Leitch/MLB: The best moment in each ballpark’s history

Indians (Progressive Field): Rajai Davis homers ... but the Cubs win the 2016 World Series - Nov. 1, 2016 (World Series Game 7)

Indians fans will always have a soft spot in their heart for Davis, whose game-tying homer off Aroldis Chapman was the stuff of fairy tales. But for the purposes of baseball history, the most significant moment at Progressive Field is the Cubs winning that game and their first World Series in more than a century.

Royals (Kauffman Stadium): Don Denkinger’s call - Oct. 26, 1985 (World Series Game 6)

If they had clinched the 2015 World Series at home—or if Alex Gordon had been sent home and scored at the end of the 2014 Series—maybe that would be the moment here, but Denkinger’s call remains immortal.

Empty Stadium Sports Will Be Really Weird

So, with the very likely possibility that baseball and basketball — at minimum — will be played to empty stadiums, it begs the question: Will it be as fun?

And before you answer, think about it for a second. No crowd noise. No intensity that builds for the home team or against the away team. Yes, the scoreboard will tell the tale, but the pressure is cranked up when you have a building full of crazy fans screaming their lungs out.

New Rangers park among possible MLB ideas for season start

North Texas has more to offer than just the new Rangers ballpark should MLB decide to start the pandemic-delayed 2020 baseball season with teams grouped together in different regions.

Among the different plans looked at by Major League Baseball is to use Texas as a mid-American hub.

“Depending upon a variety of the other factors, it makes a lot of sense,” Rangers general Jon Daniels said Monday, when asked about the possibility of Texas being part of such a plan. “Just given the nature of the market, the proximity of a lot of the facilities, the quality of the facilities, the quality of not just baseball facilities, but the hotels in the area and other things that you’d need.”

While the Rangers have had “some involvement, just from a due-diligence standpoint” to help Major League Baseball gather information, Daniels stressed during a conference call with beat writers that is just among several ideas being looked at by league officials.