Baseball's Possible Plan to Hold a Season During this Crisis
Major League Baseball has been reported to be considering a unique plan to start the baseball season as early as May. Multiple media outlets report that MLB is considering starting the major league season with all thirty teams playing in Arizona, essentially contained in an isolated bubble. Should the plan be implemented, the league would restrict travel of all personnel from the hotel to the stadiums and back. There would be no fans in the stands. The players would not crowd together in the dug-out, but sit in the stands at least six feet apart when not on the field playing. Executing this plan would also require several changes to the way baseball is currently played. There would be an electronic strike zone, for example, to eliminate the need for an umpire to peer over the shoulder of the catcher at home plate. The automatic strike zone was tested in 2019 in the Arizona Fall League to mix reviews. Commissioner Rob Manfred had planned on t...