, no job.
I sure hope they’ll work it out too.
While historically teams made 1/2 of their money at the stadium, many teams could barely afford to keep the lights on.
But imagine how many would now watch under sequestration.
Win. Win.
Just do it.
So, you think that Dodger fans like myself never get to see Mike Trout play?
LOL!
We play two series with the Angels every year, both in Anaheim and at Dodger’s stadium. We also play them two series right before the start of the season. It’s called “the freeway series”
I live in LA county. Angel stadium, (The Big A) is closer to me than Dodger’s stadium. So yeah, Dodger fans have seen Mike play ball many times.
Seems like it would be easy to use CGI to “fill” the stands. Just use old shots of the same stadiums filled with fans and superimpose the new games on the old crowds.
You might see the same fans in the same seats week after week, but who would notice?
You could even squeeze in new shots of the “Kiss Cam” to make it real.
Up to date numbers from the New York Times:
COVID cases in Arizona: 3,112. Per capita: 45 cases per 100,000 people. Deaths: 97
COVID cases in Florida: 17,523. Per capita: 85 cases per 100,000 people. Deaths: 389.
Which state would YOU feel safer about your team playing in?
Phoenix is compact with 10 spring training camps, two universities and Chase Field all less than an hour away by van or bus. Teams can be isolated in separate hotels, bused to and fro the respective fields so there’s extremely little exposure beyond their own team and a few opponents on the field.
With Florida, the teams would be shuttled all over Central and South Florida with bus rides that could take 4-5 hours. The only benefit would be more games starting in prime time.
But we all know what’s going to happen. If even one player or club employee gets sick, the media will howl about how this was all too soon and demand everyone be quarantined again and how it’s all Trump’s fault and we should listen to Fauci and self-quarantine for the next two years when there’s a vaccine, etc.
The Arizona plan is the safest idea and can work if a few logistics can be ironed out.
Apparently a great many Floridians have never seen a Marlins game.
Have the Kiss Cams gone gay yet?
Once in a while they should insert shots of streakers, or animals, invading the field.
You didn’t read the original post. The original poster suggests teams only play games against regional teams.
This is all driven by the desire to maximize the TV audiences for these games. I believe the goal here for 2020 is to get all the teams playing in locations where they never have to play any games that are more than one time zone away from their home city. No Yankees-Angels games in NYC that start at 4:00 PM in Los Angeles, and no Yankee games in Los Angeles that start at 10:00 PM in New York.
Nobody is going to watch sports with nobody in the stands. The intensity of the crowd is what makes games so compelling. Seeing a 3 run homer in an empty stadium will be about as exciting as watching batting practice.
I don’t think it matters if nobody watches the games. I’m getting a sense that MLB is doing this just so they can meet their contractual obligations to the TV networks.
‘Or just spend time as a family doing something.’
like making snarky social media posts about what others like to do with their spare time; just think of all the possibilities...
‘As long as they get rid of that awful, un-American Designated Hitter rule’
a stupid, stupid, rule put in place by the Players Union, so limited ability players could still pick up a paycheck...worked great for guys like Jim Thome...
When Enrico Palazzo sings the national anthem, I might be interested in attending.
How about just opening our economy back up. Problem solved.
Lots of people. All kidding aside, I normally listen to the Redsox on the radio anyway.
All for that.
I’d like to hope that my governor pays some attention to Texas.
Why play in a stadium?
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