Fired up for baseball

     Anyone else fired up for some professional baseball besides me? I’ve had conversations about the season leading up to now and my general opinion has been that I haven’t really missed it. But as we get closer to the start of this shortened season, I am ready to see it start.

     It will be interesting to see how a 60-game schedule plays out. That doesn’t give teams much of a chance to start slow or work through slumps and losing streaks. I’ve got all sorts of questions about how this will all play out.

     One, a few players are deciding to not play for fear of catching the virus. Where do the replacement players come up from since there are no minor league seasons going on? Where will players come from for guys that get injured? I read where some basic injuries this year will knock out players for the majority of the shortened season. For example, an oblique injury can last 4-8 weeks.

     Two, what happens if the virus takes down a majority of a team? Does that team just drop out?

     Three, do team and individual stats accumulate like previous years? I assume they will.

     Four, how will the NL using a designated hitter come into play next season? I still say it is just a matter of time before the NL adopts the DH rule.

     For the record, I still have reservations that the season will make it through all 60 games. The NBA and NHL are still struggling to get their seasons back on track. The virus has landed in some NBA camps. And players are opting out of both of those sports as well.

     Opening day for baseball is just a few weeks away. I’ll be excited and also optimistic for the next twenty something days. The Cubs win it all in 2020!