The 2020 Major League Baseball season is finally upon us. Even though we will be provided with an abbreviated 60-game schedule, we’ll take that as a major victory in the midst of the disaster that will forever be known as 2020.
Even still, we must take account of what this pandemic has cost us. A schedule filled with 162 games is sacred for baseball purists.
True fans live by statistics. Family dinners turn into disasters over arguments related to baseball records. It’s a big deal.
All the stats from this season will always have that asterisk. Secondly, as of now, fans can’t physically be there to enjoy the games. Part of baseball’s mystique throughout history has been the experience that attending a baseball game gives us.
The sights and sounds of the park are irreplaceable. That $12 hot dog can’t be replicated on the best grill. Not being there is a cost, which leads to one major loss for all baseball fans — we can’t personally boo and heckle every member of the Houston Astros.
The Scandal
Real baseball fans will boo a player or a team when a boo is earned. It is part of the experience. Only the truest Astros diehard fan (as if there were any) could resist voicing their displeasure for every player on the 2017 Stolen World Series roster of the Houston Astros.
After they were caught red-handed, the team and owner weren’t met with the least bit of understanding by the baseball universe. The Astros sign-stealing scandal has had ripple effects throughout the league and will be forever part of baseball lore.
Baseball fans, as a reflection of the forgiving nature of the American public, deserve their chance to retaliate in some fashion. The truth is, a baseball fan doesn’t have a lot of options for “punishing” a player or a team other than to voice their displeasure once they’ve bought their ticket and taken their seat.
When a player has it coming, whether it be because of a contract dispute, embarrassing the team in some way, or cheating, they are going to hear about it. Once the deserving fan gets his or her satisfaction, then it can be over. In the over-charged world of sports betting, however, maybe there is a new way.
Prop Bets
Since fans will be deprived of the opportunity to call Alex Bregman lots of names our mothers wouldn’t approve of, the sportsbooks may give us a creative way to release that tension.
Players are fans too, so the general consensus is that plenty of opposing pitchers might just take matters into their own hands and throw a few high-and-tight fastballs in the direction of Astros body parts. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred will have no one to blame but himself for his pitiful handling of the situation.
At William Hill US, one of the largest sportsbooks in the country, they have posted an over/under on the total number of Astros batters hit by a pitch this season at 83.5.
Personally, I’d take the over. America is a wonderfully gracious place. People will forgive, but they need their pound of flesh in return. Many of those pounds may come from the backsides of Astros players this season.
