Yesterday was tough for Baltimore Orioles fans, and fans across baseball. Yesterday should have been Opening Day. Fans should have congregated at Pickles & Sliders across from Camden Yards, and fans should have poured into the ballpark early for batting practice. Speaking for myself, I kind of took it personally in a way.
However yesterday also brought what could be deemed as some good news. It appears that the players and owners came to an agreement on the 2020 season. The deal isn’t yet official, but is expected to be ratified at noon today.
In effect, training camps will be resumed in mid-May, setting up a late May or early June start to the season. Each team will play somewhere in the neighborhood of 140 games, with the regular season lasting through October. The post-season would thus be in November.
The league will also schedule doubleheaders so as to get more games in. Perhaps in some cases two per week. Which would be an interesting dynamic.
Again this isn’t official, however my understanding is that camps would be resumed at individual ballparks as opposed to spring training facilities. However the schedule of games itself will have to be somewhat fluid. Some cities will become unplayable – such as New York at the moment. So games will have to be moved, played in front of no fans, etc. Everything would be on the table.
Presumably this means that the spring slate of games won’t be picked up. Teams will just have workouts and presumably intrasquad games. All of this of course is dependent upon the virus itself. If it starts to go away or is brought under control, the league will open up. If areas are still infested, they’ll remain closed.
Birdland Crush 