Dodgers

Op-Ed: MLB Reminds Fans That Pro-Baseball is a Business, Not an Escape

“I love Baseball to death. It’s just not worth it.” – Blake Snell

To the diehard baseball fan, the quote above reads like an oxymoron. Every spring, the dead of winter turns a new leaf on freshly cut Bermuda grass—or turf, depending on what stadium you frequent. Millions of baseball fans make the pilgrimage to their respective team’s ballpark to rejoice in the coming of the new baseball season. This year, however, it’s an experience the novel Coronavirus pandemic has deprived the country.

For how long? That’s what we’re still waiting to figure out, I suppose.

But with millions of Americans looking for work; with businesses, big and small, wondering if (or when) they’ll close up shop permanently; with the civil unrest across the country; with so much happiness to be gained from the onset of the 2020 season, the question many are asking is this:

How can playing baseball in 2020 not be worth it?

There are other players who support the sentiment behind Snell’s statement. Is it fair to ask these players to risk their lives and their careers for our own entertainment at a lesser price? There seems to be a divide.

Of course, Major League Baseball and team owners are going to make sure that the season gets underway as soon as possible… Right?

While the league and the players play tug-of-war, the fans are waiting in the proverbial wings. And the longer the fans wait, the longer an evident reality stares them in face:

Baseball is business.

Of course, baseball will always remind us of childhood memories spent in the stands, our favorite ballpark snack in hand, watching the boys of summer play the game we grew up loving. We’d love to sit there and think that these players, these larger-than-life figures, chose their profession because they loved the game with the same childlike wonderment we all have—they just had the fortune to do it for a living.

What we have in common with those who make baseball their profession is that we all need to make a living. Baseball players play baseball for the same reason you wake up and go to work. We all have mouths to feed, even if it is our own. We all have people to care for. We all make decisions with our best interests in mind.

That doesn’t mean you need to agree with how the life or death of the 2020 season is being handled. It certainly doesn’t mean you have to be happy if the season is canceled. It just means that we are facing a cruel reality: one that only the elusive promise of Opening Day can help us escape. But until both sides of the room can come to an agreement, we’re in the same boat as the players and owners that can offer us respite.

The MLBPA submitted their responsorial proposal last night, holding firm on their stance against further pay cuts. If you’ll allow me to borrow a metaphor from a different sport, this could be a hail mary pass to save a lost season.

I long for baseball to come back. I miss the crack of a bat and the cheers that followed. I miss the smell of overpriced beer and the crunch of peanuts beneath my feet as I reach my seat. I miss seeing the stands filled with fans. I even miss the traffic getting to the game. And I can live with sacrificing the live experience for the joy of watching the boys of summer play on my television at home.

But between business and baseball, we’ll just have to wait and see which comes first.

Christian Camacho

Born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, I grew up cheering for the Dodgers and the Lakers. I went across the country to Florida State University (Go Noles!) to study Communications and Sport Management. Now, I'm back in the valley looking to contribute to the LA sports scene.
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