Less than a month ago, Major League Baseball was hemming and hawing over whether to halt Spring Training. Now, the league is at least considering a rather wild approach to the 2020 season: holding all contests in the Phoenix area for at least a portion of the campaign. If you haven’t read up on this yet, you can do so here and here.
With its statement this morning, MLB has made clear that this is just one of several concepts under consideration. Perhaps this one will fade — at least, the notion of it launching as soon as May — as the situation continues to evolve.
I’ll be sharing some further thoughts on this in an MLBTR YouTube video, which you can look out for later today. But generally, it seems entirely appropriate for the league to make its best efforts to craft a plan to get the game going again. It’s just … is this one even a reasonable starting point?
Let’s see how MLBTR readers feel at this early stage (response order randomized; poll link for app users):
i know wats going to happen: all the negative nancys out there will say it’s too hot to play in arizona—as if 11 and 12 year old kids don’t do it all through june and july during LL all stars
No one is saying this.
You didn’t read the comments from the previous article announcing this. Be better.
I think the bigger issue is expecting players to quarantine themselves from their families for however long this would last
You mean like they do every season? Most of these guys families don’t live in the city they play.
I would think almost all, if not all, married players with or without kids live together during the summer.
Well that’s just not accurate
maybe if they felt homesick they could quit? I imagine there are plenty of people ready to take their place at the money they make!
it sure seems like half of MLB lives in Phoenix. So it is something to note.
Why does it have to be Arizona? Why not just play the games without any fans or concessions? Have everyone get their temp checked daily (I work in a meat packing plant of almost 3000 employees, and they’ve been doing that about 2 weeks now, 104 degrees you get sent home). Just players/umps and televise it.
I think the traveling is the issue…all Arizona parks are within 45 mins of each other and they can play night games when it gets hot
90 plus degrees at 10pm. lived there
Some years it doesn’t get crazy hot until July. Usually April and May are nice–70’s and 80s with some occasional 90s. MLB could stagger game times so that people at home can watch games all day. The concept of Prime Time isn’t very relevant now.
The average high temperature for Phoenix in May is 95 degrees. That’s what you need to look at, not abnormally cool years.
yes, but as I’m sure you’re aware, there’s no such thing as a normal year. Your average is made up of a huge range of temperatures. In my 13 years of teaching, our high school graduations in Scottsdale have seen 50º with rain, 55º, 65º, 102, and several perfect early evenings in the 75-85 range. That’s late May. Don’t forget, AZ in summer is a heck of a lot nicer than some other places. I was in Wisconsin last summer for 5 days. It was 98º with very high humidity (Real Feel said 109º), while back in AZ it was 108º but felt like 96º.
I’d imagine games would be staggered so some east coast games would start at 10am MST, with the last ones by 4pm. West coast games would start at 5-7pm. Once the sun sets, it’s pretty darn comfy with no humidity.
An average means some days will be cooler and some hotter. That’s why it’s an average. For instance doesn’t prove anything.
Would it be possible to pull this off? Maybe, but far from easy. And I stand by my point that MLB would have to be pretty confident that they could resume play in stadiums around the country by mid-July at the very latest, and I don’t see how they can be confident based on what we know today. A 10AM start in July could easily see 115 degrees by the end of the game and a 4PM start similar temperatures at the start of play. “Feels like” temperatures aren’t what affects the body.
FWIW, I’ve spent time in Arizona in the summertime and I didn’t find the evenings to be comfy at all, and I wasn’t an athlete trying to play a sport.
100.4 or 104? If it’s 104, they may as well not bother, that’s a maybe I should go to the ER high.
No what we’re gonna say Is this virus is going to go 18-24 months they just don’t want people to know it yet and therefore this Arizona idea would go for the whole season and playoffs and no one wants that. Who would want their team to win a World Series on a spring training field in front of nobody. It would never be looked at the same as other championships and when looking back on it years and decades from now we’ll see a team celebrating with no crowd and not in a stadium. It could be a teams only title in a long time or one that breaks a drought. Is this how anyone would want it?
Ask Montreal if they would’ve preferred the Expos could’ve played in front of no fans back in 1994. Different situation, because it was a strike/lockout, but cancelling the World Series was quite a blow – especially for a team that never reached it, or ever would (at least not while they were in Montreal).
The Expos did play in an empty stadium. For the most part. You can check their average attendance to verify.
Expos out-drew the Yankees in the 1970s decade. Check the official records to verify.
Expos were below league average in attendance the final 20 years of existence. Yankees struggled with attendance thanks to A) playing in Shea for two seasons (in Queens), and B) awful crime in New York during the 70’s.
But please let us know how great the Expos fanbase truly was and how strong they supported the franchise.
As a Yankee fan living in AZ, ABSOLUTELY!!!
you wouldn’t be going to a game anyway.
This gave me a good laugh.
WideWorldofSports Hope you realize you wouldn’t get to go to any of these games in Arizona anyway. A core part of any even decent plan for sports to return in the near future would be playing in empty stadium/arenas. Games might come back earlier but it’s gonna be a while before we can have large crowds gathering at them.
I don’t mind the location in empty stadiums. The idea of playing seven inning doubleheader’s is just stupid. Don’t change the fabric of the game.
I work for MLB, i’ll be there.
Prefer they not play in Arizona but if that is what it takes to get a season in then so be it. But we all should be able to watch any game we want on MLB TV for free if this is what they end up doing.
Except for those of us living in Arizona. MLB will probably blackout every game. But as a Cardinal fan, I guess this means I could make the trip down to Phoenix for a few more games!
There won’t be any crowds.
Good luck getting in the stadiums.
MLB is not gonna black out the games
you won’t be that lucky. guess who’s going to pay for this? the baseball addicts that need their fix. mlb extra innings or pay per view will make a fortune. why would they give the games to you for free. there won’t be any sponsors as nothing is open except the liquor and pizza stores. lol
maybe with any luck we won’t even have commercials. that would speed up the game. and we will have the radar pitch zone so less arguing with the umpires. lol
My thought exactly… I don’t love the idea. However, if the alternative is simply to scrap the MLB season then I can live with it.
Logistics won’t be easy. At least they can have multiple games at Chase Field in the AC.
They’ll need to have regular COVID – 19 testing for players. If one gets it, the whole thing is gonna be shut down.
Problem with COVID testing the players is it takes days, according to Health & Social Services, to process the testing. It’s kind of involved and the resources are swamped.
As it gets warmer outside, they’ll just move games to earlier in the day. 9AM games done by noon. Then some games at the air conditioned Chase Field, and then night games are fine too.
Morning games would be better than night games, it doesn’t cool off here until 11
And by “cooling off” in midsummer you mean down to 85 degrees by sunrise. Arizona summer heat is hard to appreciate unless you’ve had the experience.
It’s only hot when it’s over 110. Phx unlike most cities the humidity is very low. But I still MLB should just cancel the season till it’s safe for everyone
The people that are saying it’s too hot to play in Arizona and too cold to play in December, it’s not like no one has ever played in those conditions everything would be fine it gets cold yeah and it can be hot it’s baseball
Weekend games could certainly be played at 9am for the eastern time zone teams. Zona temperatures can get hot in May but come June, MLB will want to get out of there if-possible.
The average high temperature for Phoenix in May is 95 degrees. In June it’s 104. By July anybody with a lick of sense spends as little time as possible outdoors. If MLB implemented a plan to start the season in Arizona they’d have to be pretty confident that they could move the games out of the desert by the All Star break, at the very, very latest.
Yep. Check all the temperature stats earlier today. It would be the dog days of which they’ve never felt before.
Say what you want about Az weather it’s better than shoveling snow.
Was that a submarine that just flew by?
where is the option in the poll for YES BASEBALL PLEASE.
I’d sign that petition the way things are going.
lol.
Thank you
for one, id love it if it works. im just not expert enough to say if it would.
Hot temps in Arizona plus a juiced baseball may break records from last year in terms of offense. Would be a crazy experiment at least
Heck, let them play on the Spring training back fields where the fields are smaller.
If they play 100 games more than a few hitters will hit 40 HR, if not 50. Hot temps, smaller fields, I wouldn’t want to be a pitcher.
I just want to see baseball
I don’t love the idea, but I would be very disappointed if there is no baseball at all.
If this is really feasible and does not jeopardize anyone’s health or safety… it’s a no brainer, go for it. Obviously, it’s not ideal. But I’ll take starting the season in May with two months of games in Arizona over starting the season in our own cities in July, easily.
Where’s the downside? It sounds like it would only be for the first couple months, afterwards they’d go back to their home cities, when the alternative seems to be starting games in home cities at that exact same time anyway.
After listening to Ken Rosenthal, I don’t see how it could work. The obstacles to be overcome are insane. And the first player to test positive, the whole thing would have to shut down.
This. Exactly this. And the media uproar that would follow, the outrage, the political upheaval (as if we need more than we have already had the past 3+ years). Not. Gonna. Happen.
“political upheavel?” the world does not revolve around baseball. i dont think the world will end simply if sports players in specific get the virus.
Darkside: Yeah politicians never take notice of what’s going on in pro sports, or namely the MLB. Never happened before. They’d never use positive tests of players with covid 19 to make political arguments or gain ground and play for votes. If you think there wouldn’t be political upheaval, you’re sorely mistaken or have a very short memory (or perhaps are just very young and naive to how our country works.)
I’ve heard that heat kills the virus.
Heat can lessen the time the virus stays on certain surfaces. Doesn’t eliminate it. It’ll never be hot enough outside to kill what one breathes in.
MLB will be opening themselves up for lawsuits, if they force an influx of thousands upon the city of Phoenix all at once. If any risk at all is still present for a non-essential activity like baseball. Groundsmen, security and more will have to be willing to separate from their families for potentially months. It all sounds to far-fetched to pull off successfully.
not to mention, there will have to be minor league games as well to have guys available to step in for when players get injured.
Where would there be minor league games?
Yeah great point. Where are all the minor league levels going to play?
The country could sure use it.
This isn’t about baseball, it’s about getting things started up again.
Gotta have baseball lead the way, I believe that too.
COVID is currently threatening to overtake Cancer as the second leading cause of death on a daily basis (Cancer is about 1,440/day; COVID is hovering in the 1,000-1,300+ range for 6 days now; today it has spiked 1,400 in the first 14 hours of the day). Then it’s only about 300 deaths per day more to overtake Heart Disease as the leading cause of death each day (about 1,770). Nothing to sneeze at.
I’d love to see baseball too, but with the death rate continuing to climb into the stratosphere, I can’t see how. It’s really complicated.
Not gonna lock away players like they’re caged fighters and animals waiting to entertain Caligula. Not going to happen, period.
Baseball has survived much worse before including lost seasons or portions of seasons, they need to just knock the nonsense off and official declare the season canceled and regroup for the draft and focus on 2021 and put plans in place now that can be flexible in the event that the virus rebounds again over next fall/winter/spring.
you’re way to sensible for this board. you must be educated..
There’s a tiny percentage on here who are educated and sensible. Those few who don’t believe everything said by our elite-controlled, propaganda-filled mainstream media.
Veteran players are simply going to say no, we’re not doing this….we’d rather sit out for the year.
then let them sit out. we may find we dont need those primary donas and can save money and get ny just fine without them. we’ll also get to see the AAA and AA players and these greedy link head players that refuse to play won’t get paid and may he out of a job next year. lol
right because all those AAA and AA players are only in those leagues because the guys in front of them make to much money. it has nothing to do with talent..
are you saying there’s no talent worth watching in the minors if that great talent at the top sat on their butts because they’re prone donas?
what’s a prone dona?
dont forget in WW2 they had women playing in A League of Their Own and that could happen again. A Tom Hanks could manage again now that he is immune. lol
He is not immune…cdc has shown you can catch it again
This isn’t really accurate. We fight off viruses by creating antibodies. How long those antibodies protect us from that virus varies but it can be anywhere from months to years. Viruses are very handy at mutating so a person could conceivably contract a different strain but as far as I am aware no such reinfections have been documented with COVID-19. False positive and negatives resulting from testing errors don’t count as reinfections.
There are such things as reinfections.
Check that. We don’t know yet if you can get reinfected.
Nope. It’s a virus, not an invader from Mars. Everything I said is accurate.
They’ll be an unofficial asterisk on the season if some star players take a pass on the season. Lesser players that are chasing the big money will feel obligated to ignore the risk.
No option should be dismissed.
How can they play in the Arizona heat?
Hey @dynamite drop in monty, here you go.
Buy an island like Dana White lol
I would of said yes but theirs other areas to where Teams could play Florida like in Orlando if it didn’t have so many cases. In Domes.
An optimistic idea, which I appreciate, but MLB is asking for trouble should this plan move forward.
Apparently there is progress on a test to identify corona antibodies. Most medical wizards are saying that once you have had Covid-19 and your body generates those antibodies, you are safe – you can not get it again, or give it to anyone else.
So I wonder if there would exist enough people who test “safe” to man the hotels and stadiums, etc that a plan like this would need? To effectively create a mini-city – a Covid free zone?
Obviously, people like Covid-safe doctors and nurses would not be co-opted for an exercise like this – they are needed more elsewhere. But Covid-safe hotel clerks and camera operators and pizza chefs?
I love the plan, I don’t mind the heat (unlike some people), and even if there is only 7 inning games on Sunday… that’s still a game! What I like is that even though they will have to be social distancing, it will seem more like a backyard baseball type thing. No fans, in Arizona, different length games… It’ll be fun, and I’m all for it.
wondering what happens with minor league baseball? how will they bring up anybody if mlb players get hurt?
they talk about having bigger roster as it would only be active roster if they increase from 26 to say 40 than those guys only, the major league coaches and key front office people.. Minor league baseball might not happen…
The pinnacle is projected to be this month. Perhaps late may if things go well.
maybe the NHL could do the same. open up somewhere in an isolated cold area with multiple rinks and ample housing and just start the playoffs now. maybe Santa could let them use the noth pole ad Tom Hanks could be the train conductor on The polar Express now that he is immune. lol
They’ve floated the idea of playing in Grand Forks in North Dakota. I’m not sure if that would allow them to play out the regular season or just move straight into the playoffs with a few games per day though.
let’s protect the almighty buck.
and the almighty fan from going nut watching the non stop carnage reporting.
here’s a thought – turn the TV off. read a book FFS.
Arizona would be perfect if the season has to run through December. It rarely snows down in Phoenix.
Perfect? It’s ridiculously hot there in the summer. You can expect those players to play day games in that heat
Its completely illogical and MLB needs to stop letting these stories get out – they had no plan for this, and are now just actively spitballing-as-fact, which is terrible.
Instead of hiring a think tank of intelligent people to figure it out, they are just screaming into the void and nothing they say ever sounds even remotely feasible. For instance, all MLB players here would have to be totally removed from society and placed in stasis rooms in Arizona hotels, being driven to and from games by drivers in hazmat suits. Their lives would be “play then go back to hotel”. Sounds like slavery to me. This is why this is a dumb idea.
Just cancel all sports until an antidote is found, which will probably happen within the next 12 months, its not going to be THAT bad, jeez….
I got the impression from the Passan article on ESPN that health officials from Trump Admin presented this idea:
“On Saturday, top officials with the MLBPA spoke with health officials who offered the plan as the clearest way for baseball to restart, according to sources.”
The amount of people saying “we can’t go back to our lives without an antidote” is scary. Thankfully your not in power because YOU CANT CURE A VIRUS. Antidote?? Jeez dude you’ve been watching too many movies, there cant be an “antidote” for this. I have news for you too thats basically what baseball season already is for these guys. They have little to no personal time as it is.
it’s called a vaccine, you vaccinate from viruses.
how ignorant are you?
A vaccine is not a cure either. Flu shots don’t prevent jack.. You want us to not be able to go out until there is a vaccine that isn’t even a cure? Yeah ok stay in your house for the next 12 months.
didn’t say that but please put words in my mouth. and vaccines do work. ever heard of polio?
the spitball and all spitting will be outlawed in 2020. there won’t be any slavery as if you dont like it you can quit. can you imagine the prospect and the image in your mind of these prima donas living on unemployment and a stimulus check like so many other unfortunates?
they might not even be able to get toilet paper. lol
Yeah, because a lot of slaves make $10M+ a year. Plus, the players get to vote on this proposal, knowing full well what it will entail. It won’t be easy, but it is a way for them to get paid. Also, it’s not all that different from the stay-at-home orders in effect all around the country now.
You do realize MANY people are still going to work every day, right? Are the grocery store workers being shuttled to work by drivers in hazmat suits? The stupidity of every word of your comment is stunning. Are there hurdles to make this possible? Yes, absolutely. But in a contained area with the financial resources available to MLB there is no reason this can’t happen.
no reason? you’ve thought of everything then? here’s another candidate for president of operations.
Great counterargument, well thought out. No, I dont have every detail worked out, and there are hurdles to overcome. However, I’m still waiting to hear why thousands of walmarts and groceries can be open 24 hours a day in communities across the country, with hundreds or even thousands of random customers entering, shopping and interacting with employees, and yet it would be inconceivable that young, healthy and regularly tested players couldn’t possibly play games for 6 weeks in a reasonably controlled environment in one area. Even if you account for coaches, trainers, camera crews, security you could easily execute this plan with fewer than 200 people inside a spring facility, and yes more personnel would be needed at Chase, but the facility is much larger. Broadcast personnel could do the game remotely like most news and radio is currently.
Because food and pharmaceuticals, etc., MUST be provided. That’s why those stores are open; that and the economics. And yes all of their employees are at risk. They are taking some precautions but they are still greatly exposed. So are the shoppers, though it is easy to find hours when the store is less busy, avoid other shoppers, go through the self checkout, sanitize your hands the moment you leave the store, and wipe down the products when you get home. But I would not use the situation of grocery workers as a model for any non-essential business. And most non-essential businesses aren’t. Baseball would have to be considered non-essential. First and foremost by customers.
I work at a Whole Foods right outside of Philly. We ARE essential personnel.
We have adjusted hours, sanctions for social distancing in the aisles. We get our temps checked before every shift. It’s been challenging but we are doing our best.
Walmart’s are NOT open 24 hours right now. Not sure where you got that from
man you’re not very bright are you?
Do you understand professional sports? “Play baseball then go back to hotel” is what the dream consists of. If this is the new concept of slavery sign me up
Chase can handle 3 games a day easily. 8am for east coast teams. 1pm for Central and 7pm for west coast… that’s 6 teams done. Salt River, Sloan and Camelback ranch can handle 2 a day at least morning and night once temps rise. That’s another 12 teams done. Its very plausible to do this. And living here I’m all for it!
amen
oh they should put you in charge of operations then. seems like you’ve got it all figured out.
You live there but you cannot go to the ballgame so who cares
Just do it!
For us baseball junkies, the national morale, boredom alleviation and the national bookie preservation movement.
it would be baseball 24/7. but it won’t happen. maybe season ends up a round robin tournament
Who ever hatched this plan is a genius. God bless you my friend for giving fans safe entertainment.
it’s not even a reality you dolt. it’s a topic of discussion at this point and a poor one at that.
If you’re going to dick around with some sort of fanless, neutral field, farce of a season, probably a good time to try out the electronic umpiring as well..
They already said it would
I’ve wanted a robo ump for years. I’ve seen too many pitchers get away with pitches 3 inches off the plate because they’re All-Stars and too many inconsistent strike zones. Plus, pitch calls aren’t reviewable, even though they can impact a game every bit as much as a safe/out call. If they can get it right every time, why shouldn’t they? The players should decide the game, not umps.
right. completely alter the way the game has been played for 100 years. I guess you should be the grand arbiter of the strike zone. You’re nominated for Czar of Umpires.
You mean alter the game like playing all the games in a fanless, neutral field stadium?
ThePeople’sElbow
Alot of change is called progress. Robo umps are progress. Let’s get it consistent for all batters, all pitchers. Let’s get it right. Because we can. Rejecting change because you hate change is just ignorant. Progress.
@ThePeople’sElbow, just because it was done in an imperfect way for a long time doesn’t mean we should continue in that imperfection. For decades, a human umpire was the best option to get calls correct. That’s no longer the case. Or do you still want football players to play without helmets, no forward passes in football, no shot clock in basketball, and no night games in baseball? Those were all part of those games for years before they were changed, and all of those sports are better for the changes.
maybe baseball can adopt the Amish way of life?
go to the games in a horse and buggy?
the human element is the most sacred part of baseball.. helmets in football were for safety, not really apples to apples. the shot clock was invented to increase scoring because fans like seeing balls go through a hoop.
part of baseball has been overcoming the calls of the umpire and finding a way to prevail.
It’d be idiotic not to do this, as long as the players and public health officials sign off. I mean, as long as there aren’t going to be crowds in the stands (and there aren’t, to think otherwise is pipe dream) there’s no reason not to do it this way. Flying around the country to play in empty home ballparks benefits exactly no one. I’m in favor of ANYTHING that gets us baseball, again, as long as the players (because they’re the ones actually doing the work) and public health officials (because they’re the only people who have facts) sign off on everything.
I can’t imagine the logistical nightmare of getting thirty teams in Arizona and playing a pseudo season. I miss baseball as much as anyone, however, I believe that without the fans in the stands, it is nothing more than a pipe dream. As a season ticket holder, (Rangers), and wanting to see baseball in the new ballpark, I would rather wait until all fans in attendance can feel reasonably safe. This virus is nothing to take lightly.
we are living in a nightmare now. I’d take a logistical nightmare any day.
Mo4ever is going to lose his mind…… I wonder if they ran this proposal by his wife (she works in the medical field in case you hadn’t heard 600 times already)
COVID is currently threatening to overtake Cancer as the second leading cause of death on a daily basis (Cancer is about 1,440/day; COVID is hovering in the 1,000-1,300+ range for 6 days now; today it has spiked to 1,400 in the first 14 hours of the day). Then it’s only about 300 deaths per day more to overtake Heart Disease as the leading cause of death each day (about 1,770). Last I checked we take Heart Disease and Cancer very seriously in this country. And they aren’t infectious.
You can scoff. But you’d be an idiot. Is that you JD Candello?
I’d love to have baseball too. It’s just seems very complicated in this environment. That’s being rational about it.
No doubt complicated but you have been spreading only worst case scenarios here at an alarming rate- You have been saying 250,000 estimated deaths here when today they estimate under 85,000 with new more accurate data or about 1/3 of what you have been saying every day all day for weeks-
Ofc we all want to be safe and almost everyone is in the dark here but I feel its important to stay positive, be safe, and be open -minded at a time like this not always doom and gloom
I only report 1) the actual numbers today and up until now and 2) what the experts are projecting, because I have access to their work. That seems perfectly legitimate, responsible, useful.
If you want to ignore the long term projections as being “worst case” fine. Only time will tell if the epidemiologists surge is coming. I hope it isn’t. But hen focus on the short term actual numbers. They are serious enough. Staying positive is all well and good but the actual numbers in comparison to cancer and heart disease are chilling and compelling. That’s not me. That’s the numbers. That’s reality. Some just don’t want to face it.
You throw around 250,000 deaths dozens of times – Todays estimate is less than 85k –
Idk if overestimating by 65% fits into legitimate but I know it definetly doesn’t fit into Responsible or useful
Im exactly focused on the now, Im being safe and am fully aware of the numbers currently- Comparing them to Cancer does nothing to solve the problem except add some new level of hysteria…but that seems to be what you look for all along-
New data today was positive lets continue being safe and we will get thru this….hopefully with some Baseball
All I put out there was numbers from the epidemiologists. They’re not my numbers. I don’t know where you are getting the 85K number from. From the experts I have access to we are still approaching a surge beginning late this month through a peak around June 9 with a several week decline thereafter. How many die in that period is unknown at this point. It should be less than predicted before because the hospitals will be much more prepared, particularly in those states not already overwhelmed Lots of needless deaths from being overwhelmed will be avoided.
Also I think you missed my last projection, which was based on the truth’s remarks that 1% are infected and 3% of those will die. That projects to 100,000. Still a huge ghastly unacceptable number.
And let me point out that 85K is still 30K more than the Vietnam War. You have to understand I was arguing against people who were saying this 1) wouldn’t top 1,000, 2) wouldn’t top Swine Flu (18K), wouldn’t top the flu season (20K). Every epidemiologist knew it would top all of those. (That’s what I was up against; silence from them now.) And I believed the experts. Still do.
Whatever the number turns out to be it will be much more significant than the deniers admitted. That was my main point. It would be significant and it would require and deserve drastic measures. Those two things. I stand by that. The numbers will be what they will be. All I can do is 1) project based on current activity and 2) listen to the experts.
Well yes….but pushing aside deniers isnt really a quest, I guess you may have enlightened 1 or 2 of them a little so amen for your that but for the rest of us all we can ask is that you present the side from all angles as you do in fact have plugged in access – Today was good per the models…..ofc models are just that, and this is a unique virus, so we are not outta the woods yet, but it was good news today.
I think you should spread the news as is comes in with no-bias (Def no Pun intended)
7500 people die in the US on a normal day. I’ll say it – this thing is overwrought. Humans survived thousands of years with acquired immunity. Let it play out naturally. Honestly, genuflecting to the altar of human sanctity, which I do not buy into personally, even if we “lose” 250k, the country has 325 million. Blip on the historical radar screen. Oh, such a horrible statement!
I volunteer you.
I mention my wife because she gives me access to the Infectious Disease and Epidemiology research fields, including the NIH. She also gives me access to the thoughts and activities of officials at a major medical research hospital where I can watch their COVID meetings on video several times a week. I say this to give weight to my words. Pretty much everyone else here is an armchair expert with no authoritative sources. Like thetruth. That matters. But you just don’t get it. Clearly.
Well your analysis seems to be over by 65% per today – It was nice of you to share and no doubt can help people get a better understanding of the disease and that was nice of you but it only seemed to scrape one side of the spectrum (one that turned out to be way off/hopefully if today is any positive indicator) – That can actually hurt and cause panic imo-
Not questioning your intentions just think you may be over-stepping a little here causing gloom and alarm
The numbers, like schedules and projections in science, software development, general contracting and business in general, are dynamic. The epidemiologists have not pulled back from their projections of a surge ahead of us. They have only pushed it back. The peak was projected for May 12. Now it’s June 9. Kind of like a software project behind schedule. The virus has it’s own schedule. And then there’s the impact of social distancing and shelter in place. They’re no doubt helping to slow things down.
That delay is crucial. It gives the hospitals weeks to ramp up masks, ventilators and re-purpose rooms for COVID ICU’s and ramp up doctors and staff for a surge. If the surge comes those hospitals will be in much better shape and their will be fewer deaths as a result. Hooray!
All I was showing was the numbers of deaths per day if they continued to increase at the rate they were increasing. The rate of increase slowed a bit but 1) the rate still continues to INCREASE and 2) it is entering rarefied space with cancer and heart disease. So all of the important points stand.
What matters is that the number of deaths each day is still increasing, contrary to some here predicted. The second thing that matters is that a surge is still projected. What the final number of deaths will be before this dies back down to a low number per day remains to be seen.
Last I’m not sure how today is a positive indicator since COVID has already set a record for daily deaths and there are 8 hours remaining.
Cmon now Mo your too plugged into this to at least not say today we got good news per the models with a lot better/more data to input/confirm that-
Your last paragraph was pretty poor and transparent, cool if your mad at me for putting you on blast but be a beam of light today will ya WE GOT GOOD NEWS …..share it……..use your inside knowledge for positivity here instead of just scaring the bee jezzus outta everyone
Not sure how positivity is possible about today, JD. We blew past Cancer as the 2nd leading cause of deaths today and we are on the verge of surpassing Heart Disease as number 1, with 7 hours to go. That’s a bad day.
If you are talking about the 3,000 deaths per day projected about 6 days ago for tomorrow yes we are ahead of the game. But we are still in a serious place. And we will still be at 3,000 deaths a day, enormously above heart disease, before long unless something radical happens. It may take a bit longer, but it’s still in the sight of the daily increase in deaths, even if that rate is a bit less/lower/slower at the moment than it was over a week ago. We are still headed in the same direction, it’s just taking a bit longer.
I just feel we have to be relative
85k deaths can never be surmised as a good thing, but it is a lot better than 250,000 -Id say no doubt today was positive overall, but by No means are we anywhere outta the woods yet –
Many Americans who thought initially they would go back to work MAY 1st, then June 15 will probably now have to come to the realization of it being Aug 1st- Its going to be important to stay as positive as we can these next couple months for our mental health.. Especially when we get good news –
Again I don’t know where the 85K deaths is coming from. All depends on 1) if a surge happens, 2) how steep and long the climb is, and 2) how precipitous and long the decline is.
Setting aside my lack of knowledge of the source of this projection, 85K would be a lot better than 250K. Hopefully all our efforts will make that happen. I’m so glad that so many officials listened to the medical experts and pursued aggressive measures to flatten the curve (though it still hasn’t been flattened, flattening is the goal). But 85K is still a horrific number. Far more than the deniers would ever acknowledge. Some will no doubt argue that it wasn’t worth the cost of social distancing and shelter in place. Thank god they were largely ignored. .
*CNN….. and yes that number is def horrifying but if it stays sub 100 its 150k off 250…….. Hopefully the science community will bond together from all nations and be an example for future politicians to follow- Nobodies gonna win this current fight but we can bond together to help future problems between nations in these times
Honestly, I love the idea. I get that there are problems, but if the people involved wear the medical masks, especially the catcher, ump, and batter, you could cut out a lot of the risk. Players get paid, owners get money, we as fans get some semblance of normalcy. Logistics might be hard, but I think they can get it done. If they start by June 1, we could have a 120-game season.
Professional players trying to play while wearing face masks? Ridiculous! It’s better to not play at all than to have some awkward, halfway measure.
Thankfully, it’s not your call. It’s up to the players, the league, and health officials. Probably not necessary in the OF, but at the plate and perhaps around the bases, it would be.
And the dugout and clubhouse would be a challenge to sort out.
I read that the players won’t be in the dugout. They’ll be in the bleachers sitting 6 feet apart from each other. Don’t know how they’d do the clubhouse. Rotate people through five at a time and just tell them to hurry?
or play until January. it is AZ right?
It’s ridiculous. Owners and the networks have to make their money and present a bastardized version of this great game.
Asking players, coaches, trainers and essential personnel to be isolated in hotel rooms for 4 1/2 months away from their families.
Baseball is a mental game and you’re going to ask these players to be mentally tough throughout? Expect them to be at their best? They feed off the passion and roar of the crowds
And spare the “they get paid enough” ignorant argument. So much deeper
Rather not have baseball than this asinine proposal
Well, the players would have to vote for it in order to have it happen. My guess is they’ll take money over the inconvenience. Also, because every team (aside, I guess, from the D’backs) is going to be outside of their comfort zone, it’s still a fair competition.
Sorry. Not buying it. It’s asking a lot from the players to risk their health. To play outdoor games in that type of heat.
I don’t see them going for it. If you take money over your health, I feel sorry for you
these guys are professional athletes. if anyone can withstand the heat its them. the peak of temps in Arizona is probably July/August anyway, and there is no guarantee they will still be there by then. (and if they are that’s a problem for more reasons than just weather conditions)
According to USA today, at least two owners so far have stated they will insist on a 40% reduction in player salaries if the season commences in Arizona. On top of any reductions that a short season would pro-rate salaries. Almost 40% of an owner’s revenue is parking, gate, concessions. They want that accounted for. That’s not even considering their loss of local sponsorship their own stadiums would generate with a normal season. The PA would never go for that. I love and miss baseball but there’s just too many hoops to get through to have a season.
I think 40% is too much if we’re talking just revenue. I know they chipped in to pay non-players/coaches, but there are other variable costs that go into hosting a huge crowd that they won’t have. I can see some sort of reduction being reasonable, but it should be based more on profits than on revenue. As for fixed costs, divide those out between TV/radio and in-person according to revenue. It shouldn’t be that difficult to figure out a fair percentage.
to want a reduction of salaries BECAUSE the players are playing is absurd. i doubt that is a sentiment shared by the owners who actually have an interest in making money off their investment.
“Asking players, coaches, trainers and essential personnel to be isolated in hotel rooms for 4 1/2 months away from their families.” Not to mention all of the minimum wage folks like housekeepers, waiters, cooks, maintenance people – all of whom would have to be isolated from THEIR families for the same period of time. It’s not like they can go home at the end of their shift, right?
Nope. Good point
Baseball players like and want to play baseball. Shocker
It will need to be okay for players to not practice social distancing, to be able to play at all. If they don’t need social distancing, it means the fans won’t, either, which means you might as well wait until you can start playing in clubs home cities.
Forget about the season come back next year. As it stands now your going to try and make up two months of baseball with New York not even close to returning things back to normal. Why should any team not even be able to play and home games? Who wants to play away game for two months.
It’s wrong it’snot worth it and it’s not worth peoples health. Forget baseball for 2020 for crying out loud who give a F about baseball right now with about 10 million unemployed, people gotta find jobs after this Covid, who is thinking about going to a baseball game I mean really come on.
If your a baseball player and your going to ask me if it’s worth it my answer is NO! What ball player in their right mind wants to put their life on the line to play baseball in July. GTFO
They aren’t going to play in New York genius.
you missed his point, genius,
Starting up baseball will give some people a job. From ground crews to maintenance personnel to people providing food to the teams. That is just a small sample of additional jobs required to keep baseball running.
Id imagine the people thinking of going to games would be the ones where money didnt make a difference in the first place, the rest of us will glady watch at home for about 50 cents a day with MLB package
Its also not a matter of “wants” its a matter of sacrifice ,something most of us are doing already in this country- I imagine many of them will feel honored to take the field and give the public some smiles during these times Mr grumpy beans-
I think anything that would get some live sports on TV would be fantastic for everyone. I don’t know how feasible is really is BUT I think it would be great for the general morale of the country to have something like baseball games to come together and watch. My opinion on this and any other sports considering some sort of “drastic” way to get back to action is that if it can be safely done they should 100 do it. Sure it might be strange watching/playing games in empty stadiums/arenas/etc. But it would be fantastic to have something to watch and I truly believe it would be a really big morale boost to fans everywhere to be able to see their favorite athletes competing even if it was under weird circumstances. Even something like the “Big3” having a totally “isolated” tournament would be a really cool/unique things for fans to be able to watch and would give all the sports fans out there missing their favorite teams something to enjoy and hopefully come together over!
Perhaps the solution is to invent cyborgs that are replicas of each player loaded with all of their historical stats? lol
assuming cyborgs can’t carry COVID 19. LOL
Maybe we’d like the cyborgs better than the real thing. You’re just out the one time cost of the cyborg. We could even replicate players from the past like the Babe and Gehrig. A cyborg Field of Dreams. If you build them they will play.
We already have Ted William’s head. The man must have envisioned this day when he had his head frozen.
We really have yo think outside of the batter’s box here.
And they won’t ever get hurt. Remember in The Terminator how Arnold cut open his arm and fixed himself?
Maybe we could have endless HR Derby’s with 1 player at a time hitting and a pitching machine. With COVID 19 FREE BALLS. lol
Or l suppose we could watch baseball game reruns for as long as it takes. How many times can we watch reruns?
One thing to note is that Arizona is finishing it’s peak tourist season. Hotels normally make a lot of their money in Feb-April, and the top resorts near me had 1 and 2 booked rooms last week. The resorts would absolutely have space for the teams.
There are so many comments I doubt anyone sees this; but all the comments about veterans saying no & staying home; they have a union that involved in this, so in my mind if you don’t want to play you are considered in the retired list & receive no pay.
Yeah I’m unsure what percentage of players have to say yes for it to be a go. Certainly some will say no if there’s still some risk I would think.
These guys will fall apart playing games in the summer heat. 110+ and baseball dont mix..
Risk people’s lives, families lives, childrens lives, it’s never going to happen.
A. Players union isn’t going to agree
B. The majority of players wont agree
C. Owners and the clubs wont agree
D. State, localities, governors wont agree
E. CDC wont agree
This idea, was an idea, thanks for the unrealistic idea.
It’s comforting knowing there’s so many virology experts commenting on MLBTR.