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Major League Baseball has formalized its plan to return to the field, with teams agreeing Monday on a proposal to send to the players’ union for an 82-game season that would start without fans in early July. The plan would include an expanded playoff field and the designated hitter for all games, even those in the National League, where it is not typically used.
The plan must clear major obstacles to become reality. Even if the union accepts the structure of a truncated season, the sides would also have to agree on a salary structure for players. The league would also need to have enough tests for players and employees without depleting the public supply, and agree with the union on working conditions, including protocols in case of positive tests. […]
The designated hitter — adopted in the American League in 1973 but never used for games between National League teams — would be implemented across the majors because of the significant number of interleague games and to lower injury risks to pitchers. Teams would carry expanded rosters, perhaps up to 50 players per team, with at least 30 available for each game. Teams were originally expected to have 26 active players on each roster this season.
The postseason — a lucrative revenue source for owners — would expand to 14 teams, from 10, with two additional wild cards in each league. The team with the best record in each league would earn a spot in the division series, while the wild cards and other division winners would stage best-of-three series to determine the rest of the division-series field.
* The Question: Do you support this plan? Explain.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 10:20 am
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Sure. Its better than nothing.
Comment by Powdered Whig Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 10:23 am
I support any plan that provides sporting events beyond watching the neighborhood squirrels fight over meals in my yard.
Comment by Linus Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 10:24 am
Absolutely. I know the designated hitter is eh, not so great, but it’s baseball. I’ll take it. Are they just going to spread the players out in the empty stands so that they are not all in the dugout? Maybe the TV stations can sell avatar space so that “virtual fans” are present.
Comment by cermak_rd Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 10:25 am
Great to get something started.
Comment by Dan Johnson Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 10:25 am
better than nothing and better than the plan to constantly play a team nearby.
Comment by Amalia Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 10:26 am
If it is workable, sure. If nothing else a pleasant diversion.
As far as the expanded playoffs, much like football, MLB has made divisional games pretty much meaningless so why not.
Comment by efudd Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 10:27 am
I’ve been getting my fix watching my kids play whiffle ball in the yard every day. I’ve even convinced them to start their games at 1:20. I’ll take what we can get as long as they can keep everyone safe.
Comment by Kelly Cassidy Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 10:29 am
No. Owners signed contacts and they should know the risk in that. Pay the players what they’re promised. Players put it countless hours outside of the 9 innings every night.
Also ban the DH in both leagues. The majority of the in-game strategy involves the pitcher’s spot in the lineup. And please get rid of inter league play while they’re at it. More games in your league and less unfair games against the other league.
Comment by TW Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 10:30 am
Sure I support this if it can be done safely. I’ll support anything that gets baseball going.
Comment by Ducky LaMoore Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 10:32 am
No on DH. Fine with everything else
Comment by SOIL M Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 10:35 am
Support. Anything that provides us some diversion from the constant drumbeat of negative news is most welcome.
Comment by Give Me A Break Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 10:37 am
Pay the players what they promised?
Why would the owners bother opening if they were guaranteed of losing more millions than they already are?
The leverage is definitely with the owners, none of whom live have to mouth unlike many highly paid athletes do
Comment by Lucky Pierre Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 10:37 am
It’s going to depend on the number of tests available - if testing is plenty sure. If testing is still in shortage, no.
They should have enough experience from Korea and Taiwan leagues to keep everyone safe.
Comment by ChicagoVinny Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 10:38 am
Yes, I want to see the new Sox lineup play together. All DH will get some purists freaked, but maybe the NL will notice that the additional offense makes the game better.
Comment by park Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 10:43 am
No, this is a waste of testing resources that should go for more essential purposes, including opening schools and day care
Comment by Molly Maguire Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 10:46 am
Only if the vendors, ushers and regular stadium employees are getting paid. If I’m going to support players and owners making money from this short season, they need to pay all of their lowest level people too, even if they’re at home watching it on TV too. Everybody should benefit or no one should.
Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 10:51 am
Molly Maguire,
School would be out for the year when this begins anyway.
Comment by cermak_rd Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 10:52 am
No. Forget the MLB season this year due to COVID-19. And simulate the season instead using Baseball Reference’s season simulation. Let the gamers have the controls of MLB this season:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/sim/leagues/MLB/2020.shtml
Comment by Chatham Resident Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 10:52 am
I’ll take any kind of baseball this year, with asterisks galore on the statistical anomalies likely to result. However, I have full confidence in both the owners and players union to ruin it by squabbling over finances.
Comment by Ron Burgundy Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 10:58 am
Does it really matter what baseball wants? Let assume players and owners agree. Where are they going to play? Georgia, Texas and Florida? I think they better check with Pritzker and Lightfoot first if they think they will be playing in Chicago
Comment by DuPage Saint Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 11:04 am
Might as well as long as they can protect the players, umps and staff. And we can have something to bet on.
The expanding to 50 players would pretty much wipe out any decent talent in the minors but unless they are going to let in fans there is no sense in them playing. So that probably is a way to keep conditioning those players.
Comment by Been There Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 11:11 am
You had me at “Major League Baseball has formalized its plan to return to the field”, plus the DH should have been in the National League anyway, different rules for each league is stupid.
Comment by Tom Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 11:13 am
I’ve never understood the attraction of a game in which a blister or hangnail is considered a major injury (okay, that’s semi-snarkish) but I do get why people are yearning for something, anything, that seems normal.
But no, not this. Not one single test kit should go to any professional sports league until there is not just a sufficient supply of test kits for the general public but also a reserve sufficient to deal with the spikes and hot spots we know are coming as safeguards are increasingly relaxed. We cannot repeat the testing failures of the first wave, and that means ensuring that nonessential activities do not drain essential resources. Professional sports owners and players are already well-compensated and feed rather well at the public trough. This time they need to wait their proper turn, at the end of the line.
Comment by Flapdoodle Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 11:18 am
Isn’t the State’s budgeted revenue of sports betting predicated on sporting events actually occuring?
To quote the brilliant polemicist Chris Farley, “For The Love of God” get the sports going in some fashion so everybody can be a winner.
Comment by 40,000 ft Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 11:23 am
I am a former baseball fan, and baseball was already having problems bringing fans to the stadiums before the pandemic. Opening with the restrictions will further erode the fan base, but the diehards will accept it in my opinion.
Comment by Top of the State Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 11:29 am
I’m good with most of this, but this is definitely a slippery slope to permanent acceptance of the DH.
Crisis Capitalism!
Comment by A Young Person Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 11:38 am
MLB player Sean Doolittle had a great thread on this subject.
https://twitter.com/whatwouldDOOdo/status/1259920490992410626
Comment by City Zen Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 11:50 am
=No, this is a waste of testing resources that should go for more essential purposes, including opening schools and day care=
I’m entirely prepared to accept that I may be wrong about this, but my recollection is that baseball doesn’t fund education and day care.
Comment by Joe Bidenopolous Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 11:52 am
No unless we see significant progress in testing and tracing which I’m not optimistic about. Testing is still in limited supply and the MLB should not take priority or precedent over the few tests that are available. Doing so would be essentially favoring baseball over other segments of the economy that are in much dire straits. Baseball will be fine post pandemic. I can’t say the same about other businesses. Our major leagues sports teams could actually take the lead here by standing in solidarity by saying we can’t responsibly open up until there are enough tests and plans in place to protect all of us, not just professional athletes.
Comment by Pundent Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 11:54 am
I hate it, but would support it. Personally, I prefer and am willing to physically sit in Sox park before the season ends to see the chemistry of the team that was put together to make a run for it. Will accept a forehead temperature check along with the regular security check at entrance and other reasonable precautions. That said, with all the moving parts (players, owners, union, politicians, advertisers, etc.) I doubt there will be any baseball this season. And that will be one more nail in the coffin of my favorite sport.
Comment by Responsa Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 11:59 am
Love how you can report on this but not on the fact that Chicagoland Speedway has lost its only race this year, has laid of a bunch of people (Illinoisans) and may potentially be in jeapordy for even existing.
Comment by CJ Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 12:15 pm
The use of tests on such players is troublesome.
Also, I definitely agree w 47th ward here -
“ Only if the vendors, ushers and regular stadium employees are getting paid.”
Comment by low level Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 12:17 pm
Of course. Managing the locker rooms and staff and work out facilities will be a challenge. But this is how businesses will get back. Detailed planning. Lets get the kids out as well. Gold courses. Baseball fields. Open areas if managed with socially distancing and limited numbers seem like great candidates to start opening more and faster. People will only come if they set up proper protocols. Same for any business. Customers vote with their feet.
Comment by 44th Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 12:19 pm
Joe B — “baseball doesn’t fund education and day care.”
Um, not quite the point being made. What the commenter actually said is that scarce testing resources should not be diverted from essential services like education and day care to nonessential businesses like MLB baseball.
Comment by Flapdoodle Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 12:27 pm
Premature given the fact that the outbreak is not under control.
Comment by Illinoised Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 12:27 pm
I’m all for starting baseball. I hate the DH, so I hope this is just a temporary DH for National League teams.
Comment by HCMcB4 Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 12:37 pm
===Love how you can report on this but not===
Get your own blog. lol
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 12:38 pm
Agree with DuPage Saint. Great plan. Until you consider that they won’t have more than a handful of ballparks to use for it.
Comment by SouthSide Markie Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 12:40 pm
No to state fairs but yes to baseball? Nope not until we have adequate testing.
Comment by Generic Drone Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 12:41 pm
Selfish of me, but I’d enjoy watching the Cubs and Sox play each other all summer, and I wouldn’t care what the rest of the league was doing. I agree that if the games go on, the support people that would be there for “normal” season games should be getting a taste of those profits.
Comment by Give us Barabbas Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 12:56 pm
No more pitchers hitting? No more double moves? No more needless bunts? Sign me up please. This should’ve been done a long time ago. Pitchers don’t hit in the minors yet the NL makes them hit. I cry every time I see a pitcher hit.
Comment by Jose Abreu's Next Homer Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 1:01 pm
Think of what it might do for the Newspaper industry, eh? Right now the whole paper is a $1 Crossword puzzle. More news would add more ad revenue.
Comment by A Guy Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 1:06 pm
We managed to have baseball, admittedly without the regular players, during WW II. We should be able to manage baseball during this.
Comment by RNUG Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 1:06 pm
===Why would the owners bother opening if they were guaranteed of losing more millions than they already are?====
Each team gets something like $75 million per team from TV revenue. And I think that is just for the national broadcasts. Local share provides even more. Even prorated for 82 games that is a decent sum to split up. Especially if the players go along with their proposed 50/50 split which I am not sure they will.
Comment by Been There Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 1:17 pm
Drat. The DH crowd played the “Rahm card” never let a crisis got waste…
Comment by Fighter of Foo Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 1:30 pm
“Testing is still in limited supply and professional sports of any kind should not take priority or precedent over the few tests that are available.”
Fixed it for you.
Comment by Huh? Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 2:00 pm
First: The DH should have been MLB-wide decades ago. Either do it or don’t do it, not let the AL/NL decide for themselves.
No to reopening sports, even on a limited basis. Until every first responder and essential worker can get tested whenever they want, wasting limited resources for a bunch of spoiled rich owners is not in the cards.
Comment by revvedup Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 3:09 pm
I support baseball in any form if the Players’ Union supports it.
Player safety–with the catcher handling a ball worked over in the pitcher’s sweat and spit every pitch. Catcher, batter, umpire in close proximity at home plate. Most of the players have many high-salaried years in front of them to protect.
Player salary givebacks–we’ll see if the parties can come to terms.
Comment by James Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 4:58 pm
Play a half o season - get paid for a half os season - me? - I’m just waiting for 2021
Comment by Flyer Tuesday, May 12, 20 @ 5:20 pm