I Love Baseball, But They Should Just Cancel the Season

Kathy Willens/AP

I love baseball as much as anybody.  I have missed it like crazy since it has been shelved due to the virus that seemingly will never go away.  And when they first announced that the season would begin July 23rd and teams will play a 60-game season, I was glad that we would at least get some baseball this year.  But now I feel a little different.  As much as I love the sport, I just can’t get too excited about the strange season that awaits us.

For one, the games will be played in empty stadiums.  Now, this isn’t a new thing because we knew back in March if baseball season ever started this year games would be played without fans.  But this is still a major contributing factor for me not getting excited about the season.  I just cannot imagine watching a game with no crowd.  Every game, no matter the magnitude, will feel meaningless and exhibition-like.

We’ve also seen some players announce that they won’t be participating this year in fear of the virus.  Players like Ryan Zimmerman and Ian Desmond were among the first to declare they wouldn’t be playing in fears of contracting the virus and spreading it to their families.  Now Mike Trout is seriously contemplating not playing this year because his first child is due in August and he fears for his family’s well-being.  So there’s a good chance we won’t be seeing the best player in baseball (perhaps the best player to ever play the game) competing this year.

Sue Ogrocki/AP

And I don’t blame anyone that is putting the safety and health of their family before suiting up this year.  Family comes first.  But this is just the beginning of players opting out.  There will be more before the season actually arrives.  Coaches as well.  There have been several coaches, including the Braves’ base-coach Eric Young that have stated they won’t be present this season.

As of today, 31 players across the league have tested positive for it, and that includes Braves’ superstar Freddie Freeman.  According to manager Brian Snitker, Freeman will be out for a while (though we don’t know how long a while entails).  And he has a young child at home too.  Would he decide to sit out the season to protect this family?  Maybe or maybe not, but as more players contract the virus from now to the end of the season, we are going to see a lot of big names not playing or missing significant time either being precautionary or because they contracted the virus themselves.

I hate the way things have turned out this year.  I never could have imagined not having Major League Baseball for this long.  But as more and more players and coaches determine they won’t be playing/coaching this season, it becomes increasingly more difficult to get excited for the season.  Combine that with no fans in the stadiums and I’m pretty much convinced they should just call 2020 a “washed” season.  Let’s just forget it and move on at this point because it won’t be anywhere close to the same when it does come back in a few weeks.  I want to watch baseball again, but I don’t want to watch 50% of what baseball is.  I want to watch 100% of what makes Major League Baseball so great.

Garett