2020: MiLB what if?

After holding out for several months I expected that MiLB would make an announcement to officially cancel shortly after MLB announced they were back.  Then it happened.  The reality is still setting in but leaves a lot of questions.  

To many, minor league baseball is more than just a game.  It’s a way of life.  It provides the beginnings and the ends of a career both on the field and off the field for many.  I feel for the off the field personnel that are both employed by the team and the vendors that support the team throughout the year.  With the official announcement being made it also gave notice to all that have an indirect stake in the game.  Many people have lost their jobs and had a setback in their career due to the unforeseen 2020 complications that have affected everybody including those outside of baseball.

What if 2020 didn’t start the way it did?  What if we are now halfway through a minor league baseball season?  Is your favorite team in their division lead?  Is the Trenton Thunder riding the high and defending their title?  Would a dream come true to one player as he gets called to the Show?  What if this 2020 cancelation changes the direction of a young fan away from baseball?  What if the next Aaron Judge, Mike Trout, or Gerrit Cole never see the minors because this year's season was canceled?

We all take for granted what it takes to put on a show even in the business of baseball.  What if you walked up to the gate for a game and there was no gate attendant to smile and welcome you to see your favorite team?  What if you walked through that gate to find the stadium is still dirty from the game the night before?  What if you sat in your seat only to see an ungroomed field that wasn’t prepared and ready for a baseball game?  There are so many people behind the scenes that make a game day happen and they have all been affected in a way that has changed their path forever.

What if today's fan would have been tomorrow's player and tomorrow's player would have been a future Cooperstown inductee?  We will never know those what if’s and that is sad to me.  A cancelation of this magnitude seems so small to so many.  Those of us that have direct or indirect implications from it realize the impact.

How many baseball memories would you have made from opening pitch through today?  My goal was to catch a game in at least 34 parks this year.  How many more items could I have added to my minor league collection if that would have happened?  How many more great upcoming players would I have started following to see where they ended up?

The what if’s in baseball for 2020 are plentiful but so is every game and every at bat.   Minor League Baseball is bigger than just a game.  Baseball in general for me is full of memories.  At the beginning of every season as spring training starts I always reflect on the first MLB games I ever went to with my dad.  We would drive up to Montreal to take in a Montreal Expos game.  I was an Expos and Yankees fan growing up and he was a Yankees fan but it was a closer drive for us to go to Montreal, Canada than down to New York City so he would always take me up there for the games.

Josh Suchon summed it up best with the question of What is Minor League Baseball.

“It’s the place where the fans don’t know the players' names, but still want their autograph.  It’s the place for the first jobs for teenagers, first career jobs for college grads, and last jobs for retired people.  It’s the place where you give a baseball to somebody cute, go on a first date (okay, maybe a third date), where marriage proposals occur, parents bring their young kids because they know it’s safe … and grandparents get the biggest cheers on the Kiss Cam.  It’s the place where the majors get their best ideas - walk-up songs, kids running the bases, youth skill clinics, night games, fireworks, theme nights.  Yes, they all originated in the minor leagues.  It’s the place where you celebrate a local delicacy like Green Chile Cheeseburgers, rename yourselves the Runzas for the night, eat nachos from a souvenir helmet, and get cheap beer when the Designated Beer Batter strikes out.  It’s the place where players chase their Major League dreams, cry when they don’t make it, and cry harder when they do make it.  It’s the place you make friends for life - with host families, teammates, coaches, fans, co-workers … and even umpires.  It’s the place where anything was possible … except playing baseball in a global pandemic.”

Josh has been serving as the play by play voice for the Albuquerque Isotopes a Triple A minor league ball team.  He has been furloughed like many of us.  You can learn more about Joshua Suchon on his website or on LinkedIn.

I hope that the communities and fans continue to support their hometown teams as the impact on this cancelation carries far more weight on them than most can imagine.  As most teams continue to give to the community and support them in this time of need they need us to continue to support them.  Take a minute and drop your team a note with a thank you.  Your team executives have the biggest ‘what if’ scenario playing out in their empty ballparks right now.  You can’t fill their stands but you can fill their fan mail with support.