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September Comes Early

July 23, 2020

Today is MLB’s long delayed Opening Day. The Washington Nationals’ defense of the 2019 World Series title begins tonight – weather permitting, natch – against the New York Yankees.

Well, sort of.

Should the Nationals not repeat, will that be because they weren’t good enough or because a 60-game season is a farce, far too short to separate the contenders from the pretenders? There’s a reason why old-timers say the team who’s in first on the 4th of the July will probably take the pennant, not Memorial Day.

For us, the followers of the minor leagues, 2020 is already gone. No season, no joy in Mudville.

It’s like September in most years, when the minors are done and the big boys are still playing.
But then again it’s not.

We were already going to be robbed of the late-August wonder of who might get called up, with a new limit of just 28. Everyone and their grandmother knew that meant one extra catcher, one extra pitcher for most teams.

Now, it’s a bit different. Who’s going to take the place of players who test positive and have go into quarantine? Doesn’t have the same ring to it.

So celebrate for a little while, I guess. We’ll have baseball… until the teams start to travel in and out of the states where SARS-CoV-2 has been contained like a pitbull with a leash made of dental floss.

I hope I’m wrong, but then again, I’m one of those weirdos who takes the word of a epidemiologist with 50+ years experience over the toddlers-as-Governors or the Commander-and-Thief.

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8 Commments

  1. Mark L says:
    July 23, 2020 at 7:37 am

    Spike lives!

  2. Frederick Graboske says:
    July 23, 2020 at 8:34 am

    I wonder what happens if an entire team is quarantined because 1 tests positive.

  3. KW says:
    July 23, 2020 at 10:10 am

    I fully share the skepticism about whether this will work, or even it’s a good idea. I’m wearing a Nats shirt. I’m trying to be optimistic. But my heart doesn’t fully believe that this is something that will play through to the end.

  4. KW says:
    July 23, 2020 at 11:12 am

    I do think the choices of farm hands for the 60-man squad provide interesting insight into the internal pecking order, with both interesting inclusions and omissions. These may be about all we have to break down here over the coming months with no minor-league season.

  5. KW says:
    July 23, 2020 at 3:48 pm

    Now Soto has tested positive. I was having a hard time working up enthusiasm for this season anyway . . . and that’s pretty much out the window now.

    Probably about the only semi-surprise from “our guys” on the final roster would be Bourque, who I assume they’re keeping as a prospective multi-inning guy. Read as third catcher likely will be one of the first sent down when they reduce the rosters.

  6. KW says:
    July 23, 2020 at 4:48 pm

    Also, MLB continues to use the crisis to ram through one agenda item after another, now the 16-team playoff. Admittedly, that might help the Soto-less Nats, but I’m not a fan of it for baseball in general. And of course MLB has just been Machiavellian with what its doing to the minors.

  7. Pilchard says:
    July 24, 2020 at 11:20 am

    The 16 game playoff is hopefully just a one time thing. Playing 162 games and to eliminate less than half the field would be idiotic.

    Any word on whether those that are not on the active roster will be play a few random games against the nearby taxi-squads of the other teams. Would make sense for the Nats taxi-squad players to get some reps against the O’s, the Phillies and the other teams on the East Coast.

    1. Mark L says:
      July 24, 2020 at 5:32 pm

      Agreed.

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