MLB looking into starting the season in MAY

[turtlebowl]

56 minutes ago, atomic said:

I really think the baseball plan is the most assine things ever.  Read things about NYC.  Policeman went to emergency room for Covid-19 and they said he was fine and should just rest at home. Dies on sidewalk outside of hospital.  Most likely because hospitals was already full of people.

Really we don't need baseball at this time.  And there plan is about as dumb as they come.  Here is an idea shut-down. Wait until they tell you social distancing should end.  Start up schools for a month. If we don't have another outbreak than think about starting sports up again. 

We don't have time or methods to test people daily or care for them in hospitals or them to spread this all over the place.  They have enough money. They should stay home and relax or volunteer to help. 

Sports starting up again will be a large part of the mental recovery that all of us will need to eventually get passed this pandemic.  If experts from the CDC and others feel like they can create a safe environment to pull something like is being suggested off then I applaud the efforts.  

I am all about taking precautions but we may never live in the same world that we did prior to this virus.  Do we just seclude ourselves forever or do we find solutions that will make our new norm a little more enjoyable?  

[Going Underground]

26 minutes ago, turtlebowl said:

Sports starting up again will be a large part of the mental recovery that all of us will need to eventually get passed this pandemic.  If experts from the CDC and others feel like they can create a safe environment to pull something like is being suggested off then I applaud the efforts.  

I am all about taking precautions but we may never live in the same world that we did prior to this virus.  Do we just seclude ourselves forever or do we find solutions that will make our new norm a little more enjoyable?  

This is one way we will get out of it but many people won't like it. Phone tracking and testing .

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/04/contact-tracing-could-free-america-from-its-quarantine-nightmare/609577/

[atomic]

33 minutes ago, turtlebowl said:

Sports starting up again will be a large part of the mental recovery that all of us will need to eventually get passed this pandemic.  If experts from the CDC and others feel like they can create a safe environment to pull something like is being suggested off then I applaud the efforts.  

I am all about taking precautions but we may never live in the same world that we did prior to this virus.  Do we just seclude ourselves forever or do we find solutions that will make our new norm a little more enjoyable?  

Grouping large amounts of people together is a great way to get this to spread. And then you are getting people from all over the country coming into one state.  This would be a disaster if implemented.  This is just a horrible plan that will fail terribly if implemented..  Then they will shut it down and the players will spread it back across the country again.   I guess if you like to see large amounts of people dying for no reason.

I think the baseball players should do volunteer work. Feed the hungry or transport nurses and doctors to work.  Clean up crews at hospitals.  Lots of stuff they can do.  In the UK they have a volunteer force that 750k people have signed up for.  These guys are young and healthy and have enough resources to help and that is what they should do.  

[GuidoSarducci]

Here's a schedule which could work with a mid-July start date:

Breakdown of games

Division opponents 6 games each ( 3 game series home -away ) (6*4 = 24 games)

Other league opponents 4 games each (10*4  = 40 games). 

No interleague play - this is their off day as only 28 teams will be able play every day.

Total 66 games, one off day every 15 days.   means only 4 off days, so about 70 league days.  Very easy to start in mid July or even August and be ready for mid-October.

If they do want to play at ST facilities and have the games count, they should play the interleague games, with the possible exception of saving the "rivalry games" (like Baltimore-DC) for the "real" regular season. 

[turtlebowl]

7 minutes ago, Going Underground said:

This is one way we will get out of it but many people won't like it. Phone tracking and testing .

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/04/contact-tracing-could-free-america-from-its-quarantine-nightmare/609577/

I read the article and would have no issue with a secure system that could operate as a notification for potential exposure.  Whatever allows me to do what I want to do and helps keep me and my family safe is good with me.

[GuidoSarducci]

1 minute ago, atomic said:

Grouping large amounts of people together is a great way to get this to spread. And then you are getting people from all over the country coming into one state.  This would be a disaster if implemented.  This is just a horrible plan that will fail terribly if implemented..  Then they will shut it down and the players will spread it back across the country again.   I guess if you like to see large amounts of people dying for no reason.

I think the baseball players should do volunteer work. Feed the hungry or transport nurses and doctors to work.  Clean up crews at hospitals.  Lots of stuff they can do.  In the UK they have a volunteer force that 750k people have signed up for.  These guys are young and healthy and have enough resources to help and that is what they should do.  

People are already travelling all over the country - the airports and highways are not locked down like they were in China.   We only have "shelter-in-place"meaning we can't gather for  non-essential business.  Even now, MLB would compose a small percentage of overall air travel.   And especially since they use their own charter flights, there is less risk of them spreading it to the general population.

Fans gathering in the stadiums obviously is a major problem.  I'm not sure how they could manage this - could they reduce seating maybe enforcing a "remain at X distance"? 

These measures were never intended to totally stop the spread of the virus - they were just intended to slow ti down enough so that hospitals did not become overwhelmed.   Once they're confident thats not a problem, I can see the order being lifted.

[turtlebowl]

3 minutes ago, atomic said:

Grouping large amounts of people together is a great way to get this to spread. And then you are getting people from all over the country coming into one state.  This would be a disaster if implemented.  This is just a horrible plan that will fail terribly if implemented..  Then they will shut it down and the players will spread it back across the country again.   I guess if you like to see large amounts of people dying for no reason.

I think the baseball players should do volunteer work. Feed the hungry or transport nurses and doctors to work.  Clean up crews at hospitals.  Lots of stuff they can do.  In the UK they have a volunteer force that 750k people have signed up for.  These guys are young and healthy and have enough resources to help and that is what they should do.  

You do realize to pull this off extensive amount of testing would be implemented even before players arrive and while they were there along with everyone else that would be involved in this.  I get the concern but when do you propose that we start doing things again, when everyone has taken a vaccine?  I don't know about you but I can't live like this for a year or 2.  Everyone needs to think outside the box to get back to some kind of alternate normal.  Sounds like MLB is doing that so if they can do it something that meets the guidelines that the professionals give them then I 100% support the idea.  Now saying they can pull this off to meet those safety requirements is a different argument and I'm not sure if it's possible or not.  I'm definitely hoping it can be done though as that would help everyone in the long road to recovery.

[spiritof66]

3 hours ago, DrungoHazewood said:

There's 10 spring training stadiums, plus whatever they call the D'back's stadium now. All basically in Phoenix. 

16 might be a stretch.  They could do like they used to in the 1800s: you build a new one out of wood in three weeks and hope it doesn't collapse on opening day.  Less risk with no spectators.

I thought the real problem with the wood structures was fires. They wouldn't collapse that fast, I wouldn't think. And I understand the Army Corps of Engineers has some free time. Maybe they would help out with the construction.

If you include all of Arizona (basically adding Tucson), it looks like there are 13 minor league stadia. There's no reason there couldn't be two games played by four times on the same day (like the NBA did when I was a kid). Add to that the D-backs and maybe the University of Arizona and Arizona State. I think this one of the more readily solvable problems facing MLB.

[turtlebowl]

19 minutes ago, orpheus100 said:

Anyone see what they are doing with WWE wrestling. It could work for baseball.

"The email outlines protocol ... saying the medical team will take each individual's temperature before they enter the building -- which is expected to cause some delays -- so arrive early.

Once inside, everyone is encouraged to wear a face mask -- and if you can't get one, make one!"

Maybe let in a limited number of fans spaced apart, wearing masks. 

That is what I believe.  Put some kind of thought in this and see if something works.  If you are waiting for full clearance to return to stadiums and fly around the country you can almost assuredly cancel this season and then maybe even part of next year.  

By the way, I guarantee the NFL is also working on some kind of revised schedule just in case to assure them of being able to play this year also.

[DrungoHazewood]

2 minutes ago, spiritof66 said:

I thought the real problem with the wood structures was fires. They wouldn't collapse that fast, I wouldn't think. And I understand the Army Corps of Engineers has some free time. Maybe they would help out with the construction.

If you include all of Arizona (basically adding Tucson), it looks like there are 13 minor league stadia. There's no reason there couldn't be two games played by four times on the same day (like the NBA did when I was a kid). Add to that the D-backs and maybe the University of Arizona and Arizona State. I think this one of the more readily solvable problems facing MLB.

That was definitely a problem.  They'd burn all the time, sometimes in the middle of the game. I think it was 1894 where several parks burnt down in a short amount of time, and rumors went around about a baseball arsonist.  But collapses were not unheard-of, either.  Sometimes they literally threw up some bleachers in the weeks before the season; this wasn't Janet Marie Smith and HOK drawing up plans four years ahead of time.  In January it was the vacant lot at 22nd and Elm, and in April they're playing major league games there.

[spiritof66]

2 hours ago, atomic said:

I really think the baseball plan is the most assine things ever.  Read things about NYC.  Policeman went to emergency room for Covid-19 and they said he was fine and should just rest at home. Dies on sidewalk outside of hospital.  Most likely because hospitals was already full of people.

Really we don't need baseball at this time.  And there plan is about as dumb as they come.  Here is an idea shut-down. Wait until they tell you social distancing should end.  Start up schools for a month. If we don't have another outbreak than think about starting sports up again. 

We don't have time or methods to test people daily or care for them in hospitals or them to spread this all over the place.  They have enough money. They should stay home and relax or volunteer to help. 

I agree with this. The apparent fact (widely reported and not denied) that there are people in MLB (the owners, the union, the Commissioner's office, whoever) who think those things either aren't dealbreakers or will change by May tells you a lot about how clueless they are, and how little regard they have for tarnishing the game if there's enough money in it for them.

I do think there's a reasonable chance these things will look different by the late summer, and that's what I would be thinking about if I were involved in this process.

[spiritof66]

7 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

That was definitely a problem.  They'd burn all the time, sometimes in the middle of the game. I think it was 1894 where several parks burnt down in a short amount of time, and rumors went around about a baseball arsonist.  But collapses were not unheard-of, either.  Sometimes they literally threw up some bleachers in the weeks before the season; this wasn't Janet Marie Smith and HOK drawing up plans four years ahead of time.  In January it was the vacant lot at 22nd and Elm, and in April they're playing major league games there.

Here's the stadium collapse I'm aware of, in 1903, and it looks like it was the largest one. I'm guessing you're referring to earlier collapses since within a decade after this one, most teams' ballparks used more substantial (and less flammable materials. 

"On August 8, 1903 the Phillies hosted the Braves in a doubleheader at the Huntington Avenue Grounds. In the second game approximately 300 people gathered along the grandstand walkway to witness an altercation between a drunk man and two women. Allegedly the women teased the man for his present physical condition, he spooked them, and they cried for help. But the walkway was rotted and collapsed under the great weight of the crowd, dropping people 30 feet to the ground. Naturally this commotion drew more people and an estimated 200 more spectators fell on top of those who fell initially with the walkway. The game was subsequently cancelled. 

"The catastrophe killed seven people, five more later died of injuries sustained from the collapse, and another 230 people were injured. It remains the greatest tragedy in baseball history. According to National Pastime Museum writer Bill Felber, 80 lawsuits were filed, totaling $1 million in damages ($26 million today).  The Sporting Life reported that several parties were named responsible for the disaster, including Philadelphia, the Department of Public Safety, Phillies president James Potter, and former owners and then-current stadium owners Al Reach and John Rogers. One particular lawsuit filed against Reach and Rogers reached the Pennsylvania Supreme Court (six years later in 1909) which affirmed a lower court decision that neither Reach nor Rogers could be held responsible for the faulty grandstand timbers, and blame lay with the stadium lessee, James Potter." 

https://www.sportstalkphilly.com/2017/09/catastrophe-and-death-at-the-ball-park.html

[turtlebowl]

2 minutes ago, spiritof66 said:

I agree with this. The apparent fact (widely reported and not denied) that there are people in MLB (the owners, the union, the Commissioner's office, whoever) who think those things either aren't dealbreakers or will change by May tells you a lot about how clueless they are, and how little regard they have for tarnishing the game if there's enough money in it for them.

I do think there's a reasonable chance these things will look different by the late summer, and that's what I would be thinking about if I were involved in this process.

I actually think there is a realistic chance that the government is behind the idea of getting baseball up and running in some capacity.  Even though it was an extremely different circumstance the country really started the mentally recovery from 9/11 after sports leagues started back up.  The ceremonies that accompanied  the restart of the competitions actually brought the country more together than ever.  People need at minimal a diversion and at most hope that we are on the road to recovery. 

MLB will not have the final decision on if this can be done, it will be from others a lot smarter than anyone in the MLB offices. 

 

[atomic]

12 minutes ago, turtlebowl said:

I actually think there is a realistic chance that the government is behind the idea of getting baseball up and running in some capacity.  Even though it was an extremely different circumstance the country really started the mentally recovery from 9/11 after sports leagues started back up.  The ceremonies that accompanied  the restart of the competitions actually brought the country more together than ever.  People need at minimal a diversion and at most hope that we are on the road to recovery. 

MLB will not have the final decision on if this can be done, it will be from others a lot smarter than anyone in the MLB offices. 

 

I don't see any correlation to 9/11.  That was a one time event.  You didn't die by going to a baseball game. I flew a month after 9/11.  There were soldiers with M-16's all over the airport.  They were able to solve the problem very  quickly by taking actions.  This isn't anyway the same type of scenario.  You notice how like almost every nursing home is having outbreaks and every prison.  This will go through the teams like a fireball. Get big groups of people together in one place and you will have an outbreak.  

[scOtt]

1 hour ago, DrungoHazewood said:

That was definitely a problem.  They'd burn all the time, sometimes in the middle of the game. I think it was 1894 where several parks burnt down in a short amount of time, and rumors went around about a baseball arsonist.  But collapses were not unheard-of, either.  Sometimes they literally threw up some bleachers in the weeks before the season; this wasn't Janet Marie Smith and HOK drawing up plans four years ahead of time.  In January it was the vacant lot at 22nd and Elm, and in April they're playing major league games there.

There's a horrible video of a "football" stadium burning up in England recently. Like within the last 30 years, not sure. Pretty scary. Went up like a campfire starting, torched the whole grandstand in like 10 minutes.