WASHINGTON — Today marks another day without sports, but more importantly without baseball.
Today would have been Opening Day! So, without a ballpark to report from, and without a game to watch, I was confined to my home as I continue to report in my living room. Today was supposed to be the day we all woke up to baseball returning to ballparks across America. So it only seemed fitting that I work from home in a sweatshirt that says how I’m feeling. “Wake me when it’s baseball season” are the words printed across the front, and while I wear it often during the winter months, it seemed appropriate attire for today. We are all living in a world without baseball, stuck in our homes, and it feels like a nightmare.
Honestly, I don’t want to wake up… until it’s baseball season!
On the eve of what was supposed to be Opening Day, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred talked about the future of this baseball season. The good news? Manfred assured us that professional baseball WILL return one day – adding that the sport America loves will come back when it's “safe to play, and baseball will be part of the recovery and healing of this country from this pandemic.”
Manfred even went on to say his optimistic outlook is that America's favorite pastime will return at some point in May! In case you’re counting – and I am – May 1 is 37 days away.
While Manfred said it’s not likely that they will be able to get in the regular 162-game schedule, he said they will make changes to make sure as many games are played in this shortened season as possible. He expects teams to play more doubleheaders, possibly of the seven-inning variety. He might allow the regular season to stretch well into October, changing the site of the World Series.
Adjustments will be made, and I think I speak for most fans when I say: bring on the changes – as long as you bring baseball back to us.
America needs its favorite pastime, and baseball needs us. Hang in there! One day soon we will be buying peanuts and crackerjacks and rooting for the Nationals again!