It’s hard to imagine that baseball can potentially not be played this year as COVID-19 continues to block almost all sporting competitions. America’s pastime faces its biggest test since the 1994-95 MLB strike which led to the cancellation of the season. The virus has led many people to ask themselves: Do we really need baseball?
If not for the suspension of sports, the NCAA basketball championship games would have been played a few days ago, the NBA would be less than two weeks away from the start of the playoffs, the NHL playoffs would start this week and the NFL is preparing for the Draft later this month. It is probably already too late to even resume the seasons for some of these sports. Fans are missing the best times to be a fan. To answer the question: Yes, we do need baseball. Now more than ever.
We love you.. we miss you… will see you again soon… #STLstayhomeopener #Baseball pic.twitter.com/tHdCmNOwS7
— Matt Carpenter (@MattCarp13) April 2, 2020
As a lover of baseball, it has been rough trying to go about my day isolated at home without it. Baseball has been connecting people since the 19th century, giving it the title of “America’s Pastime” and it’s not giving it up anytime soon. Our country needs something to distract us from all the negative news that has been surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, it’s easier said than done to wish for baseball to come back at this point.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says baseball will help the nation recover from the ongoing pandemic and he will gladly bring it back, but only until it becomes safe to play. It is still uncertain how the league would go on if they do get the “okay”, but I don’t think it would matter as long as fans can see their teams play again.
If baseball were to come back during this season, I would expect many new fans to emerge as it would be the only sport that would be available to them. Sports entertainment is what they crave, and baseball can give it to them if they give it a chance. It probably won’t matter what level of baseball comes back first. Sports fans need something. Nothing else will be on so they might as well make the most out of watching baseball. As for the diehard fans, baseball is like an addiction. It’s very difficult for us to cope with the fact we won’t get to see our teams play any time soon.
We can only hope for baseball to return in the summer, but that hill is looking steep. We need the gratification of seeing bat flips after someone launches a homerun over the wall or the best defenders showing off their gloves, even if we all must do it at home. America’s first pro sport will bring the people back together and will give us the strength to continue pushing forward during this difficult time.