MLB Announces Season to be Held Back At Least Eight Weeks, Questions Rise

The Coronavirus, otherwise known as COVID-19 has caused many sports leagues around the world to either cancel their seasons or suspend them indefinitely until further notice. This trend continues with Major League Baseball as the MLB has decided to push back the start of the regular season eight weeks in accordance to a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). MLB decided to push back the regular season by eight weeks on Monday, March 16. This just days after announcing it would need to push back the regular season by at least two weeks. 

Ultimately the decision was made to ensure everyone’s safety as all other sports have. With the decision being made though, there does come up a lot of questions.

Questions Involving Major League Baseball with COVID-19 Pandemic:

Ballpark Employees

One of those questions that comes up and has been resolved quickly is how ballpark employees will get paid. In an announcement made on Tuesday, commissioner Rob Manfred announced that all 30 Major League Baseball teams will be donating $1 million each to help assist and pay ballpark employees.

How Will the Rest of the Season Play Out?

What immediately comes to mind is how the rest of the MLB season will play out with the season being held back at least eight weeks. Once the season first gets a chance to resume there will only be approximately the chance to play 100 or so games in a season that typically consists of 162 games. Will the season extend itself into the months of November or possibly December? Will the season still consist of 162 games? These are huge questions that will be discussed within the next few weeks. This being as the baseball world waits for the season to potentially resume. 

All-Star Game

To go along with that there comes up the question of the all-star game. This year the annual midsummer classic is set to be held at Dodger Stadium for the first time since 1980. With the season set to start in what would be close to June, there comes to question whether the all-star game will be moved at a later date or still be held even after potentially only a month of play instead of the usual 3 full months played before the midsummer classic.

Travel, Scheduling, and Weather

Travel, schedule, and weather is another important factor to consider during this time. If the season were to potentially be extended, how will games be scheduled? Will teams go on with their remaining schedules? Will games be rescheduled? As for travel and weather, it comes more into effect for east coast teams. If the season were extended one or two months, it would be very difficult for east coast teams to play. This being because during these times is when the weather could get very bad in the east coast. 

Seasons have been held back before in the past due to strikes such as the 1981 MLB season. None has had any sort of situation to deal with as the one going on with the spread of COVID-19. Different solutions and discussions will rise amongst the MLB during the next few weeks on how to deal with the situation, but as of now, the ultimate goal is to ensure player and fan safety.Â