I would guess if there is no 2020 season then they would have to go by what baseball bylaws say about contracts along with the CBA with the union. NHL missed a whole season so there is precedent.
In 1995 after the strike ended, the season was 144 games with a post-season. That was the first one with the “divisional series” played.
And, although the NFL is the 10,000 pound gorilla, baseball is still a unifier. No one remembers the first NY Giants or Jets game after Sept 11. Every Sept 11 documentary will show a bit of the Yankees returning to baseball. That would have happened even if Bush had owned the Cowboys and not the Texas Rangers before the Presidency.
Anything less than 80 games will require some unique schedule.
Answering my own question:
I’d been wondering what would happen with service time.
I assume salaries would be pro-rated to a abbreviated season?
If you haven’t seen Moneyball it’s very good . Even good for non sports fans. The book is good too and goes into more detail as you might expect.
I’m probably in the minority here, but I am surprised at the number of voices in the media concerned about a short schedule. I think they should just kick it off whenever they can and roll with it. If it means a 75 game schedule, so what? Better than no season at all.
I agree with this, though I like the idea of the weekly double headers and maybe extending the season, but not into November like some articles have mentioned.
The Athletic article quotes some people as saying things to the effect of “well you can’t play an 81 game season. How would you know you’re crowning the best team? Sometimes the best team at mid season doesn’t even make the playoffs.”
I really don’t understand that argument. The season is what it is. Nobody says about a 162 game season that you might not be crowning the best team because you didn’t play 190 games. It’s true the Nationals would not have won last year if it had been a shortened season. So what? If the season is 81 games, it’s 81 games, and the team that does the best wins. It would certainly be a fairer season than the 1981 season, where the two National League teams with the best records didn’t even make the playoffs.
I don’t mind 76 games. I mentioned a unique schedule because I think you’d want to avoid as many cross country matchups as you can. Obviously TV ratings usually suck for those especially during the week. I’d be fine with more interleague play but keeping teams closer to home, far easier for makeup games as well.
I think it’s probably mostly old timers who don’t like the short season. A lot of them still don’t like the DH and interleague play. As always don’t make the perfect the enemy of the good.
I see your point about avoiding long travel. If the season must be half long it would likely be a good idea to redesign it to reduce that kind of stuff. That would allow for a few extra games to be added without extending the season’s length in time.
The advantage of keeping interleague play is clear; if my team, the Blue Jays, aren’t going to host or travel to see West Coast teams, they have to make that up somewhere but it’d be a bit much to play the entire season against just a handful of teams. By retaining a half dozen games against opponents like the Phillies, Mets and Reds, you’d add some variety to the schedule without onerous travel.
Some people are calling for extending the season well into December and having playoff games at neutral sites in domed stadiums and warm-weather cities. Miami has been proposed as a site for the World Series. This is completely stupid. Nobody in Miami even bothers to show up to watch the home team when the Marlins are in town. What makes anybody think that a World Series would be successful there? Not only that, but then there would be almost no off-season before 2021’s season begins.
I’m not worried about a drastically truncated off-season. The NFL operates with an off-season that is approximately 14 hours long. But I definitely think the World Series in Miami is stupid. Put somewhere central(ish) - maybe the new Rangers stadium, or Houston (though we shouldn’t be rewarding Houston with jack-squat)? On second thought, that’s just a bad idea on its face. Institute 7-inning doubleheader rules, and pack as many games in as possible. Give the players union as much as they want for it - active rosters of 30 on doubleheader days? You got it. Tie game after 12 innings? It’s a tie. I don’t care - just give me as much baseball as possible as soon as it’s safe to do so.
Also, free MLB.tv for everyone, with access to every video in the archive, right now, please.
I’d much rather just a shorter season and a World Series in home parks in October. Having the home crowd going berzerk is part of the fun.
It really does make a big difference.
If the Yankees, Red Sox, big name teams etc., are in the world series pretty much anywhere could sellout. Small market teams would have a harder time selling tickets.
I’ve got a great idea. MLB can finally drop all the over the top military worship and honor nurses this season.
That could easily be phased out for the 2021 season and we’d finally be rid of the military shit that has been impossible to drop since 9/11.
I think we’re stuck with God Bless America regardless
I find your ideas intriguing and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
Remember the Pentagon was paying a lot of teams for that military stuff. Can nurses pay too?