Ready for Some Baseball? Not So Fast.
Now that there's only one last meaningful football game left to be played, lots of sports fans are starting to gear up for baseball. Pump the brakes: we may once again be in for a delayed start to the season.
As we approach February, I'm reminded Spring is not to far away, and you know what that means - pitchers and catchers are getting ready to meet up to start the quest for a World Series Championship.
Or are they?
That was exactly the case last year when the pandemic hit and suddenly we were facing a year without baseball. Fortunately they were able to get a shortened season in, and although my team was out of it after the second week, we were able to somewhat enjoy a Major League Baseball season.
So, where we at for this years season? Good question.
The pandemic seems to have gotten worse and although we have a vaccine that is being distributed, we are still seeing high numbers of new cases daily. In Arizona COVID cases spiked in January. Arizona is where the Cactus League begins for MLB spring training, and here we are just a couple weeks away from pitchers and catchers meeting.
The Killeen Daily Herald is reporting that officials for the Cactus League and Arizona community leaders are asking MLB to once again delay the start of spring training.
MLB released a statement that said it "will continue to consult with public health authorities, medical experts, and the Players Association whether any schedule modifications to the announced start of Spring Training and the Championship Season should be made in light of the current COVID-19 environment to ensure the safety of the players, coaches, umpires, MLB employees and other game day personnel in a sport that plays every day.”
With spring camps scheduled to open the week of Feb. 15, and first pitch for the regular season set to happen on April 1, MLB will need to come to an agreement with the players' association on any decisions to delay the start of spring training.