The two sides will need to compromise on finances if there are to be any games this summer.
This could be one of the most important weeks in the history of Major League Baseball. By week’s end, we should have a pretty good indication what the 2020 season should look like.
More importantly, we should get our first indication if there will be any baseball at all.
Baseball has a lot of logistical work ahead if it is going to try to return this summer. We are very much in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, with infection rates in many parts of the country still surging.
According to reports on Monday, Major League Baseball owners gave the OK to make a proposal to the players’ union to play about 82 games this summer, with Opening Day in early July. As we’ve noted before, there is no doubt MLB would love to have games played on the Fourth of July, a symbolic date for the country and the sport.
Boston canceled its July 4 celebration last week, meaning there will be no orchestra playing along the Charles River while fireworks exploding overhead. Another loss in a year that has seen many.
Wouldn’t it be meaningful if we could watch a Red Sox game that day while cooking burgers and dogs on the grill? It would be a powerful reminder of the resiliency we will need as we work our way through the stops and starts that this recovery will feature.
Yet some of the biggest challenges the game will face this week will come from within. The potential for a major chasm between ownership and the MLB Players Association could hold up any progress toward returning to the field.
