With the recent rise and takeover of the Coronavirus pandemic, people across the globe have been left in a world of destruction with no answers. In the United States, Americans have been ordered by law to stay indoors and quarantine themselves from the masses. Although this is a worldwide tragedy history has never seen before, it is not the only time of destruction that people have been faced with. Sports have always been an outlet for Americans to turn to and entertain themselves with. During previous wars, sports continued to play, and people could relax themselves by watching their favorite players on American soil. However, two months ago during the rise of the pandemic in mid-March, all sports were forced to shut down with no plan of returning in the near future. Months later, sports fans have been left with no answers and only their hopes of once again seeing their favorite athletes… but luckily that has now all changed…
On Monday, May 11, 2020, baseball fans received the news they have been waiting so long to hear. The owners finalized and agreed upon a plan for the MLB season to begin Fourth of July weekend, according to the New York Times and ESPN. The MLB season was originally scheduled to begin on March 26, but all that changed when the Coronavirus put the entire world on hold. However, players cannot just dive right into exhibition play after this long hiatus. Therefore, spring training games will begin in mid-June to allow the players to condition their bodies for regular season play.
While this is great news for baseball fans, this plan is not 100% set in stone. The owners agreed upon this plan, but fans must wait until Tuesday when the league presents a full proposal to the players association.
The 2020 season proposal will include an 82-game season along with expanding the playoffs to host 14 total teams instead of the original 10. Teams would be matched up by region and would be allowed to play in their home ballparks with no fans upon government approval.
MLB fans are not only hoping for the season to begin soon because they miss the game, but because they are afraid of its future:
With this pandemic controlling of the entire population, fans are looking for some sort of control when it comes to bringing back sports. With this optimistic news, we could be just hours away from deciding the future of baseball.
The Empire Sports Blog 