It feels weird to be sitting here in May with no baseball. No exhibition games, no random blowouts, no rainouts to be made up at a later date. Normally this time of year we are already digesting the numbers, figuring out who is for real and who is a fluke while going through the daily grind of following our team. Normally we are enjoying the game that never really gets tired for us as fans.
Instead, we sit here with what feels like an extended offseason, but with no roster moves. We wait to hear on just when we might have baseball again, only to be disappointed to find out nothing definite is on the horizon (Thanks, Trevor Plouffe). It truly is the unknown that will drive you crazy.
I don’t know about you guys, but when the world feels a bit heavy and I need to get away, I always have baseball to lean on. Whether you are watching a game, reading a box score or sifting through Baseball Reference, baseball is that “happy place” I can always dive into and feel better. But what happens when the game has been paused?
There are no numbers to crunch. No players to watch develop. No veterans to appreciate while you can. Yes, we are getting classic games to go back and watch and trust me, I have. I still get the goosebumps watching the 2014 Wild Card Game between the Royals and A’s and probably always will. But it doesn’t quite fit with what is going on right now.
You see, the problem isn’t only that games are not being played. It’s not only that most of us need some break from a news feed that is constantly regurgitating unsettling statistics about this pandemic that reaches that part of your insides that want the best for your fellow humans (sorry, too close to home?). No, the bigger issue is that this game we love, the one that most of us have adored since we were children, is laying a big goose egg and there is not a game in sight to help us avoid a reality where nothing but bad news fills the air.
Go ahead and take your pick on what baseball news you find the most disturbing. How about the purging of minor league teams? Ever since the idea was floated out, it has felt like an awful choice. This outbreak appears to be the final nail in the coffin for some of these teams and there is no good coming from less baseball, even at a lower level.
How about the cheating scandal within the game of baseball? The Astros have been punished and a few coaches careers have taken a slight detour but it felt like Boston received a slight slap on the wrist and this shutdown has allowed baseball to sweep all the ugly bits under the rug. I’m not saying we should continue to dwell on this issue until the end of time, but it also seems as if baseball got their ‘Get out of Jail Free’ card and are running with it.
There was even talk of adding MORE teams to the playoffs, ruining what would appear to be a playoff system that has really flourished over the last few years. I have yet to see a reasonable explanation for why this would be a good plan and hope if anything that with everything else going on that this idea is now swimming with the fishes.
All this without even mentioning how baseball can come back while keeping everyone safe, and I do mean everyone. This issue was addressed earlier today by Nationals pitcher Sean Doolittle:
This is a long thread, but there are some very important issues that hopefully are being discussed as we speak. It’s not just the players whose safety we have to look out for as there are also staff members, coaches, umpires, vendors, security, grounds crews, etc..you get the picture. You would need a multitude of tests and I seriously hope MLB would be able to receive all that is needed.
This isn’t even mentioning the news that came out on Monday about a proposal that owners have put together to present to the player’s union. In fact one tidbit appears to be an instant sticking point:
Yes, things don’t look good. I haven’t even mentioned the MLB Draft for this year and how it could end up only going five rounds. I honestly don’t know what good actually comes from all this. I really don’t. It feels like baseball needs an overhaul and the people in charge appear to be seeing things from a very small ($$$) perspective. It truly is a sad state of affairs.
Normally, when the games infrastructure is failing, I can always digest games to take my mind off of negligence of the business side of the game. Unfortunately, there are no games to distract me. Sure, I’ve taken in some KBO games and enjoy the action. But it doesn’t have the same feel that I am looking for.
Maybe this is what baseball needs. Maybe MLB needs all this chaos to go on to fix the problems that have been piling up. It has felt the last few years that the players and owners were on a collision course and the result would be changes that are needed for everyone involved.
Maybe things have to be torn down so they can be built back up again. It’s not like the game is that far away from being everything we really wish it was. There will always be flaws, ugly habits in the game that linger for years. But they always appear to right the ship.
That could be the saving grace of this pandemic. Yes, we have to suffer through a (mostly) lost season. But in the end, some areas of concern could be fixed. That is what baseball needs. I just hope cooler heads prevail.
Strap yourself in. This ride is going to get bumpy.
Bleeding Royal Blue 
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