Nats in the same division as the Cheatstro’s… that could be fun.
It’s quite a clever idea A World Series between the Grapefruit League and Cactus League champ!
“DODGERS AND BRAVES PLAY TO WORLD SERIES GAME 7 TIE lN 12 INNINGS”
Nothing funny there on the part of his parents - “Albert William Kaline” was born in 1934, and “alkaline batteries” were invented in 1957 (when the patent was filed); patent was granted in 1960 to Union Carbide, and they were introduced for consumer use some time in the late 1960s, by which time Al was already a star player for over 10 years.
True, the chemical term “alkaline” predates the batteries, of course, but with Al’s parents being described as “poor” and “never finished high school”, they probably didn’t have it on their minds back in 1934.
It’s just too bad he never played at catcher, to truly form part of a “battery”.
Yeah, aside from the distinct “exhibition games” feel to such a season and Grapefruit/Cactus League Champions meeting in the World Series (and it’d be just my luck that my Mets would win their first World Series in my fandom tenure with no home games, no fans in attendance, in ST leagues… Or losing in a one-and-done Grapefruit League Wild Card game, LOL), there’s another logistical problem to that proposal:
There are 15 teams in each league, Cactus and Grapefruit, the idea being to separate teams geographically by region to minimize travel, right? And I assume the DH is in effect everywhere, as during ST?
Well, the only way MLB can schedule games with 15 teams each in the AL and NL is to have an interleague series every day. So… Interleague Cactus/Grapefruit League games will still be on the schedule? Sounds bad.
Or… Wait for it… I propose a new three-way round robin baseball game format! As long as 2020 is the Wacky Season, let’s go all out!
Every day there are up to 5 matches of Team A vs. B. vs C, for 54 outs (just like a normal baseball game would go, 27x2), but it goes like this:
Team A pitching to Team B (for 9 outs - Team B pitches later)
Team A pitching to Team C (for 9 outs)
Team B pitching to Team C (for 9 outs)
Team B pitching to Team A (for 9 outs)
“Seventh Inning Stretch”
Team C pitching to Team A (for 9 outs)
Team C pitching to team B (for 9 outs)
Tally the total runs for A, B, and C, regardless of opponent, and do head to head comparisons for the W/L tallies.
Let’s say A = 5 runs (doesn’t matter if it was 5 vs. B and 0 vs. C or 3-2); B = 4, C = 3. Then Team A gets 2 wins, B gets 1 win, C gets 0 wins. No extra innings, either - ties are equivalent to 0.5 wins.
Days off for the players would come for 3 teams as a time, effectively to sit out a phantom 3-way.
Bullpen use would change dramatically - suspend the whole “3 batter minimum” thing for 2020.
Following up on my brilliant (yes, BRILLIANT) idea of how to do Mexican Standoff Baseball, I suppose it’d be worth preserving the “3 outs to end the inning” nature of the game, in terms of intentionally walking guys and so on, as getting 9 straight outs instead of 3 feels like it will result in long, long times at bat.
Instead of:
Team A pitching to Team B (for 3 outs)
Team A pitching to Team C (for 3 outs)
It’d be:
Team A pitching to Team B (for 3 outs)
Team A pitching to Team C (for 3 outs)
Team A pitching to Team B (for 3 outs)
Team A pitching to Team C (for 3 outs)
Team A pitching to Team B (for 3 outs)
Team A pitching to Team C (for 3 outs)
And so on.
The idea is still to have all the team’s pitching done in a row, to allow for “starting pitchers” to go deep, otherwise the game would devolve into “everybody is a 3-out or 6-out relief pitcher”.
This is true of every sport. You could take any athlete from today and they would dominate if you threw them back 50+ years. As to the players you mentioned, segregation aside, they would have to deal with all day games, frequent doubleheaders, long train rides, poor diet, primitive training facilities, etc… Mays probably had to deal with a lot of this but once you get into the free agency period I think a lot of modern players would struggle to adjust.
Of course all those things are true. But you know what’s worse? No baseball.
I’m not sure how to fix this, aside from just having somoene taking off day every day, even during the weekend. It’s not ideal, but you know what? Beats no baseball!
Just make one league 14 and the other 16. We did that for a while anyway.
But if they’re doing this might as well put all 30 in the Phoenix area, the short rides were a good idea. The 3 east coast teams in Florida are pretty long rides. Tampa to Roger Dean Chevy Stadium is over 3 hours with no traffic. (Jupiter, FL)
Or, add one amateur team to each League to make it 2x16 for 2020, not from an MLB affiliated minor league, and give them the MLB minimum salary
Something like the LI Ducks and the Sonoma Stompers, the respective 2019 champions of independent leagues in the East and the West
Mariners would probably still struggle against those teams. 
Yeah, I think packing everyone into Phoenix is the better solution. The big issue is the fact there are only 10 facilities (11 if you count Chase Field). With no attendance, you don’t have to worry too much about turning the seats over for a 2nd game, but how do you warm the players up? I guess there are plenty of practice fields at each facility.
There’s only 11? I thought there was more. Maybe that’s why they’re backing off the Arizona only idea. You really should have 15. On the other hand, could do day/night on the fields and get 15 games a day played.
So the Yanks Spring Training complex is actually 2 fields, are any of the ones in Arizona more than one field?
I don’t think day/night games in AZ in May would be a great idea. Of course, baseball in Florida once you get past spring is another hellhole. Not to mention the virus is going to be alive and well in FL for some time, no matter how they try to insulate the players, coaches, and umpires.
From what I can see on the Wikipedia article on the Cactus League, there are five shared stadiums in Arizona:
- White Sox and Dodgers share Camelback Ranch
- Reds and Indians share Goodyear Ballpark
- Royals and Rangers share Surprise Stadium
- Diamonbacks and Rockies share Salt River Fields at Talking Stick
- Padres and Mariners share Peoria Sports Complex
Most of the facilities have multiple fields, just not with full amenities (dugout, bullpen, cameras, etc.). I’m sure several of the facilities could adapt and get a 2nd field equipped with everything, but it would definitely be 2nd rate stuff.
I went to spring training this spring, and the 4 games I went to were in 4 of the shared parks. Camelback Ranch and Salt River were both amazing facilities. Peoria and Surprise weren’t very impressive. But I’ll take watching a game played on a high school field if it’s MLB baseball.
To hear many Mets fans talking, Jared Kelenic (sent over to the Mariners in the trade for Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz) will probably win ROY, MVP, Cy Young, and play all nine positions in every game of a World Series sweep for Seattle while Cano collects upwards of 30M to sit on a bench, so there’s that you can hang your hat on for the near future.
Is it MLB baseball, just because it’s played by MLB players? In different parks than usual, on a different schedule of games, against a different field of opponents, played with different rules (full time DH for the 15 NL teams), probably with adjusted roster sizes to account for a more packed schedule (28-30 men), games that you not only can’t see live, but would be played in an empty park?
I mean yes it’d be high level professional play, I’m sure. But a lot of why I follow MLB versus watching rec league games isn’t just the level of play but the camraderie of being amid other fans (or seeing them on TV and projecting myself there), and the historical context of MLB seasons of the past. In a putative “Cactus League playoff race” between the SF Giants and the Texas Rangers, there’d be mostly WTF, “this could never happen before or again” amusement.
Would I watch it? I guess I would. Would I be nearly as invested in the results? No way. More like watching and hoping the US team does well in the World Baseball Classic. I’d be rooting for a win but an elimination loss wouldn’t really sting, which conversely limits how excited winning would make me, yeah?
Yes, absolutely. It’s the same game - played at the same high level. The circumstances would be weird - but they’re already pretty fucking weird, aren’t they? I’m the only person in my house that’s been within 6 feet of another human being for the last 40 days. That’s really weird - I’m pretty sure I could get used to empty stands.
I’m a Royals fan - I’m not all that concerned about this “winning” you speak of. But I am interested in developing our young players, watching a season unfold (from whatever unholy origami it’s been mashed up into at the moment), and having some fun interacting with the fantasy baseball players I’ve made friends with over the years.
Vin Scully is out of the hospital.
He says he’s sworn off the head-first slide after this.