Just Play Ball!!!
And for the guy below the Mendoza line, the announcer will say, “He stays at home more than a small business owner in New York City!”
And we will see, if they strictly limit attendance to keep social distance.
Stadiums may have sparse crowds, which translates into reduced ticket revenue.
2020 may be a bad year , financially anyway. We could still see some exciting games, exciting playoffs etc even in empty stadiums.
New rules:
-No getting in the ump’s face to argue.
-Avoid spitting at the ump as you argue, preferably turning your back to him/ her as you scream and curse.
-Kicking dirt on the ump’s shoes is still permissible, even preferential, since it avoids transmission of COVID droplets
If there’s grass on the field...
Will the individual records count in a 80 game like batting average, ERA, etc?
Half the MLB teams wouldn’t have to enact ANY policy at all to ensure social distancing. The ball parks are empty as they are.
(Interesting to speculate now whether there is some “pent up” interest in the game, and whether a shortened season of 100 games or less makes the pennant races better and more interesting.)
We all understand that television revenue means a lot more than ticket sales anyway, so an appropriate Plan B would be to play late June thru August in not so hot spots like Calgary, Great Falls and Fargo and maybe move back to the home stadiums on September 1 thru post season.
But if things are leveling off by season start, then playing in the home stadiums becomes viable.
Late June? That’s ridiculous.
Get Aeon Musk to send the teams to the moon and get ready for a lot of new home run records!
Perfect season. Just ball and no fans. A players perfect field of dreams. Although I’m sure the outfielders will miss having beer tossed down on them from the drunks.
How are the Astros gonna cheat now?
Yaaaaay !
Well at least the Tigers won’t lose 100+ games this year.
the biggest obstacle is getting the star players to share a pay cut with ownership.
40,000 fans at the park bring in $1mil per game minimum. concessions, parking and merchandise add another half mil or more.
marquee teams double that. per game. 81 home games per years.
without fans in the seats, revenues are down severely.
without a pay concession from the players, ownership is motivated to stay out.
Bring Anthony Fauci out for the first pitch.
Have someone bean him.
Wonder if spitting will finally get banned?
June to September should be the season. Four solid months of baseball during the warmest months of the year. October for playoffs with a chill in the air and pumpkins all around.
As it should be.