greg775

Hey Dick, this concern about people not wearing masks troubles me. I can't find a mask anywhere to purchase. If people want to go to the stores and hoard them like they did toilet paper, there's nothing people like me can do to find a mask. Angers me that stores can't just sell masks. People are so damn greedy. Still no toilet paper in Kansas. Or masks.

Reasonable post. I flip flop as I read different stuff. As I read your post and read about "clustering" occurring immediately at the few churches that have opened and some of the plants where people have to work close together, I shift to the "no way we'll ever have sports with crowds again." Maybe a couple hundred rich guys and gals (boosters) and their families will sit in the upper deck spread out during college events. Maybe some rich corporations will sit in the upper deck spread out at baseball and NFL games; a few hundred. But the way people are seated so close to each other? How can we ever have that again? I do see the athletes risking this and playing with no crowds in pro sports. College is tricky because if the campuses are closed to students (and again, how can we ever have kids go to classes again?) you can't have sports if campus is closed to all other students. It would take elimination of the NCAA and just having paid to play college aged "pros" wear the college jerseys and compete. That said: I can't see money being the holdup here; owners are going to have to pay full salaries.

They should have some fun with the season since it's going to be so weird. How about take all the teams and have an NCAA type tournament bracket and just keep playing tournaments. At the end of the year the team that won the most bracketed tournaments is WS champ. Or the top two teams can play a 7 game series.

If they start bickering about money and that starts getting all the coverage, screw baseball. The public will be in no mood for that. Either agree to pay the players their entire salaries (pro rated by amount of games missed) and they accept that, or just cancel the season. This is no time for haggling. Play ball. I'm quite convinced we won't have spectator sports ever again so it's time we get used to sports played in a studio like setting. Get it started, sports world.

It's interesting how any discussion of a White Sox all time team usually results in the really old players or deceased players getting the nod at so many positions. For instance any talk of pitchers you usually hear Billy Pierce and Ed Walsh; Ted Lyons, Early Wynn. Reliever you hear WIlhelm. Everyday players you hear Minnie Minoso, Appling, Jim Landis, Eddie Collins, Nellie Fox, Little Luis Aparicio. Of the modern era players it's good to see Fisk is generally regarded as our top catcher; Konerko gets the nod at first; and Buehrle is usally listed a top pitcher but what about love for Baines, Ventura, Dick Allen, Sale, AJP, McDowell, Hurt, Ozzie, Hoyt, Thiggie, Wilbur Wood, Hoyt on some of ther all time great lists?? Why the oldies?

I never thought about the paying of the players. Seems to me they need to get their full salaries that they signed. Owners, if they lose a lot of money, or some money this season, can make it back in the future ... if we ever get back to having crowds at games again. It will take a huge change in American culture (from being locked up in your home scared to death to move around amid stay at home orders) to going to a packed ballpark with 45,000 people. It's going to take a lot to get people to overcome that fear for a long time. I would think organized religion will take a huge hit as well and the movie industry. People are simply going to be frightened when they are allowed to live again. But as far as the money ... pay the players their entire contract.

That's not a bad reply. Flu is contagious and in flu season it will go through some college basketball teams for instance but never seems to decapitate a whole team at one time. You'll hear about a player being sick for one game then he's better and the next game u hear somebody else is under the weather.

My eye test tells me he was a damn fine SS and a pretty good hitter for a lot of White Sox teams. Me likey Ozzie.

This is a good post. The ONLY downside is the scenario you suggest. The commissioner has to discuss this with all parties. OK, Soxtalk. What happens if somebody tests positive, which the way this is going, is almost 100 percent certain? What is the plan? Now if the response would be to quarantine the whole team for a while or similarly harsh response, then yes I guess COVID has won and will force cancellations of all seasons. We have to look at odds here. The odds are almost 100 percent that a player or coach or trainer has coronavirus and is a carrier of the virus. If somebody gets it during the season ... does all hell break loose in terms of quarantining the whole team and the opposing team that have played the exposed player? I sure hope they think of a suitable response to a player or coach testing positive. Otherwise we're just praying for a miracle: that no ballplayer has it. This I repeat is the ONLY CONCERN to playing all games in Zona with no fans.

The optimist in me says yes there will be a season (all teams in Zona with TV coverage but no fans). Why? Because if there is no season at all that means we've agreed to shut down the United States of America for way too long — so long life will never be the same. Can you imagine the great joy when baseball is played? I will add one thing: If we can't put baseball players on a field and have them play without causing huge coronavirus problems (players sit in the stands six feet apart, with all players wearing masks etc) in America, then God help us cause this virus will have put an end to life as we knew it.

Kind of scary. Shows what can happen if supply dwindles as the economy tanks. National crisis: Health/economy both, not just health, governors. That said ... do you think there will be baseball? Where are the players working out now?

He just screams "likeability" to me.

Ozzie is one of my all time favorite players and managers both.

Just off the top of my head, mainly favorites: 1B: Big Hurt. 2B: Durham. SS-Ozzie. 3B-Robin. LF-Zisk. CF-Lemon. RF-Dye. C-Fisk. P-Buehrle, Hoyt, Peters, Horlen, Jenks. DH-Dick Allen

Thanks Squirm, I am passionate about certain issues and I am upset so many people, including very smart people, won't even consider reopening America before May or June of 2021. I'm telling you the world cannot be on hold that long. America will not surive and so many will die because of lack of food, $$. Nobody but the truly elite will have any money. It will be intersting if all other countries open up and we act scared, remain closed for business for 18 months. Would China attack a weakened America? Would Russia? Would they both? Let's be reasonable and play ball soon!

You are right. No matter what some people think, the economy does matter not only to sportsworld but every American. This country can't afford to shut down all of 2020. The scientists and all the experts should be working on compromise plans to get the country going again as soon as possible. Instead of that I suggest the majority of people desperately want to stay holed up. They feel safe and sound in their new routines: I.e. they've got plenty of toilet paper and can get deliveries from stores or can go to the stores and that's perfect in their eyes until they are 100 percent SURE COVID-19 is over. I say find a way to play ball and find a way to get things running again. Isn't china up and running now? Isn't Russia? Has North Korea even acknowledged any cases hit there? Hmmmm. https://news.yahoo.com/north-koreas-official-coronavirus-count-172000898.html

I bet most of the ballplayers would love to play the game they love and get paid handsomely even in these conditions. Those are both important things: their love of the game and the $$$ they make playing it. I think they can handle being isolated until they can return to their own ballparks for games.

Of course it will be less enjoyable but this is probably the new normal, maybe for the rest of time. So we have to get used to it. Why not now? If this virus gets contained and we immediately get hit with another one, a different strain caused by our eating things like bats, worldwide sports are gone forever, folks.

Yep you can have fake crowd noise pumped in like the canned laughter on TV sitcoms. If it adds to the enjoyment why not?

I don't like the trend of any optimism being shot down. It's like some want everything shut down until May or June 2021 by gosh and nothing else matters. Once the toilet paper supply got stocked high enough in most Americans' homes, people don't want to risk anything. Well folks we have to get back to some sort of normalcy or the world is over as we know it. We need an economy folks.

I love it. See ... if leagues and colleges do not panic and wait this out a bit MAYBE all parties can come up with some solutions. Can u imagine how cool it'll be if baseball season can be saved??? We can't just give up and say "We'll see you all in May, 2021." Babysteps.

I think if everybody just avoids panicking (and announcing cancellation of the entire season in the next week or two) maybe there will be a way to play games without fans at some point this season. It seems like it's a no-no to be optimistic about corona these days. It's almost as if people want the world to continue to stop until summer 2021. Well ... I'm hoping we can keep our heads about us, come to some compromises, and play sports without fans in a month or so. I can pray, can't I? I see both sides, but unless we're all locked in our homes month after month until a vaccine is discovered and tested (May 2021?) there will have to be some compromises. If so ... I don't see why they can't try playing sports without fans. On the other hand, if we just have to shut everything down til the vaccine is tested, well get ready to hunker down at home for 18 months. By then the world would have changed so much sports probably won't even be a consideration anymore. CMON PEOPLE, let's see what happens and quit canceling things 3-4 months ahead of when we have to! Things might actually improve.

At some point, the almighty dollar will have to be considered about the future of sports, period. At what point is TV money affected? Do the networks have unlimited funds to basically fund college sports and pro sports with fans out of the equation?

I would think this would be the only way there will be baseball this season. It's not likely, but like somebody said, what is the policy going to be when a player or coach tests positive? Also, it's fricking hot in Arizona in the summer and I don't think it's reasonable that the players are going to play a majority of their games over 100 degrees out. It'd be much easier to just cancel the season and wait for the vaccine. Ultimately it may come down to $$. Will the players earn enough to make it worthwhile? Will the teams make enough off the TV deals to make it worthwhile? Will there be a policy regarding what to do when somebody comes down with the virus?

It's becoming fairly obvious there will be no spectator sports for a long time. I would say if we are lucky, there could be MLB starting maybe in August with no fans. Same with college football. Maybe have a 2 week training camp in July and start the season Aug. 1 with no fans. Also maybe some sort of reduced NBA playoffs and NHL playoffs starting in August with no fans. This is only if the teams can make a significant more amount of money via their TV deals than the payoff of their catastrophic insurance contracts. If TV wants no part of this, then my guess is seasons will be canceled very soon. I'd bet no winter sports (NBA, college basketball, NHL) during flu season which could signal the return of corona without vaccines. I would think the hope would be resumption of spectator sports in summer of 2021 if we are lucky. Perhaps sports without fans before then if we are lucky. Please tell me I'm wrong, but I just don't see any league risking allowing large groups of people getting together so soon after the lockdown/shutdown of major cities. It's too much too fast, too risky. Also I would bet nonessential businesses will be out of action until August-September and who knows if they'll have to close again during flu season. The economy? What economy? Nobody will be working or very few will be working. Ugh what a horrible time in world history. We should use this post of mine as start of a threat, predict what's going to happen with MLB season and other sports seasons.