The Pinstriped Baseball Lane

Well it seems that there may be a sense of normalcy during all this stressful time soon. It would seem that the resuming of baseball is making a lot of progress, especially in New York City.

New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, has given both the New York Yankees and the New York Mets permission to each reconvene to prepare for a potential 2020 season.

Cuomo gave the ballclubs the greenlight on Saturday to go ahead and have a Spring Training 2.0.

According to Bryan Hoch, on Saturday, “The Mets confirmed Cuomo’s announcement, while the Yankees did the same via a statement…” In the statement, it detailed that:

“As New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced this afternoon, the New York Yankees will hold a potential spring training resumption at Yankee Stadium,” the statement read. Continuing, it said,”…We will continue to follow Major League Baseball’s guidelines and protocols, and we will vigilantly work with Governor Cuomo, Mayor de Blasio and their health authorities, as well as with federal officials and Major League Baseball’s own medical and infectious disease experts, to ensure our facility maintains the best possible safety standards.”

“The health and safety of our players, staff and employees, and of their respective families, will always be our top priority.”

In my opinion, while I am very glad that baseball is showing signs of a possible return to the field, I am a bit more nervous now than ever. Social distancing is the key to putting a stop to this worldwide pandemic, and we have seen a progressive spread through the baseball world as of recently. Honestly I was all for the return of baseball in 2020, but the strength of this virus is making me skeptical.

I would rather continue to wait for the right time to resume sport activities than have a potential growth of the pandemic at sport venue locations. Unfortunately, I am just a freelance baseball writer and a fan of the game, so I have no pull on making these types of decisions.

According to Bryan Hoch, “The Mets have trained in Port St. Lucie, Fla., since 1988, while the Yankees have spent their springs in Tampa, Fla., since 1996. Both teams departed those sites in late March, when the coronavirus pandemic forced a shutdown to professional sports across the country….”

According to various reports, “In recent weeks, however, complexes have reopened. The Mets opened theirs to local players on June 1st, allowing those who reside in the Port St. Lucie area to use the facilities. A double-digit group of Yankees players have been working out at George M. Steinbrenner Field, and it was widely expected that the Bombers would resume activities at their spring home when a restart was announced.” Those plans were forfeited due to Florida’s continuing spike in coronavirus numbers, with New York City far off its surging highs of March and April. The Florida Department of Health said that the state surpassed 4,000 positive COVID-19 tests for the first time on Friday, with a 12 percent positive rate. As a result, I would have called the sport preparation off to decrease the spread. However Cuomo and baseball officials believe holding spring training in NYC is the best option for players to be ready for baseball.

Just to make it clear, the above information only pertains to NYC baseball teams. Other clubs have yet to decide what they want to do.

Throughout all this craziness, MLB players intend to vote Sunday on the matter of whether it makes sense to began playing in 2020. We will know then, whether or not the recent proposal will stand as the new law of the baseball world.