In March, Major League Baseball was hopeful, and things were looking promising. Both the Players and the Owners seem poised to work together to have a baseball season in 2020. Now here we are at the start of June, and the once hopeful outlook is now very bleak. Let’s dive into the issues and answer the million (possibly billion) dollar question, Will There be Baseball in 2020?
It’s Always About Money with YOU!!!
The world is governed by one entity more than any other. No, it’s not love, or family, or even happiness, that entity is money. It says in the Bible ( 1st Timothy 6:10) that the love of money is the root of all evil. And we also can look to that same passage for some understanding about the battle between the Owners and the Player’s Association. The 1994-95 strike by MLB was often referred to as the battle of the millionaires versus the billionaires. But if you as fans ( you know us, the lowly hundred-aires), we are the ones who paid the most significant price.
It was challenging for Major League Baseball to recover from the strike. It took a national treasure, Cal Ripken Jr, approaching a historic milestone never to be achieved again and the blatant disregard of steroid use to win fans back. Baseball can not survive another work stoppage.
Sad State of the Baseball Landscape
A report released over the weekend that some owners are “perfectly willing” to not play the 2020 season as a way to reduce payroll costs, this report just proves the previous paragraph to be true. Nothing would be the way it is without money. Period. End of story. However, sports provide people with an outlet, a distraction, a relief from their everyday struggles. For a few hours, every night, fans of all teams can turn on the television and see their favorite team or their favorite players playing the game that we all love.
Baseball gives it’s fan a false sense of power as the Major Leaguers make things look so natural and routine that we question its difficulty sitting on our couches. But sadly, it seems as if this season we will have to resort to seeing our favorite team only on simulation on MLB The Show 20.
Adrian Gonzalez’s Crazy Suggestion
Former Major League First Baseman Adrian Gonzalez suggested an idea over the weekend. A-Gon suggested that the owners should have a season in 2020 with all non-40 man rosters. (So that fans can have something to watch.) And outside of the logistical nightmare that would be for the Player’s Association, this idea would also take away from part of what baseball fans love. Fans love seeing their favorite players; they love seeing them approach milestones and records. This idea of non-40 man roster players smells exactly like the replacement players that were getting ready to step on the field in 1995. And for my money that isn’t a good investment.
So What Do We Do?
This is the most complicated thing to figure out for the owners, player’s association, and even for fans. A lot of things have been thrown around from the number of games (82-114) to the playoff format. But, the most significant piece of the puzzle for baseball in 2020 is the money. If the millionaires (players) and the billionaires (owners) don’t come to a compromise and place the game above themselves, we as fans (the hundred-aires) are the ones who truly lose. And with the world in a constant state of chaos right now, we need the distraction of baseball (and all sports) more than ever.
