Will There Be Baseball This Year?
With the coronavirus pandemic still raging across the country, the question on everyone’s mind is: will there be baseball this year? The short answer is that we just don’t know yet.
Introduction
It’s a good time to be a baseball fan. With spring training underway and Opening Day just around the corner, baseball is back. But after a long off-season, there’s one big question on everyone’s mind: will there be baseball this year?
The answer is complicated. While the league has said that they are “optimistic” about the season, there are still several issues that need to be resolved before anything is official. The most pressing issue is the ongoing negotiations between the league and the players’ union over how to distribute player salaries. With both sides dug in and no agreement in sight, it’s hard to say when (or if) this issue will be resolved.
Another looming issue is the coronavirus pandemic. Although progress has been made in combating the virus, it is still a major concern for public health officials. If the virus surges again this spring or summer, it could put a quick end to baseball (and other sports) for the year.
So while we all hope that there will be baseball this year, there are no guarantees. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
The 2020 Season
With the 2020 MLB season on hold, fans are wondering if there will be baseball this year. The short answer is that it’s still up in the air.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has said that he is “confident” there will be a season, but the league and the Players Association have not been able to reach an agreement on a number of key issues. These include player salaries, the length of the season, and COVID-19 protocols.
If an agreement can’t be reached, it’s possible that the season could be cancelled outright or played without fans in attendance. Either way, it’s looking like baseball will be back at some point in 2020 – we just don’t know when or how yet.
The 60-game season
The question on everyone’s mind is whether there will be baseball this year and, if so, what will it look like?
With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging, it’s still up in the air whether we’ll see any baseball at all in 2020. But if we do, it’s likely to be a shortened season of 60 games.
This would be a big change from the usual 162-game season, and it would have a major impact on the way the game is played. For one thing, teams would have to get creative with their rosters, since they wouldn’t be able to rely on depth to get them through a long season.
Pitching would also be affected, as starters wouldn’t be able to go as deep into games and relievers would need to be used more often. This could lead to some interesting new strategies, and we may even see some positions change as a result.
Of course, all of this is still up in the air. But if there is baseball this year, it’s likely to look very different from what we’re used to.
The playoffs
The playoffs are a best-of-seven series played between the two remaining teams in each league. The team with the better regular-season record has home-field advantage.
In the American League, the playoffs begin with a one-game wild-card playoff. The winner of that game advances to the AL Division Series, where it plays the first-place team from its own division. The other AL Division Series matchup pits the second-place team from one division against the third-place team from the other division.
In the National League, both division winners and the next best two teams regardless of division advance to the NL Division Series. That leaves four teams for two spots, so there is also a one-game wild card playoff in the NL.
The AL and NL winner then advance to their respective championship series, which is also a best of seven format. The winners of those series then meet in what is formally known as the World Series but is commonly referred to simply as the Fall Classic.
The World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). The event was first held in 1903, when the Boston Americans (now the Red Sox) defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in a best-of-nine game series. The most recent World Series was won by the Washington Nationals, who swept the Houston Astros in 2019.
Since its inception, the World Series has been held every year except for 1904 and 1994, when it was cancelled due to labour unrest. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MLB has not yet announced whether or not the 2020 World Series will take place.
Conclusion
It is still too early to tell if there will be baseball this year. However, the chances are looking good. The MLB has already released their schedule for the upcoming season, and many players have already begun to report to training camp.
