We've heard of Christmas in July. We've also heard of Christmas and Opening Day being interchangeable. As the country starts to regain a sense of normalcy, Opening Day may be coming in July this year, setting us up for a true "Christmas/Opening Day in July!"
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, league officials have cautious optimistic that the regular season can be started at the end of June, with the start date coming no later than July 2. This would allow a good chunk, approximately 100 of the standard 162-game schedule, to be salvaged.
Per this plan, all 30 teams would be able to play in their home stadiums, likely without fans. However, that notion could change if the country continues to handle the pandemic with precision.
To reduce travel across the country and prioritize safety, the divisions would be realigned in favor of tighter geography. Here is a look at what the three divisions, consisting of 10 teams each, would look like:
East Division
Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Miami Marlins, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, Washington Nationals
Central Division
Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals
West Division
Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers.
The division realignment nearly keeps the traditional divisions intact. However, under this proposal, the Pittsburgh Pirates would not get to compete against their NL Central rivals, while the Atlanta Braves would be stripped of meetings with their NL East counterparts.
If tight geography is a priority, why are the Pirates not allowed to play teams two hours (Cleveland) and five hours (Cincinnati) away, respectively? Yet, they would be allowed to travel all the way to Florida to compete against the Rays and Marlins. Why are the Braves, who are located in the deep southeastern part of the country being forced to migrate as far north as Minneapolis for games?
That is my one catch with the divisions. Keep all division rivalries together! Otherwise, this realignment looks sharp.
It has been previously reported that the season could start in biosphere locations, containing all 30 teams to a tight area, such as Arizona, Florida or Texas. However, this plan seems as if playing in home stadiums would be immediately acceptable.
This is another major step in the return of professional sports. Once this occurs, a few months down the road, you know I will be calling for fans to be able to return to attendance.
For now, however, I will be grateful for any news signaling sports returning in any form.
As I have said and will continue to say throughout this process:
Sports are...on the way back!
Comments