Posted on 04/03/2021 5:49:54 AM PDT by Kaslin
The Pandemic of 2020 was a tragedy for the whole world.
But our all-out war against the coronavirus taught Americans a bunch of important lessons.
It proved that our political system in Washington is a partisan train wreck.
It proved that you can't teach kids by Zoom as well as you can in person.
It proved that the CDC doesn't know what it's doing and Blue State governors will issue sweeping lockdowns even when they have no idea how much collateral harm they'll do to the rest of society.
And on a much, much lighter note - and as a way to mark Opening Day of the 2021 Major League Baseball season, the pandemic proved to us that America's former national past-time doesn't need a 162-game season.
Last year, because of lockdowns, teams played only 60 fan-free games, but the shorter season was probably good for everybody except ushers, vendors and betting parlors.
I'm not the first baseball fan who watches the Weather Channel regularly to point out that starting the season in April and ending it in November in North America is crazy.
For instance, on Thursday in Chicago the Cubs and Pirates started their opener at 2:30 p.m. with the temperature at 34 and a wind chill in the low 20s.
The game slogged on for nearly four hours and the Pirates won. No word yet on survivors.
The toll of frostbitten fans was held down only by Mayor Lightfoot's determination that "her" city's current COVID-19 statistics allowed 20 percent capacity at Wrigley Field.
In other words, instead of 41,374 shivering baseball nuts in Wrigley there were 8,274 - wearing masks when not eating or drinking hot chocolate and bunched together for about three hours in pods of four or less.
In Pittsburgh, where it snowed on Thursday, the governor of Pennsylvania has kindly allowed the Pirates to fill PNC Park to 50 percent capacity for their home opener next week - about 19,000 fans (roughly the 2019 season attendance average).
Other stadium capacities are all over the lot: 25 percent in Miami, 20 percent in Yankee Stadium and just 12 percent in Boston.
In the still great state of Texas, the capacity at the Rangers' Globe Life Field was set at 100 percent, a figure that made a nerdy writer at the New York Times gulp in fear and loathing.
Baseball is a great game, and I'm glad it's back. But it's just not as much fun anymore.
The last time it was truly fun was in 1998 when Mark McGwire's of the Cardinals and Sammy Sosa of the Cubs had their epic home run chase and both erased Roger Maris' season record of 61 set in 1961.
McGwire ended up with 70 homers and Sosa 66 and the league promoted the heck out of the race.
Though it was tainted by McGwire's admission that he used performance-enhancing drugs - "juices" that were legal at the time - it made baseball exciting, fun and something for fans to follow day by day.
Baseball was fun for Los Angeles fans last year when the Dodgers won the World Series, but the best part of the 2020 season was its shortness.
Now we're back to 162 three-hour games that won't start to mean anything for the best teams until September, when the fight for the playoffs gets serious.
I have friends who just paid $14,000 for four season tickets to the Dodgers. That means 81 long days and nights ahead at Dodger Stadium.
I don't care how good L.A. is this year, you've got to be a certified baseball addict to endure that kind of overdose.
After last year's shortened season, baseball probably needs a 162-game schedule this year to satisfy its hardcore fan base.
But except for the major market teams with deep pockets, most teams will be out of the pennant race by mid-May and for the rest of the year they'd be thrilled to see their ballparks even a third filled.
If those teams want to pretend they are bumping up against the COVID-19 capacity limits, they better keep about 10,000 of their cardboard cutout fans ready.
Would love to see the look on the faces on those dopey MLB executives when they have the coming ,inevitable meeting with Fox and ESPN. “You know your viewership is way down. Advertisers are hard to find for your broadcasts and are paying much less for commercials. We are here to renegotiate your contract downward. BTW at the end of this contract, we won’t be renewing”.
Standard joke in Chicago; the Cubs can’t serve beer this year at Wrigley because they lost the opener. Some things never change....
Last baseball game I watched was world series 1973. Don’t remember who played, one of the pitchers was a guy named Catfish Hunter. Missed most of 74, season started 2 mnthslatein 75 because of a player strike.
Never did root for or even have a favorite team, I just liked to watch a good game, never cared who won.
So I thought about that. I’m sitting here in the navy worried some politician wants to send me to viet nam to be a moving target, making well under $10,000 a year, while these clowns make $50,000 to sit on the bench and they go on strike for more money?
Never watched another baseball game in my life. Can’t even tell you what teams are in existence any more. Don’t really care they can take a long hike on a short pier.
A good portion of players are not even citizens or vote in ga. If they want to be woke how about suing the owners for back pay for those financially harmed by years of the reserve clause which was a form of servitude?
I already stopped watching baseball since the strike they went on years ago. F em.
Rather than pout and grandstand these corporations should work with states and the federal government to provide IDs to all US Citizens and state citizens who do not have them. Then they could vote and fly.
Time makes memory fuzzy, I guess. There was no strike in MLB in 1974 or 1975. The first one was in 1972 and was very short. The next one was much longer — but that wasn’t until 1981. And it was in the middle of the season, not the beginning.
Funny you should mention that. The All-Star Game is staged under the terms of an agreement between the owners and players for the purpose of raising revenue for the pension fund that supports those older retired players who didn’t get paid well like they do today.
Baseball is already losing tremendous numbers of fans, and now they leave Atlanta with their All-Star Game because they are afraid of the Radical Left Democrats who do not want voter I.D., which is desperately needed, to have anything to do with our elections. Boycott baseball and all of the woke companies that are interfering with Free and Fair Elections. Are you listening Coke, Delta, and all!
Good idea but that would require some actual benefit to the country which is not in their woke agenda.
Odd. I’ve always thought it was on ship in 75 I heard about the strike, I know that’s when I stopped watching, world series 73 was my last games.
Oh well, I don’t miss it...
Screw all sports that take a knee.
I've not seen any Pens take a knee, so for now {as long as they keep on winning, (I'm a true Pittsburgh fan, love'm when they win)} I'll keep watching.
I used to have season tickets, back in the 90s when Mario was a player, not an owner}, there were just too many games, and it took too much time and planning.
I still enjoy going to a game now and then, but with the covid restrictions, it will be a while before you can get any stub-hub tickets without paying a fortune.
I am not going to any game where I have to mask up, and screw around eating a dog and a brew with the mask going up and down.
Ain't happening.
I enjoyed the strikes a lot ore than the game—they were more interesting.
Either Right Field or Pitcher.
Either Right Field or Pitcher.
I no longer see the American “voting” people as a Democrat or a Republican or a RINO or an Independent. To me, YOU are either a Patriot or your not!!!
If there is one battle to win in the next several years and that the Patriots MUST WIN it is the Voter ID battle. All other political battles are irrelevant to this one.
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