While battling with coronavirus fatigue as I navigate through the uncertainties in the legal world, I provide a short “Random Thoughts” post for your consideration:
- I will start by saying that I really hope that I’m wrong, but I do not believe there will be baseball this year. With guidelines for “opening up” society being such a moving target, I cannot envision any scenario whereby MLB and the Players Union will agree to an abbreviated season. Nor can I envision certain politicians being on board for restarting baseball. If the beaches remain closed, why would they open baseball stadiums? With or without fans, I am beginning to think of a world in which the only sports that are being played, are those played in the backyard.
- MLB submitted its proposed medical protocols for return to play to the Players Union. It consisted of 67 pages. Well, that shouldn’t take more than a day or so for the Players Union to approve. Sarcasm aside, there are certainly serious questions to be considered by both sides. Generally speaking, and in broad terms, on the one side, players and employees could be hesitant to place themselves at risk, merely to entertain the masses, no matter what the financial gain. On the other side, there are those chomping at the bit to get started and play, and feel that since the players are mostly in a very “low risk” group, they should let the games begin. Owners, of course, are interested in revenue.
- Joel Sherman pointed out that there are several non-medical and financial issues that MLB and the Players Union need to resolve, including, in no particular order of importance, how to handle a trade deadline, what to do about instant replay, drug testing, physical contact during games (e.g. mound visits, etc.), and what to do with minor league players. Will MLB have a taxi squad this year, similar to the NFL? If so, how many players can they have?
- J.J. Cooper of Baseball America floated the idea of having a 44 game season, with playoffs expanded to 20 teams. Both MLB and the Players Union may like that because it creates the opportunity for a greater revenue stream.
- Is it me, or does it seem like virtually every decision made by Commissioner Manfred (this was true of his predecessors as well) is made to keep the owners from spending too much money. No matter how hard the owners try and whatever controls are put in place, whenever they are left to their own devices, they spend money like drunken sailors on their first night of shore leave after 4 months of being at sea.
- MLB is at the stage of the season where several teams are considering furloughs for their employees. The Dodgers have committed to paying their employees through the end of this month. Those workers missing paychecks because of the coronavirus pandemic will collectively receive $1.3 million in financial assistance payments from the Dodgers. This fund is for “event staff, concessions, parking, cleaning personnel employed by third-party contractors, and the Dodgers Foundation event staff.” I suspect the reality is that these workers will not be paid starting in June, until such time as an agreement is made to reconvene the season.
- MLB has determined that this year’s First Year Player Draft will consist of 5 rounds. The five rounds will be held on June 10 and June 11. On June 10, the fist 37 selections will be made and the remaining rounds will be the following day. The draft will be televised on MLB Network. Teams will have until August 1, to sign its drafted players. If a player drafted in the first 3 rounds does not sign, the non-signing team will receive a compensatory pick in the 2021 draft. The Dodgers have 6 picks: Nos. 29, 60, 66, 100, 130 and 159. Their draft bonus pool is $5,928,400. There will be some interesting players available to the Dodgers when they draft. Both Jeff and I will have posts looking at those players, and other items related to the draft in the near future.
- As to the undrafted players, teams will be allowed to sign an unlimited number of non drafted eligible players for up to $20,000.00 However, there are strict restrictions on talking to those players about signing during, or in the days immediately following, the draft. MLB has sought to limit the possibilities of teams offering any sort of special inducement to convince a nondrafted player to sign. According to MLB, teams will be prohibited from talking to nondrafted players until 9 a.m. ET on June 14. From the conclusion of the draft until that time, no team official or scout can talk to any undrafted players, their family members or any other representative of the player. While teams are allowed to talk to the player before or during the draft about the possibility of drafting that player, they are also not allowed to discuss the possibility of signing the player after the draft if he goes unpicked. Moreover, those undrafted players cannot be offered any special inducements beyond the standard player contract, modest contingency bonuses and scholarships through the continuing education program. I’m sure some teams will figure out ways to up the enticement to sign with them.
- I don’t know about you, but I think that Justin Turner needs to retire as a Dodger. Not only is he a very good player, he and his wife, Kourtney, have done a great deal for the community through their foundation. He just seems to be a very likeable human being and he is a good example and leader for the younger players. I feel the same way about Clayton Kershaw. No need to see either of these players go to another team.
- If I were ownership and AF, I would also throw caution to the wind and do everything I could to keep Mookie Betts from making it to free agency. I know that it takes two to dance, but waiting long can only go wrong in that situation. I would not be opposed to paying him similarly to Mike Trout. He is a special player and human being. He’s made for the Dodgers!
- The Boston Red Sox got off quite light in the cheating scandal. I’m not the least bit suspicious about how inordinately long it took Manfred to release his findings. As Mike Dowling wrote: “Baseball, under his watch, has come out of this cheating scandal with a black eye. The Astros’s black eye will be there for a long, long time. The Red Sox black eye has a chance to fade over time, but never completely go away.” In my opinion the punishment was far too light, and it was very convenient that they dumped the blame almost entirely on a replay operator named J. T. Watkins. If this season is not played, conceivably, Alex Cora could return as the red Sox manager in 2021. Let that thought sink in for awhile.
- This has been a special week for me, my oldest son, Eric, turned 40, and my fist grand child had her 15th birthday. It has been a week of reminiscing and looking at old photographs. I’m at that age when I become teary eyed much more easily than in the past. The Dodgers lost to the Cubs on 05/14/80, 5-2, despite a Steve Garvey homerun. I didn’t listen to the game that day because I was with my wife at Loma Linda University Hospital, as she was in the midst of 34 hours of very difficult labor. Eric was born by cesarean section. Almost immediately after he was born, the doctors handed him to me to take to his grand parents. They needed me out of the operating room because my wife was experiencing complications from the anesthesia and operation. It was an amazing experience as I walked around the hospital with my new born son. It defies description of how quickly you can fall so deeply in love with another human being. After I spent time showing him to his grand parents, I walked back to the operating room, on the way I passed a room where several doctors were watching the Lakers vs 76ers in game 5 of the playoffs. They invited me into the room and Eric and I watched the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter as Abdul-Jabbar, Wilkes and Magic out dueled Julius Erving and Darryl Dawkins, 108-103 to go ahead 3-2 in the series. Within an hour of his birth, our relationship with sports began in earnest. Forgive me for the personal aside, but I cherish that memory, and the following 40 years with my son have been absolutely wonderful. I know that all you parents on this blog understand. Maybe next post, I’ll tell you about my grand daughter Maddie!
- I have made it this far into the non-baseball season, and I have not watched a single “old” game. I have not watched any of the SNLA Dodger programs. I have watched the entire “Bosch” series on Prime Video, the “Brokenwood Mysteries” series on Acorn, the “Endeavor” series on Prime, “Twin” on MHZ, “Dicte” on MHZ and I even watched the “Indian Doctor” series(very silly program) on Acorn. As I said above, I’m suffering from coronavirus fatigue.
- My song for the day, with apologies to Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau and Little Steven:
The baseball season has been cancelled, Jack
They stopped for a game but they never came back
Like a river that din’t know where it’s flowing
Society took a wrong turn and they just kept going
Everybody’s got a hungry heart
Everybody’s got a hungry heart Please let
them play and we’ll do our part
Everybody’s got a hungry heart
The game we love had come so far We
took it for granted and never thought it would end it
took our heart then it ripped it apart Now here
we are hoping they’ll play again
Now evermore we have a hungry heart
Now evermore we have a hungry heart
Please let them play and we’ll do our part
Now evermore we have a hungry heart
Everybody wants to cheer their team
Everybody cheers for those they love Don’t
make no difference what nobody says Ain’t
nobody like the season to be done
Now evermore we have a hungry heart
Now evermore we have a hungry heart
Please let them play and we’ll do our part
Now evermore we have a hungry heart
Discussion (50)
Disagree, not disagreeable
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This may be the biggest medical breakthrough in the past 200 years.
Great news MT on your test results. Also, I previously lacked a term of it but now I too can proudly claim to be a 2nd generation vegan.
2D2 – great stuff… I too have been off for awhile, but always reading LADT.. I’m on my 2nd. major back surgery and it’s rough… I wish I were in my early 50’s rather than 70+…. This too shall pass.
I’m not to confident in 2020 MLB season also… Greed may derail the whole thing…
I’ve watched a little Korean baseball and that was interesting to say the least…
Tried soccer, but once again it’s like watching paint dry (I hope Watford isn’t lurking)!!!
I didn’t know it went by the Bosch…. I’m thinking I’ll jump in when they start making right turns…
Turner…I’m all in with keeping him DH or not…
Badger, look no further than the Oval Office… Always remember there’s good people on both sides…
I love the stories about Lasorda and the Dodger pranks. I know one time they filled his bathtub with jello in Vero Beach and when he was in his residence there, nailed every window and door shut. I do not have a subscription to the Athletic. Do you know if Jayson Jenks wrote a book on this? I would buy it. Thanks
For all of you have a subscription to The Athletic, there is an absolutely hilarious story on the antics of Tommy Lasorda: “It was ‘Animal House”: An Oral History of Tommy Lasorda’s Dodger Clubhouse” by Jayson Jenks. It was a story telling of practical jokes played by and on Tommy as told by the following:
Todd Maulding (Bullpen Coach)
Mark Cresse (Bullpen Coach)
Jerry Reuss
Tim Belcher
John Shelby
Jay Howell
Steve Garvey
Steve Sax
David Raymond (Phillie Phanatic)
Steve Brener (Team Publicist)
Charlie Strasser (Trainer)
If you are not easily offended by toilet humor or the occasional “F-Bomb”, you will find this piece extremely funny.
I have heard from others that Animal House was a very accurate description for MLB clubhouses. It just seems that the exploits in this article take it to another limit.
I too have chosen to remain in the background lately. I said early and often where I thought this was headed. I haven’t been totally wrong. When the “leader” of the coronavirus team told Geraldo this would be over by Memorial Day I said anyone who believes that is …… being mislead. Many did of course, including several on every blog I visit. I guess it depends on who you choose to believe.
There is only one set of truths, but yes there are two sides to this issue. Left and right. Further apart than I’ve ever seen them. But, the division has been there for all of my adult life now. Started for me with Vietnam.
The virus. It is both politically and media driven, agendas are manifest. It’s my opinion truths are deliberately being buried, but most of the experts have NOT got this wrong. I’ve had no problem finding experts who pegged this right from the beginning. You just need to know where to look. I’m retired and probably have more time to research than most. But from what I’ve been reading nobody knows everything about this virus, the numbers continue to go up, there is no vaccine on the horizon, there is no cure, and those experts with a loud voice who continue to advise to be cautious with opening up are sent packing. Why is that? Agendas, of course.
I don’t know about MLB in July, but with current information I know I wouldn’t do it. Maybe in a month that will change, but I don’t think so. I am still waiting to be proven wrong. I hope I am as I would love to see baseball being played this summer, even in empty stadiums. I’ve done it before having gone to giants games at Candlestick when the place was empty.
California is judiciously reopening. We’ll see how that goes, but I’m ready to step out a bit. For you second generation vegetarians I would advise extreme caution. But I’ve been advising that for 50 years now. Plant based diet. Organically grown whenever possible. Eat less, meditate more. Save the planet. Hug a tree. Best of luck moving forward.
Tonight’s Dodgers Zoom Party is on. Joe Davis and Alana are hosting, and the guests are Ethier, JT, Doc, Wood, Kersh, Barnes, Belly, Price
One of the hardest things to do was on Saturday when we went to visit my daughter who lives 3 hours away. We sat outside as her husband smoked ribs and “elbow bumped” when we arrived. Normally it would be a big hug and kiss. Different times…
We did bring a half cow back – grain-fed by the Amish. 311 pounds.
Bosch is one of my favorite series. I think there will be a season. looking forward to seeing Mookie as a dodger. Stay positive peeps.
California Governor Newsom has said pro sporting events may begin to move forward without fans during the first week of June. That roadblock has now been cleared.
To Adam from yesterday – thanks for asking about my condition and thinking of me. My ribs are healed up and I can now sleep, the leg wounds are healing and my broken shoulder is coming along. Still real stiff and sore but getting better every day. I’ve still lost a lot off my fastball….
I am more optimistic than ever that there will be a season in baseball.
Here’s why:
1. While there is no denying that COVID-19 is a bad thing, the WHO, CDC, Fauci, and most of the experts have gotten it almost all wrong. This is a media and political driven-frenzy.
2. I remember the Hong Kong flue of 1968 which killed 100,000 Americans. The population of the US was 200,000,000 then. Now it’s 328,000,000. They didn’t shut down the country then.
3. The CDC, Fauci, and even the President criticized the State of Georgia for re-opening April 24th. “Way too early. It’s going to cost too many lives.” In April, virus cases peaked on April 20 with 927 confirmed cases in one day. Then the economy re-opened. on April 24th. By contrast, 258 new cases of the virus were confirmed on May 11. The data continues to show steady drops in cases. They are testing more and finding fewer positives.
4. Hospital administrators might well want to see COVID-19 attached to a discharge summary or a death certificate. Why? Because if it’s a straightforward, garden-variety pneumonia that a person is admitted to the hospital for – if they’re Medicare – typically, the diagnosis-related group lump sum payment would be $5,000. But if it’s COVID-19 pneumonia, then it’s $13,000, and if that COVID-19 pneumonia patient ends up on a ventilator, it goes up to $39,000. I think we will see that there are fewer cases than we think, but Hospitals are incentivized to just list something as COVID-19… and they don’t have to test for it.
Now, I am not minimizing this, but I do think it is overblown and the financial ramifications for businesses and sports will be huge. Be safe, be smart, wear a mask when out, wash your hands, sanitize, do as much social distancing as possible and live.
I was possibly exposed by a 4th party and I am getting my COVID-19 instant test tomorrow. I am working from home today. I still believe there will be baseball.
2D2, a lot of good takes. I have already commented extensively on the status of the 2020 baseball season. I still believe that all sides want a season. There are a ton of hurdles still to negotiate, but I am hopeful that all sides can be able to come up with a workable solution. However, I will not be surprised if the season is cancelled. For all those that are waiting for a vaccine before they feel safe, I am not sure that you will ever feel safe. By the time they find a vaccine for COVID-19 (if ever), this virus will have mutated into another form of a SARS virus. There are no known vaccines for any of the SARS-CoV-2 viruses. Even seasonal flu vaccines are not fail safe.
I have not seen the Bosch series on TV, but I have read every Michael Connelly Harry Bosch novel (23), all of his Mickey Haller novels (6), and two of his three Jack McEvoy novels.
If I knew that the Dodgers would sign Mookie Betts long-term, i would be happy to do without this baseball season, and just look forward to the next one. The Dodgers have not picked up a player of his caliber from another team, for many decades, maybe never. it would be a shame to finally make that big trade, only to have Betts never play one game for the Dodgers.
There is a very understandable desire to just snap one’s fingers and get many things back to where they were. But it cannot be done, and it could lead to even worse outcomes. These various proposals for baseball: half a season, alter divisions; let everyone in the playoffs, are pretty clearly just for revenue. Nothing wrong with revenue,I guess; but I also sense that there are forces which really want to make it look like “America is back,”even if it is only papier-mache reality. Baseball games where there are no fans in the stadium, no one can talk to another player or the manager except via phone or maybe long-distance with mask, would be eerie. I will concede, however, that since there is no guarantee that there will be a season next year, trying to come up with some adaptations is an understandable concept.
I suppose that i have rather demanding tastes; there is not that much in entertainment shows that I like, though what i do like, I tend to rave about. The Inspector Morse series was absolutely brilliant. They have been showing them on PBS channel 6 every Saturday night, but i have them all, except the last one, which i never wanted to see. i really didn’t give “Endeavour” much of a chance; i did not think that he evoked a young Morse, so I did not pursue it; maybe I should try more of them. I did watch the entire first season of “Bosch”; pretty good, though i am really tired of serial killer stories, though this was indeed directly from the book which I had read. And i have the next three, so i might watch those. I watched a few of the Brokenwood series; the female detective has charm; the male chief detective is consistently grumpy..
I will recommend two shows. “Murder Rooms,” which was a short-lived but brilliant show starring the great Ian Richardson as Dr. Joseph Bell, who was Arthur Conan Doyle’s professor at Edinburgh College, and the ultimate prototype for Sherlock Holmes. In these four stories, Bell and the young Doyle work together to solve some very Victorian and complex mysteries, a great brief series which should absolutely have had more seasons. Then, for anyone who loves American history, “Turn; America’s Spies,” a mostly true story based on diaries and research, about some young men and women who wanted to help in the Revolution, and became crucially important agents for General Washington. Four seasons, superb cast, great stories, almost like being there in that period.
I hope, but also worry, if there will be a baseball season. So many major issues to resolve with tough decisions to make. I agree, would like to see JT and Clayton retire as Dodgers. Thank you, 2D2, for the great breakdown. Enjoyed hearing the story of your newborn son, Eric, and look forward to reading about Maddie. Having a son who is a hockey coach now, I realize how much sports helped him become the fine man he is.
Read most of the Harry Bosch books. Also enjoyed Brokenwood Mysteries. Watching Murdoch Mysteries now on Acorn. Loved the parody. You are still the PK.
Good post 2d2. Lots of stuff to think about.
I tend to agree with you that there are so many issue to work through, it’s going to be very difficult to get them all settled in order to have a season. And if they do start, what likelihood is there that they will be able to play the whole schedule before a player or players come down with the virus. What then?
June draft – I don’t see how MLB will be able to adequately police all the restrictions they are putting on teams with regard to contacting players. Get ready for more penalties as some disgruntled employee, draftee, etc. blows the whistle at some point.
JT retiring as a Dodger – this will become much simpler with the adoption of an NL DH.
Eric – great story. My son and I (he’ll be 45 this year) have built a very strong relationship based on sports and politics. We never fail to have something to discuss, and luckily those discussions always stay that way and never become arguments or screaming matches. I’m pleased to say I’ve learned a lot about both subjects from him. Learning/teaching does not only go one way.
My wife and I have also watched Bosch and Endeavor. Will have to give Brokenwood Mysteries a try. We’re also watching World on Fire (Masterpiece Theater on PBS) which is proving interesting.
I have taken a hiatus as I couldn’t get excited about baseball with all the CV19 distractions.
One comment on whether baseball will be played or not this year. I’m up to a 40% chance from 20% after this weekend.
Why? … NASCAR…
This weekend I watched NASCAR for the first time ever. No fans were present for a ‘sport‘ I never pay attention to. But it was real competition not replays. And I’m looking forward to watching the next race later this week.