June 23, 2020
Still waiting for baseball to get its act together.
Commissioner Rob Manfred met with player rep Tony Clark and said they had a framework
to start the season. Owners had agreed to pay 100% of pro-rated salaries for a
60 game season. The player proposal was for a 70 game season. Negotiations once
again stalled. I was wondering why no one came up with a compromise of 65
games. It seems now, the owners will impose a 60 game season, which will
infuriate many players. A fear of a second wave of the coronavirus may lead to
no playoff games. As of now, the first wave is still going strong. Chances are,
some players will get the virus and the season will be ruined. The Philadelphia
Phillies recently announced that 5 players had contracted the virus and closed
their spring training facility. Even if they get started, I see no point of playing,
especially if there are no playoffs. They should just start over next spring
with a plan in place.
While this was going on, the owners made a proposal to the
players regarding rule changes. Much to the chagrin of baseball purists, the
National League would adopt the designated hitter. This will eventually occur
during the hostile negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement at the
end of the 2021 season. The second rule change was to start extra innings with a
runner on second base. This would infuriate baseball fans. This is not for
major league or even minor leagues where they have this rule. The final point was
to increase the playoffs from 10 to 16 teams. What distinguishes baseball from
other professional sports is that the regular season schedule has meaning. The
NFL has recently added another tier of playoffs. In the NBA and NHL, it is hard
to miss the playoffs when half of the team are included. Thankfully, the players
emphatically voted against these changes. There were also rumors of two other
dreadful rule changes. Players taken out of games could return. For example, if
you are pinch run for, you can wait for your at bat to come up or pinch hit at
any time. If they want to be like little leagues, why not make sure every player
plays two innings in the field and gets one at-bat. The other rumor is games
that go deep into extra innings would end up as a tie game.
The NFL is going full bore, thinking they will get their
season going amidst the virus. I foresee problems with safety protocols and players
becoming infected. I don’t expect them to wear masks and there is no social
distancing. The NBA and NHL should stop teasing fans with mock playoffs.
Training is going on in Florida, which has one the nation’s biggest problems
with COVID-19. Take a step back, scrap the playoffs and figure out what to do
next.
