What Happened to Major League Baseball?

It is June folks, I was wondering why there wasn’t any baseball being played on TV, I mean pro baseball. I was in the scorching Az heat last weekend, yes at a baseball field! After seeing the excitement of parents and kids over being able to run around and let loose, I thought about why many parents, in fact families (the whole clan), would be willing to suffer through the 115 degree dry heat like I did. Well, because it was quite fun after being cooped up with nothing to do for almost 3 long months! Players of different shapes and sizes either strutted, and some kind of crept silently into the field with their huge baseball bags. The fans were armed with coolers, (coolers looked like they were mini refrigerators) folding chairs, snacks, and goodness they had these tents that I swear, were the kind where when taken out of the little bags turned into tiny houses with high tech misters. I’m sure some had boom boxes capabilities and blow up pools if the situation would allow. It was like a carnival of sorts where small children gathered, made new friends. I mean people made a holiday weekend out of the tournament. Grandpa and Grandma were on FaceTime ofcourse. What was funny to me was that the umpires at first wore masks under their metal face masks. But after 2 innings in sauna-like atmosphere, the well padded guys in black realized that no virus would survive the heat and the air under their masks, specially after they started drinking pickle juice.

I was reminded of the time when my son played baseball. Now looking back, how I wish I can bring those days back. Ok so club ball is now allowed but what happened to major league baseball? So I looked it up and of course asked a couple of reliable but biased sources. I found out that the MLB cannot come to terms with the baseball player's union ie players refused to play because of the COVID risk to themselves and their families; the players won’t take the proposed salary cut proposed by the MLB owners. I suppose the owners were saying that the majority of the revenue comes from the fans who watch the game live and the money from ads generated when the games are shown on TV. So with COVID19 there would be less fans allowed in games because of social distancing, less money for the franchise and rightfully so, less money for the players.

But wait, how much much did these baseball players make? Didn't the their contract cost th franchise millions of dollars? So what is so bad with taking salary cut, when over the course of decades baseball players have been making tens of millions of dollars? Because of the loyalty of fans watching their every game, buying their endorsed gear and whatever stuff they promote on TV they were able to make that much $$$$. Now, that fans are hungry for some baseball, why can't players get off their high horse and give back to the fans who have supported them?

Is money now the only object to play pro baseball nowadays? How about entertaining fans, having fun, stepping up to the plate and setting a good example to kids by giving back? I guess I’m totally clueless when it comes to life when I just now realized that money, fame are the only drivers for most humans in this world. If pro baseball players who are pretty much millionaires can't take a pay cut for their fans, what kind of message are we sending to the kids who look up to these players? How about the cheating scandal? If that was condoned in MLB (I don't think there were any significant consequences for the players) and no title was revoked from the team, isn't that going against the principle that we are trying to teach our kids: hardwork and giving back?

I may get a thumbs down by bringing this baseball issue up but COVID19 really reveals the true character of people. If MLB players are too good and too proud to take a cut for their fans, all these franchises should let go of all of them and form a new league of players with a salary cap and bonus for those who perform well. There are tens of thousands of athletes out there who are willing to step in their shoes for breaching your contracts. Seriously, for the players who do want to play, the union would be nothing if you dont pay your dues...

COVID19? You are young, healthy guys with millions of dollars, can afford good food, and everyone in your family circle can isolate or social distance yourselves in your 10 bedroom mansions. If you are COVID positive you are not going to die and are only infectious at a certain amount of time. The baseball union should be scrambling right now for instigating this behavior from MLB athletes.

I understand that there are big leaguers who are willing to play kudos to you all but have a set of huevos and stay true to yourselves! To the franchisees dismiss those who won’t play. Form a new league of humble, non cheating money hungry players who are willing to give back to fans. Lets go back to basics where players like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner were accessible and humble.

Being at the hot desert this past weekend helped me realize the value of sports among American families. Sports is the HEART of American Families, the conversation piece that brought families together on their dining tables. COVID19 is trying to bring us back to that! Considering 50% of families pay thousands to groom their child to be in the big leagues. But there are the rest of the families who make every game a family event, they may not be able to afford all the lessons expensive hitting, batting lessons but they are there for the invaluable life lessons: teamwork, sportsmanship, passion,hard work, respect, failing, disappointment and getting back up from that and most of all giving back to the people who supported you while you were going through these rights of passage: parents, families and friends whom you met along the way and of course the Coaches, who taught you the game of life when your parents were no longer cool!

I hope that my perception of what is going on in baseball won’t upset people. As I walked away from the sea of sunflower -seed - grounds of the scorching baseball field a wave of nostalgia came over me. If not for COVID19 we would all be cheering on MLB players right now while they make millions of dollars because of us, the fans and the kids who aspire to be like them. The new normal in baseball I’m glad, is simply back to the basics where families find joy in watching their sons, play baseball rain or shine. The kids, well they turn into men, too soon (specially for my son). It is my hope that these new generation of baseball players, will work hard, and process all the skills and lessons that baseball can teach them. I hope that they will grow to be men who, regardless of whatever state of life they are in, will remember that baseball is a sport that taught them about family, life, fun and giving back.