Baseball is about to try to get back into the swing of things after months off due to virus restrictions…
Things have NOT been easy to get here..
And then it was finally over Tuesday night, and the sport had a date for the reopening of “spring” training camps (July 1) and a new Opening Day of July 23 or 24, nearly four months behind schedule. The season will be 60 games, by far the shortest in the sport’s modern history, followed by a postseason.
“All remaining issues have been resolved,” the MLB Players Association tweeted at 8:41 p.m., marking the first official word of a deal, “and Players are reporting to training camps.”
“Major League Baseball is thrilled to announce that the 2020 season is on the horizon,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement less than an hour later. “We have provided the Players Association with a schedule to play 60 games and are excited to provide our great fans with Baseball again soon.”
But it was also clear that, despite all the effort expended, the vitriol spewed and the Armageddon barely staved off, the more treacherous and painstaking part is still to come — as baseball attempts to salvage a season amid a novel coronavirus pandemic that shows no sign of relenting in the United States and in fact is getting worse in some of the cities and states where baseball hopes to play.
The final elements were agreed to Tuesday night — the exhaustive and comprehensive health and safety protocols that both sides hope will guide the enterprise safely through the summer. Unlike other sports, baseball is aiming to play this season with teams in their home cities, as opposed to a one-site, quarantined “bubble.”..