Baseball is BACK
Whether you’re a baseball fan or not, 2020 has been hard hitting.
Major League baseball is postponed, negotiated, negotiated some more, resumed, and Minor League baseball is canceled. Players and personnel are reported to be sick. The tensions between the MLBPA and MLB were high and felt by fans across social media.
Baseball has historically been a part of our Nation’s healing. I’m holding out that it won’t fail us now.
There’s uncertainty in every discussion that is had and every move that is made. It’s fair to say that players are risking their careers to play during a Pandemic. The science isn’t totally clear for this novel virus but individual reports from civilian folks like you and I have showcased the long-term damage that could result from getting COVID-19. For an athlete, sickness and physical injury has potential to end their career.
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The Boston Red Sox are set to start the season on July 24th (my birthday, happy day to me!) against the Baltimore Orioles, 7:30PM ET. This is, for once in 2020, a concrete and solid plan but I am not the only one questioning: Will that first pitch be thrown?
If it is, throughout the 60 games I plan to keep y’all updated on the ins and outs of Boston baseball but more importantly the men our fans watched develop in Salem before they became Big Leaguers. Boston’s roster has plenty of names you will recognize:
Jackie Bradley Jr., Rafael Devers, Christian Vazquez, Andrew Benintendi etc. as well as other teams: Mookie Betts (Dodgers), Yoan Moncada (White Sox), Travis Shaw (Brewers) etc.
This past week a few more recent Salem names were added to that list: Tanner Houck, Bryan Mata and Jarren Duran; prospects angling for a future in Boston.
My hope is to continue the average baseball fan’s passion for this game while we ride out this storm and to encourage new or fringe fans to see the beauty baseball can offer your life. These men are human like you and I, with families and lives they’re putting at risk for the sake of our collective enjoyment. Baseball is back! I am thankful and simultaneously apprehensive.
So, will you join me? As we watch 60 games and await the crowning of a champion amidst what has been, candidly, a loser year.
Emily Wydo
