MLB returns
It’s hard not be excited right?
Baseball is back. Allegedly. Reportedly. Hopefully.
It’s back tonight with the Yankees and Cats playing at 7 and the Dodgers and Giants to follow.I’m stoked.
Let’s review some of the changes, shall we? I think we shall. (I had someone ask for predictions for the mailbag. So those will come tomorrow. Deal? Deal.)
> There will be a universal DH. This will allow Matt Adams to be a pretty important Braves player over the next two-plus months;
> There’s what I am calling the Bobby Cox in a pandemic rule. Players and coaches can still argue with umpires because hey baseball embraces its old-school traditions like bad sportsmanship, self-policing with 95-mph heaters, and romanticizing ball doctoring and bat corking while hating technological cheaters. Hey, let the first one among us who has never heckled an ump throw the first brushback here. But players and managers who argue with umps and violate social-distancing rules will face fines and suspensions;
> Pitchers can not lick their fingers but will be given a small wet rag to keep their fingers moist; (Side note: That moist is an interesting word, no?)
> Relief pitchers must face three batters or end an inning before being replaced;
> When a game goes into extra innings, each team will start the inning with a runner on second. It will be strange and people will hate it (Hi Ron) and that’s OK. Sometimes the path to a desired goal is paved with questionable decisions. The goal here is not to have a 19-inning game that could wreck a pitching staff for a week, seven games in a 60-game mini-season is right at 19 games in a regular season.
So while I’m not in favor of the runner-at-second rule – it’s know as the international tie-breaker in softball – I believe baseball should have truly rolled the dice on all sorts of possible changes and rule adjustments in this season unlike any other.
Robo umps. Mercy rules. Seven-inning doubleheaders. Pitch clocks. Just about anything.
So let’s play ball, and yes, while it’s not addressed in the rules, here’s betting there will be kneeling during the National Anthem before every game.
High school football plan
You know the rules. When Stephen Hargis, the TFP sports editor and prep sports guru, covers high school sports, it’s required reading.
Those are the rules every day. They are more applicable this day, because here’s the TSSAA plan for high school football.
The reader’s digest version is that if Gov. Bill Lee gives high school football games an exemption from the state shutdown that extends to the end of August, the season will start on time.
TSSAA requires that schools have three weeks of practice in pads before playing. That would require schools start practicing Aug. 3 to start on time.If Gov. Lee does not grant the waiver, the season will be pushed back and reduced to eight games with only the region champs and runners-up making the playoffs. (Normally, the top four finishers in each region advance to the postseason.)
There are a slew of requirements in regards to crowd size and testing and the rest, including strongly suggesting no concession stands, which serve as fund-raisers for a wide variety of various non-football extracurricular activities. That these are ‘suggestions’ in some instances may cause controversy, and without concessions and with limited crowds, anyone else think there will be $10 parking and $15 tickets this fall?
So there’s the plan. Will that mean there’s a season?Who knows, because again, amid all the suggestions and guidelines the TSSAA issued, there is no way to answer the two monster questions moving forward that directly impact high school and college sports:
> How many positive tests mean the end for a team, a conference/region or the entire slate?> And if/when regular students are not allowed to go to school for safety concerns, how can it be safe for athletes to practice and play?