That’s it. I’ve had it. Can we all please collectively focus our cancel culture on the coronavirus? I can deal with postponed work events, limited social gatherings, and work-from-home mandates. But depriving me of baseball? Absolutely not. I will not stand for it. If COVID-19 wants me, tell it to look for me at the main gates of Nationals Park.
At first, Major League Baseball considered alternative plans for the upcoming season, such as playing games at spring training facilities or alternative sites in less-affected areas of the country. But Thursday afternoon, within 24 hours of the NBA, the NHL, and other leagues suspending or canceling events, MLB made its decision: No more spring training, and opening day is delayed by at least two weeks.
Obviously, MLB is making health and safety a priority, and it’s the right decision. But for we poor souls who start the countdown to opening day as soon as the World Series ends, there’s no respite. Every other sport is canceled or suspended. Even the Japanese and Korean leagues are postponed, so we can’t look to foreign leagues for our fix.
There are no good options. Should we simply rewatch the glory days of the Washington Nationals’s World Series run? Do we get a video game version of baseball and pretend it’s the real thing? Is there a way to play fantasy baseball that fantasizes as if the season has gone on uninterrupted?
The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic. For the sake of baseball, I beg them to reconsider. If the nation wasn’t quite at full panic mode before, it certainly is now — except for me. I’m slightly more worried about a summer without baseball. If that’s my future, COVID-19, come take me now.
There is the chance that the MLB gets the season started off in empty stadiums. While I love listening to my new friend and Nationals TV broadcaster F.P. Santangelo add a little color to the game, there’s simply no substitute for being there, feeling the energy, and yelling light-hearted insults at the opposing team’s outfielders. Plus, for the life of me, I can’t replicate a ballpark hot dog.
While games in empty stadiums are certainly not ideal for the league, it’s fine with me. I’m good at jumping fences. If I wear navy, maybe I can blend in with the seats and watch baseball undetected and completely unbothered by Phillies fans. A girl can dream.
This is all pretty depressing, but because I’m trying to be more positive lately, here’s a silver lining for the MLB — at least the coronavirus is taking attention away from “Trashstrosgate,” the nickname cleverly coined by sports columnist Jason Gay to describe the Houston Astros cheating scandal that has been devouring the league’s time, attention, and credibility.
For the rest of us, there is no silver lining unless someone finds a cure for the coronavirus in the next couple of weeks. Maybe that’s how I’ll spend my time during the inevitable quarantine that’s just around the corner. Honestly, without baseball, there will be nothing better to do.
Nicole Tieman (@NicoleTieman) is a Wisconsin native, an unapologetic fan of the Milwaukee Brewers, and a general lover of baseball. In her spare time, she’s a communications professional in Washington, D.C.
