Baseball and social distancing
Is it possible to bring back baseball and observe social distancing at the same time?
Recently, I wrote about the economy opening up and people being told what businesses were doing to keep them safe, but pointed out Major League Baseball still wanted their players to observe social distancing.
In order to get baseball going again MLB has made a proposal that includes things like avoiding restaurants and fitness centers and holding team meetings outside.
Today let’s focus on the parts of the MLB proposal that would affect how the game is played on the field…and we’ll start with a big one.
No spitting
People who aren’t around baseball make fun of players spitting and scratching, but there are good reasons for both.
Baseball can get really boring even for the guys who play it and one of the ways to stay alert is to chew tobacco. Obviously, it’s got hideous side effects and is a horrible habit, but it does give you a buzz so at some point a young ballplayer might decide to try it because a lot of the veterans are doing it and unfortunately the young ballplayer might get hooked.
(I tried it, started sweating like O.J. waiting for a verdict, felt like I swallowed an inner tube and figured it was my body trying to tell me something…like quit chewing tobacco.)
Baseball has a bad history with tobacco so they’ve tried to minimize its visible presence in the dugout and clubhouse, but a lot of guys still do it and if you chew tobacco you are going to spit.
No idea how they’re going to enforce this one.
BTW: There might be exceptions, but generally speaking what you see is not players “scratching” their crotch – it’s players adjusting their protective cups which are uncomfortable as hell. That’s why some players choose not to wear one which in my mind is like playing Russian Roulette with your testicles.
If they get baseball going again you can now add this to your viewing pleasure: when you see a pitcher deliver a pitch and finish sideways to home plate, there’s a chance that guy isn’t wearing a cup and wants to make sure a line drive back to the mound doesn’t make him a candidate for singing soprano in the Vienna Boys Choir.
Base coaches should not approach base runners
In between pitches the third base coach gives a complicated series of signs while a runner on first base watches and the truth is some of those runners don’t know their own team’s signs. (You gotta give the Houston Astros just a little credit for being sharp enough to steal somebody else’s signs.)
It’s not the only reason it happens, but one of the reasons you see coaches lean in and whisper in a runner’s ear is to let him know what all those signs meant.
So now the players will actually have to learn the signs or (much more likely) the base coaches will have to come up with a simplified method of making sure their runners know what the hell is going on. If you see a coach blowing on a dog whistle, don’t be surprised.
When a pitch is being delivered, fielders should stay away from runners
Obviously, a first baseman is going to be close to a runner and doesn’t have much choice about it, but what about the other infielders?
When a runner makes it to second base the responsibility for keeping him close to the bag falls on the middle infielders and they do that by making moves toward second base, which forces the runner to shorten his lead so he doesn’t get picked off.
And once in a while a middle infielder will go all the way to the bag and the pitcher or catcher will attempt a pickoff and at that point the runner and infielder are on top of each other.
But if runners know middle infielders won’t get close enough to attempt a pickoff, you’re going to see some gigantic leads which is going to make it hard for a catcher to throw anybody out and when there is a throw an infielder can’t tag a runner and stay six feet away at the same time.
And what about home plate?
If MLB wants people to maintain social distancing it’s going to be hard to keep a batter, a catcher and umpire six feet apart.
Umpires like to get close to the catcher and lots of them put a hand on the catcher’s back so they know where he is at all times. Catchers like to set their target late so a batter can’t peek back and see they’ve moved from the inside corner to the outside corner. Since catchers are the main thing between a 98-mph fastball and an umpire’s chest, when the catcher moves, the umpires want to feel them move and move with them.
Once again, no idea how they’ll fix that.
OK, one more and then we’ll wrap this thing up.
The next day’s starting pitcher can’t sit in the dugout
The next day’s starting pitcher is usually being saved for tomorrow which makes him the least likely guy to get used in today’s game, so MLB is saying why have him in the dugout.
But good ball players are always watching and talking and getting smarter and the next day’s starting pitcher should be locked in to what the other team is doing and talking about it with his pitching coach and teammates and figuring out what he’ll do in tomorrow’s game.
If he’s not in the dugout he can’t do that.
It’s also considered bad form for a pitcher to sit up in the air-conditioned clubhouse and eat popsicles while his teammates are out in the heat sweating their asses off and trying to win a ballgame.
And here’s one you’ve probably never thought about: an umpire once admitted that when a dugout was riding him and he wanted to shut them up, he’d go over to their bench and eject a starting pitcher who wasn’t going to be used in the game.
That way the umpire sent a message to everybody – I’ve had enough – and didn’t affect the game by taking away a reliever or position player the manager might need.
Worker safety versus money
MLB is desperate to get some kind of season going and generate some income, but if they play baseball under their proposed rules it’s going to be a very weird brand of baseball. Fair enough, I’m desperate to watch any kind of ballgame and it’ll be interesting to see how some of these issues work out.
But if they have to do all this stuff to keep players safe, should they still be trying to play a game?
On the other hand, when it comes to worker safety or money we know what the free market tends to value so if MLB can get the players to go along with their proposal, expect to see some baseball right up until some player gets sick and they have to shut the whole thing back down.
And if that happens, it will make me so mad I could spit.
As long as the rules allow it.