MLB this season will have to find a way to engage its fans without using many of its traditional charmsGETTY IMAGES
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred admitted the league and union "owe it to our fans to be better than we've been the last three months," according to Ronald Blum of the AP. Manfred yesterday on whether fans will be able to attend games in '20 said, "We need to get on the ground running and get comfortable that we can play games in empty stadiums safely before we move forward [with] fans." He added, "We need to be patient and even where we have the option, we need to make sure that we know exactly what we’re doing before we jump into it." Meanwhile, MLBPA Exec Dir Tony Clark "would not directly respond when asked whether lasting damage had been inflicted." Clark said, "There is an opportunity to move forward, move our game forward. And as it relates to the atmosphere in general, the lines of communication remain open, and we’ll count that as a positive in the days ahead" (AP, 6/25).
DAMAGE DONE? Bob Costas said regarding the negotiations between the league and union, "There's going to be a price to pay here much larger than whatever they could win or lose at the negotiating table.” Former MLB Commissioner Fay Vincent noted there always have been some owners who "want to see what would happen if they really hold firm," because the objective is to "break the union." But it "can't be done.” However, Vincent said “you can beat baseball with a stick, and you could trash the fans and you could do all sorts of things that are really stupid and yet, over time, the baseball fan comes back” (“Real Sports,” HBO, 6/24).
LET THE GAMES BEGIN! In N.Y., Mike Vaccaro writes this baseball season "probably isn’t something we’d sign up for every year." But right now, this "could be fun" on "a lot of different levels" (N.Y. POST, 6/25). In K.C., Sam Mellinger writes MLB is "still going to be fun" in '20 despite how the sport "created this mess for itself." Now MLB "must deal with the consequences." But for those who will watch, "it'll be a damn good time." This will be a season with "subplots we’ve never seen before and, vaccine willing, won’t ever see again" (K.C. STAR, 6/25). In Houston, Jerome Solomon writes, "All evidence says the MLB season is going to be spectacular or horrible." A "full-on pennant race" from Opening Day "could be exciting." But with empty ballparks, the atmosphere for these baseball games "might be a problem" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 6/25).
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT: YAHOO SPORTS' Mark Townsend wrote MLB this season "must find a way to engage its fan base without having many of its charms to fall back on." It is "entirely up to MLB to sell the product on the field and the game itself after months of making fans feel like a third wheel." How the league handles both the opportunity and the challenges "could breathe new life into baseball, or remind everyone why it’s struggling to keep up." Townsend suggested, "Find a way to ease blackouts. Flood the zone with baseball. Make sure baseball is always on television somewhere" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 6/24).
COLUMNISTS' CORNER: In Newark, Joe Giglio breaks down the "winners and losers" of MLB and the MLBPA's "ridiculous bickering" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 6/25). In Pittsburgh, Joe Starkey writes something about this baseball season "still feels very unreal," as it is "still almost impossible to imagine baseball games being staged in this bizarro environment." Starkey: "Very inconveniently, it’s still here" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 6/25). In Chicago, Rick Morrissey wonders, "If and when fans are allowed back inside big-league ballparks, what if none show up?" Morrissey: "What a glorious thing that would be. What a well-deserved shunning of the people who ... thought it was acceptable to argue over money while a pandemic raged" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 6/25).
