MLB Season/Coronavirus

[jimmy13]

There may already be a thread for this, but with Coronavirus just now being officially declared a pandemic and E3, SXSW, St. Patrick's Day Parade and dozens of other events around the country being cancelled I'm starting to worry the MLB season will be cancelled. This is pretty unprecedented. I remember after 9/11 MLB suspended play, but this is going to be an ongoing situation, at best, for the next 2-3 months. I know MLB has declared the clubhouses off limits to the press and they're considering having teams play in alternative stadiums, in cities less affected and I know that peoples lives are more important than baseball, but man it would really suck if this season got cancelled. Anybody else have any thoughts on this? I think at this point its almost inevitable that the season will be impacted in some way.

[countryboy]

Quote: Originally Posted by jimmy13

There may already be a thread for this, but with Coronavirus just now being officially declared a pandemic and E3, SXSW, St. Patrick's Day Parade and dozens of other events around the country being cancelled I'm starting to worry the MLB season will be cancelled. This is pretty unprecedented. I remember after 9/11 MLB suspended play, but this is going to be an ongoing situation, at best, for the next 2-3 months. I know MLB has declared the clubhouses off limits to the press and they're considering having teams play in alternative stadiums, in cities less affected and I know that peoples lives are more important than baseball, but man it would really suck if this season got cancelled. Anybody else have any thoughts on this? I think at this point its almost inevitable that the season will be impacted in some way.

I don't foresee the season being cancelled because the expectation is that once warmer weather hits, then the virus will start to dissipate/die off as it cannot survive in warm weather.

I think there could be further impact on the games, but I would be surprised if it goes as far as playing in front of empty seats. The clubhouses are already off limits and I could see teams not making players available to fans for autographs and such for the first few weeks of the season.

[jimmy13]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/mlb-wan...on-11583901404


This just dropped an hour ago. MLB considering playing at different stadiums in other cities or possibly just continuing the regular season at their spring training facilities. I also read that experts are saying that the virus may have a seasonal cycle, but with the way its currently spreading they expect only a small decrease in cases due to weather. And clearly its only going to get worse before it gets better. I hope you're right though, I'd hate to see this get any worse and I'd hate to see the baseball season be affected. I imagine the international series for this year will be cancelled.

This is sort of unprecedented, right? I know MLB was heavily impacted by WW2 and the strike in '94 and to suspension after 9/11, but I don't think a virus has ever had the type of impact on sports some people are expecting.

[Chip Douglass]

I mean, even these spring training facilities have seating capacities in the thousands to tens of thousands, right? That's just not going to fly.

I think the season should begin on time, but you can't play in front of packed audiences. We're in the critical stages of a mass pandemic.

[bhurst99]

I see Seattle won't be playing home games in March.

I doubt that will be the only baseball team affected. Hopefully, some short term pain to nip this in the bud.

I can't blame baseball officials if they're panicking right now. I wouldn't even be surprised if they postpone the start of the season a couple weeks, or even reduce the schedule.

[jimmy13]

Quote: Originally Posted by bhurst99

I see Seattle won't be playing home games in March. I doubt that will be the only baseball team affected. Hopefully, some short term pain to nip this in the bud. I can't blame baseball officials if they're panicking right now. I wouldn't even be surprised if they postpone the start of the season a couple weeks, or even reduce the schedule.

Yeah..... New Rochelle in New York is currently under martial law with the national guard. So I imagine this will affect the mets and yankees as well.

[TripleCrown9]

They're gonna push back the start of the season.

The NBA just suspended the remainder of their season after tonight.

[Rocket32]

Quote: Originally Posted by TripleCrown9

They're gonna push back the start of the season. The NBA just suspended the remainder of their season after tonight.

Can’t say it’s not probably the right decision, but this is getting insane. But if the only other option to pushing back the start of the season is changing things up by playing in empty stadiums then I’m not sure pushing it back would be any worse to me. Let’s just hope if it happens it doesn’t have to be for too long.