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It's no accident that MLB has started floating its "let's get baseball going in May" plan through its usual friendly channels two days after Trump called all the sports commissioners. He wants things to be normal and they will likely try to jump through his absurd hoops.
At first blush it seems patently absurd.
Whenever new ideas are floated, fans and the press immediately jump into "wow, what would baseball with X be like?!" People debate it like the DH. Jayson Stark runs a "wow, that would be wacky" column.
Let's not do that. Let's first step back and take in the big picture.
Let's not do that. Let's first step back and take in the big picture.
What are they trying to accomplish here? MLB wants to make money. Players want to be paid. Fans, obviously and genuinely, want sports to return. And yes, there'd be some good in that, broadly speaking.
But seriously: what the fuck?
But seriously: what the fuck?
How is this a top priority for anyone? How is this something our national health and political officials are spending time on right now (and they are, as Passan's report notes, spending time on it).
How is the level of logistical support the transportation, isolation, and prioritization of a few thousand baseball people justifiable?
On a smaller level: how many managers and coaches are older and at risk? How many players will be separated from their families for months. Or, if someone on either end of that gets sick, longer? Or forever?
If a player's parents die of COVID-19 while he's playing in the Arizona Bubble League, what happens? I mean, aside from the soft-focus tribute video produced by the ESPN or Fox people who are also living in the bubble.
Could they figure this out? Maybe. Will they do it? I don't know. Might there be some good that comes of it if they do? Sure.
But it seems profoundly incongruous to what's happening in the real world. And profoundly misguided.
But it seems profoundly incongruous to what's happening in the real world. And profoundly misguided.
To the extent this gains traction, it will be because a lot of us -- particularly people in my industry -- will approach this idea solely through the prism of sports, as most of our employers condition us to do and most of readers and viewers expect.
If there ever was a time to start with the proposition that sports is an entertainment industry, not the world, and to decidedly NOT stick solely to sports in analysis of this issue, now is it.
