8th? BBTF Central Park Softball Game: October 3

Let’s start planning for this year’s game. First questions:

1. Who is submitting the permit request? (Answer: Hysterical & Useless)

2. What dates should we aim for? (Answer: July 25 October 3)

3. Where is the post-game destination?

Rob Manfred says he hopes fans will be able to attend LCS, World Series games

Although MLB has yet to finalize reported plans for postseason bubbles in California and Texas, league commissioner Rob Manfred is already pondering the idea of fans back in the seats for most meaningful playoff games.

“I’m hopeful that the World Series and the LCS we will have limited fan capacity. I think it’s important for us to start back down the road. Obviously it’ll be limited numbers, socially distanced, protection provided for the fans in terms of temperature checks and the like. Kind of the pods like you saw in some of the NFL games. We’ll probably use that same theory. But I do think it’s important as we look forward to 2021 to get back to the idea that live sports, they’re generally outdoors, at least our games. And it’s something that we can get back to.”

Considering that they’re also planning on the playoff bubble, you also have to figure out holding multiple games in a single facility in a single day.

Aubrey Huff Says He Would Rather Die From Coronavirus Than Wear a Mask

“It’s not healthy to breathe in your own CO2 all the time and it seems like everyone is a coronavirus expert. If I God forbid get the coronavirus, here’s what I do: I go home, I get well and I get back and live my life. I would rather die from coronavirus than live the rest of my life in fear and wear a mask.”

Huff is not new to controversial comments.

Ballpark Peanuts, a Classic Summer Pleasure, Have Been Benched

Today, most of the 2.3 million pounds of in-shell peanuts consumed during a typical baseball season are languishing in cold storage, waiting — like the fans — for an opening day at the park that is unlikely to come. Baseball teams both minor and major are trying to find a way to schedule a season, but there will be no one in the stands to shell out $4 or $5 for a bag of peanuts.

Szymborski: One Giant Tournament Might Be Better Than a 50-Game Season

When I look at these standings, one burning question pops into my head: Why?

At 50 games, the ability to meaningfully differentiate between the great and the good, the mediocre and the bad, starts to fade significantly. There’s a one-in-five chance that the winner of the World Series will be a team believed to be .500 or worse. In the last ZiPS projected standings before everything went sideways, that probability was right around 3%; it was 3.7% before the 2019 season.

RiverDogs Release Plan To Modify Ballpark Experience In Age Of COVID-19

On Friday morning, the Charleston RiverDogs, the Yankees’ low Class A affiliate in the South Atlantic League, released a document detailing exactly how they plan to modify operations at Joseph P. Riley Park for the new version of normal created by COVID-19.

There will still be three outs in an inning, three strikes to an out and four balls to a walk, but just about everything else at the park will look and feel markedly different.

Buying tickets, food and merchandise will be an entirely cashless operation. Doing so limits contact between employees and fans, and thus limits one potential avenue for the virus to spread.

The team will also close select ticket windows to help maintain social distancing requirements. These new guidelines also mark a halt on physical tickets. All tickets will now be emailed to fans’ mobile devices. The exception to the rule regards group or season-ticket holders, who will have the option of contactless ticket pickup.

No tickets will be printed or handed out on-site.

Once in the park, fans—aside from family members—will not be seated next to one another. The RiverDogs plan to create an updated seating manifest that, while reducing the amount of fans allowed through the gates, will keep the required social distance between fans.

Baseball is bracing for an economic hit. The only question is how bad it will be.

..“We’re going to lose billions of dollars this year, no matter what,” said one high-ranking baseball official, who, like others interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss internal matters. “People don’t realize the magnitude of the losses, but they’re huge.”..

...A high-ranking baseball official confirmed the Marlins are “behind the 8-ball” due largely to their debt but predicted all 30 teams “should be okay.” Some teams, the official said, are “maxing out” credit lines and taking on more debt. Forbes reported Friday that MLB “modestly” increased its leaguewide lending capacity for individual teams…