Category Archives: Atlantic League of Professional Baseball

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, Minor League Baseball, Sugar Land Skeeters

Common Sense is Becoming as Scarce as Cans and Coins During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The other day I was reading a story about how grocery stores were no longer going to be able to give out change to customers due to a national coin shortage.

Yes, that’s right, not only can the richest nation in the world not get their act together regarding corralling a deadly virus, it seems that they cannot bring enough coins to market.

Of course, the usual conspiracy (or is it coin-spiracy?) enthusiasts are tweeting up a storm claiming that the lack of coins is a “Deep State” plot to create a cashless society. I know the First Amendment gives people the right to think and say what they want, but some of the things some people say just make me shake my head in disbelief.

Not only is there a shortage of supplies needed in the battle against COVID-19. Now there is a nationwide coin shortage as well.
Photo R. Anderson

While I was still trying to wrap my mind around the coinpocalypse, I read another story about how not only are we out of coins, apparently the companies that make aluminum cans cannot keep up with the demand.

I would say that the aluminum shortage is due to too many people wearing tin foil hats, and inventing conspiracy theories about coins, but the truth is, there is plenty of aluminum. There just aren’t enough plants to turn that aluminum into cans to keep up with consumer demand.

As a result of the can shortage, several beverage companies noted that certain brands of product might not be available. But hey, at least toilet paper made a return to the shelves.

Normally, a nationwide coin shortage, paired with a nationwide shortage of aluminum cans, would be enough for any given week. But this has not been any given week.

A third story also caught my eye this week, showing me that coins, cans and common sense are all in short supply.

No, I am not talking about people potentially breaking ethics rules by posing with cans of beans behind a desk that was built from the English oak timbers of the British Arctic exploration ship HMS Resolute, in an office that is broadly elliptical and/or egg shaped.

I am talking about a lack of common sense on the baseball diamond.

As I have noted many times, even though I am a lifelong baseball fan, I do not think baseball, or any sport, needs to come back in the middle of a global pandemic that has, at the time of this writing, killed over 138,000 Americans.

To put that into perspective, 138,000 people would roughly be the equivalent of 287 completely full Boeing 747 airliners crashing on an island with a polar bear and John Locke. Or, for those of you who did not watch Lost, 138,000 people would fill three and a half Major League Ballparks.

No matter how you slice it, it is not a political statement to say that 138,000 deaths, occurring at a rate of roughly 27,000 deaths a month, is too many. We should be doing everything we can as a united society to ensure that we are part of the solution and not the problem.

Which brings me back to the baseball diamond. Earlier this week in Texas, Fort Bend County joined neighboring Harris County in elevating their threat level to Red Alert, and issued a “Stay at Home to Save Lives” order to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Right about now, as Fatboy Slim would say, you are asking yourself what does Fort Bend County have to do with a baseball diamond?

Well, since you asked, Fort Bend County is where the Sugar Land Skeeters are currently hosting a four-team summer league with fans in the stands.

So, when I heard that County Judge KP George joined Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo in calling for everyone to stay home “and make sacrifices if our whole community is to remain healthy and intact,” I thought for sure that the Sugar Land Skeeters would be sending out a press release saying that the league was cancelled as a result of the Judge’s order.

The baseball fan in me wants to see the Sugar Land Skeeters summer league succeed. However, as much as I love Swatson, the reporter in me cannot justify putting fans and players at risk of catching COVID-19 just to play ball.
Photo R. Anderson

Alas, that press release never came, and the league is still going strong.

Common sense would say that if the spread of a virus is so bad that County Judges are asking people to “Protect yourself and your family by staying at home except for essential activities, wear required face covering, and cancel gatherings,” that a baseball league would stop playing games.

Last time I checked, playing baseball is not an essential activity, and having fans in the stands watching baseball counts as a gathering and is equally non-essential.

Instead of sending a cancellation notice the team sent a tweet stating, “We’ve got LOTS of sweet giveaways in store for this weekend!”

While anyone who knows me knows that I love a sweet Ballpark giveaway, the idea that baseball is still being played when the people of the county the Ballpark is located in are being asked to stay home comes across as both selfish and tone death to the situation on the ground.

I have said it before, and I will say it again, I love watching the Skeeters play and when it is safe to do so again, I will be the first person in line to do just that.

Until then, I am doing my part to slow the spread by following medical and scientific advice from reputable sources. This advice includes wearing a mask and socially distancing. It also involves avoiding unnecessary excursions, you know like to a Ballpark to watch a baseball game.

As I have said many times, COVID-19 does not care who you voted for. Wearing a mask saves lives and is not some attempt to squelch a person’s freedom. You know what does squelch a person’s freedom? Being dead because you called COVID-19 a hoax, and refused to wear a mask and ended by succumbing to the virus.

I have great respect for the essential workers who are keeping the country going. I am grateful to the men and women working at the grocery store to ensure that I can pull up curbside and have my groceries put in my car.

After declaring Texas open in three gradual phases beginning in May, and seeing COVID-19 cases in the state rise up like a bottle rocket nearly every day since reopening, the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, noted in a June 22 press conference that, “COVID-19 is spreading at an unacceptable rate in Texas,” and that, “We must corral it.”
Photo R. Anderson

I am grateful to all of the health care workers on the front lines of trying to get a handle on COVID-19.

I pray daily for the safety of each and every person who is out there keeping the essential functions of society going while allowing the rest of us to work from home.

Because of my respect for essential workers, I am not going to do anything to put myself in a situation where I can get exposed to COVID-19 and risk spreading it.

And yes, I know that based on the ease in which COVID-19 spreads, one cannot completely avoid the potential of encountering the virus. However, I am certainly limiting my activities to make sure I am not putting myself at added risk of getting exposed to the virus.

I get that not everyone shares that view. I also get that sports are coming back despite growing infection rates coast to coast. As a result, many athletes are testing positive both inside and outside of sports bubbles.

This COVID-19 virus has already led to a shortage of coins, cans and common sense among other things. If we aren’t careful, and continue at our current pace, COVID-19 could cause a shortage of hospital beds, and health care workers to take care of us as well.

Is going to a baseball game worth putting all of that at risk? I know how I am going to answer that question and I don’t even need to flip a coin. What about you?

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some coins to count.

Copyright 2020 R. Anderson

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball, Sugar Land Skeeters

Sugar Land Skeeters set to Embark on Grand Social Experiment in the Name of Playing Baseball in a Pandemic

After delaying the start of their four-team summer league by a week, the Sugar Land Skeeters, of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), remain committed to welcoming fans to the Ballpark and kicking off the league on July 10, 2020.

It should be noted that the COVID-19 virus spike that led to the one-week delay in the league start is even steeper than it was on July 3. The virus did not dissipate in the Texas heat given an extra seven days. Additionally, the Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, issued an executive order mandating that masks must be worn in public, while also admitting that perhaps the state reopened too soon, and that it was a mistake to allow bars to reopen.

Furthermore, the league will be starting up before any additional spike in cases brought about by July 4th gatherings has been fully accounted for.

After delaying the start of their four-team summer league by a week, the Sugar Land Skeeters remain committed to welcoming fans to the Ballpark and kicking off the league on July 10, 2020 despite rises cases of COVID-19.
Photo R. Anderson

So, with a virus raging out of control within the community, the four-team league comprised of the Sugar Land Skeeters (Managed by Pete Incaviglia), Team Texas (Managed by Roger and Koby Clemens), the Sugar Land Lightning Sloths (Managed by Greg Swindell), and the Eastern Reyes del Tigre (Managed by Dave Eiland) are set to play ball in the middle of a global pandemic.

From a purely scientific data collecting standpoint, the league has the potential to provide great insight into whether one can play baseball with fans in the stands in a COVID-19 hot spot, and not have a majority of people who attend the games get sick. It is likely to also provide insight into how one can eat popcorn and nachos while wearing a mask.

From a purely human perspective, it seems grossly irresponsible to move ahead with the league given the current climate in the state with health systems tasked to the near breaking point trying to care for people getting sick. Creating events with thousands of people potentially in attendance just does not seem prudent.

Even though players will be tested for COVID-19 at least once a week, fans will have to pass a temperature check at the gate before being allowed in, that does not stop people from potentially infecting people on the field, and while they wait for the gates to open.

Major League Baseball (MLB), which is dealing with players testing positive before the season has even begun, is likely to take notice to see what kinds of things will happen in the Skeeters League. MLB still plans a return at the end of July for their 60-games in 66 days mini season, despite an inability to test all players before opening some training sites.

I am not a fortune teller, although I have eaten a lot of fortune cookies. With that in mind, I am going to go out on a limb here and say that people are going to get sick as a result of the Skeeters league.

I am also going to crawl further out on the limb and say that if MLB moves forward with their season, many players are going to get sick. Some players may see their careers cut short due to COVID-19 complications.

By inviting fans to see baseball in the middle of a pandemic the Sugar Land Skeeters are hoping the the oidds are forever in their favor as they tempt fate in a social experiment that MLB and other leagues are likely to pay very close attention to as they try to stage their return to action.
Photo R. Anderson

The risk of catching the virus, as well as complications causing problems down the line, has been cited by several high-profile players who have decided to sit out the 2020 MLB season. The risk trade of playing baseball, versus staying home do not come out with a value that they are willing to live with by playing ball.

Of course, the counter argument to that is that people are going to get sick anyway. So, why not have a little fun and see some baseball if we are all doomed to catch the disease? The so called, “might as well just live with it” narrative is gaining steam among certain population groups.

The two sides entrenched in the COVID-19 battle have been reminding me a lot lately of the story of the two frogs and the bucket of milk. For those of you who may not have heard that story, or for those needed a refresher the fable goes as so:

Two young frogs fell into a bucket of milk. Both tried to jump to freedom, but the sides of the bucket were steep and no foundation was to be had on the surface of the liquid.

Seeing little chance of escape, the first frog soon despaired and stopped jumping. After a short while, he sank to the bottom of the bucket and drowned.

The second frog also saw no likelihood of success, but he never stopped trying. Even though each jump seemed to reach the same inadequate height, he kept on struggling. Eventually, his persistent efforts churned some milk into butter. From the now hardened surface of the milk, he managed to leap out of the bucket.

In many ways, people’s response to COVID-19 is similar to that of the two frogs. On one hand, you have the people who are going to do whatever they want since they think that the virus is going to get them anyway. Worse, they think that they are immune to catching the virus. More deadly are the people who have been programed to think that the virus is a hoax.

The two sides entrenched in the COVID-19 battle remind me of the story of the two frogs and the bucket of milk.
Photo R. Anderson

The other camp of frogs sees that the virus is out there, and they know that there is a chance that they might get it. However, they are going to do everything they can to avoid getting it. This includes social distancing, wearing masks, and you know avoiding large gatherings like indoor conventions, and even outdoor baseball games.

Based on the number of COVID-19 cases in America, where over 131,000 people have died, it seems like we have more of the go out and do whatever you want frogs, compared to other countries who seem to have more frogs looking out for each other.

In many ways, it would have been fitting for one of the teams in the Sugar Land Skeeters league to be nicknamed the Frogs, although I will admit that I totally want a Lightning Sloth shirt.

Therein lies the rub, in almost any other year I would be stoked at the idea of a summer baseball league with double headers every weekend, and four teams battling for a title that the winner never has to defend. I would be the first one in line when the gates opened and I would soak up the sun and eat my weight in hot dogs.

There are also some great promotional items being offered at the games that, in any other year, I would make a bee line to get. Hello, Lightning Sloth Rally Sloth Claws.

But this isn’t any other year, and no matter how much we want to wish the COVID-19 virus away, the simple fact is that it is not going away until there is a vaccine. Those are the hard facts.

And, no matter how much I want to see live baseball in a Ballpark, eat a hot dog, drink Dr Pepper, and wear foam sloth fingers, I just cannot justify doing those activities based on all of the science I have heard about how the virus works.

While my opinion has been stated many times, and in many ways, that I would prefer to see baseball at all levels return next year, instead of putting people at risk, I do not have anything against the people who do choose to go to the Ballpark this year. I will just not be one of them.

I just hope that their decision to gather together does not cause the spread of the virus to increase to the point that in a Kevin Bacon Seven Degrees of COVID-19 separation that I, or the people I care about, become infected because someone got tired of social distancing and wanted to watch baseball in a Ballpark, or have a barbecue with friends, or any of the other virus spreading activities that we are not supposed to be engaged in right now.

So, I choose not to go watch live baseball in a Ballpark this year because I am taking care of my health, and looking out for the health of others.

We are all those frogs in the pail of milk, and we can decide which frog we want to be. As for me, I am choosing to make butter out of this situation.

Now if you’ll excuse me, all of this talk about milk and butter has me craving some Kraft Dinner.

Copyright 2020 R. Anderson

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball, Sugar Land Skeeters

Sugar Land Skeeters Delay Start of Summer League as MiLB Cancels Season

A couple of weeks ago, the Sugar Land Skeeters, of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), announced their intention to form a four-team professional baseball league at Constellation Field, beginning July 3 and running through Aug. 23.

On June 30, the team announced that they were delaying the start of the league by a week to July 10. The delay comes as cases of COVID-19 soar to new heights in Texas leading to serious questions about whether the start will be pushed back again when July 10 rolls around.

To be clear, in lieu of a miracle, it is highly unlikely that the state of COVID-19 in Texas will be better in a week. In fact, if the spike in cases that followed Memorial Day is any indication, displays of patriotism and group gatherings for the July 4th Weekend are likely to send COVID-19 cases soaring like a roman candle reaching for the heavens.

I get that the Skeeters want to have their league succeed. I want their league to succeed as well. But the outlook is not too favorable for that to happen in the current COVID-19 climate.

The Sugar Land Skeeters, of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), recently announced their intention to form a four-team professional baseball league at Constellation Field, beginning July 3 and running through Aug. 23.
Photo R. Anderson

The same day that the Skeeters announced the seven-day season slippage, Minor League Baseball (MiLB) made the announcement many people already knew was coming, and said that there would be no MiLB season this year.

As noted many times before, MiLB is my absolute favorite form of baseball, and the fact that the season has been cancelled makes me truly sick to my stomach because of all of the employees who will get laid off, as well as knowing that many of the players and some of the teams may not be around when the 2021 season rolls around next April.

There is always high turnover in any MiLB season as some players move up, and others just quietly retire having never reached the pinnacle of playing in the Show. This year the normal ebb and flow of player movement has a new element called contraction.

In November 2019, before the world was gripped by a global pandemic, MLB announced that it wanted to eliminate around 42 minor league affiliates and keep about 120 affiliates tied to 30 MLB clubs, or roughly four MILB teams per MLB club, as a cost savings measure. The COVID-19 pandemic just sped that process along and meant that some Ballparks would not get a farewell season.

Of course, MLB said a few years back that they wanted to get rid of a few teams and placed the Expos and the Twins on the chopping block. Although the Expos left Montreal and became the Nationals, the last time I checked we still have 30 MLB franchises.

Congressional leaders are also likely to weigh in on any plan that would take baseball away from their constituents.

So, I am cautiously optimistic that MLB will back off of their plan to reduce the ranks of MiLB, but something tells me they will keep their foot on the gas.

From a big picture MLB perspective, I understand that they want to streamline the operation to have fewer players and better facilities across the board in the farm system of the future. In recent years, MLB clubs even started owning their farm teams as a means to control costs from Rookie ball to MLB. As such, the MiLB owners were already getting pushed aside in many markets.

I know that baseball is a business. One need only listen to MLB owners complain about lost revenue during the 2020 season to know where many of their heads are at. But, for many of the smaller communities that are served by MiLB teams, baseball is an extension of the community and a part of the lifeblood that pumps from generation to generation.

The last MiLB game in Orlando was played in 2003 and it left a void for baseball fans in the region. Granted, the loss of a MiLB team in Orlando is not going to have the same effect as the loss of a team in a smaller community. While they currently do not have professional baseball, Orlando has college sports at the University of Central Florida, the Orlando Magic, the Orlando Solar Bears, Orlando City, and Orlando Pride. Of course, if Pat Williams has his way Orlando will become an MLB city someday.

Contrast the sport heavy balance sheet of Orlando with say Billings, Montana. Billings, and many other cities where MiLB is played, do not have other professional sports nearby. So, a night at the Ballpark is literally the only game in town when it comes to professional sports in many markets. Besides offering entertainment for fans, the Ballparks offer employment for everything from ticket takers to ushers.

If the teams go away, the jobs will go away as well.

If MLB really does go through with their plan of reducing the ranks of MiLB as a way to save a buck, I really hope that non-affiliated baseball leagues like the ALPB and others can fill the void and keep baseball in the towns affected by the loss of their MiLB franchise.

I know there are people who will stand up and shout that independent baseball is not the same as affiliated baseball. I will not argue that point, other than to say that if I had a choice between having an Independent League team in my town, or no baseball team in my town, I am going to go with having the Independent League team every time.

The baseball fan in me wants to see the Sugar Land Skeeters summer league succeed. However, as much as I love Swatson, the reporter in me cannot justify putting fans and players at risk of catching COVID-19 just to play ball.
Photo R. Anderson

Of course, the reality is that some owners may not have the resources to run an Independent baseball team without the support that went along with being affiliated with MLB.

That is why the baseball fan in me wants to see the Skeeters summer league succeed so that the players and staff don’t have to worry about losing their jobs. Of course, when I put on my reporter hat, I still cannot justify putting fans and players at risk of catching COVID-19 just to play ball.

MLB is still planning a return at the end of July for their 60-games in 66 days mini season, but many more players each day are choosing to opt out of the season.

It is a tough calculus that I really hope we are not faced with again once the COVID-19 pandemic is finally defeated thanks to either a vaccine, or effective therapeutics, that allow the world to fully reopen again.

When that day of reopening does occur, I will be one of the first people in line at the Ballpark to see the game I love played once more. Sadly, the residents of up to 42 communities may not be as lucky.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I am off to celebrate Bobby Bonilla Day.

Copyright 2020 R. Anderson

 

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, Houston Astros, Major League Baseball, Sugar Land Skeeters, Washington Nationals

Astros Owner, Jim Crane, Just Made One of the Most Tone-Deaf Statements Ever Uttered

As I mentioned the other day, after much soul searching, I have decided that I am done supporting the Houston Astros. I have lost all respect for them as an organization, and I really do not see them earning my respect back any time soon.

This was not an easy decision for me to reach. I have a lot of great memories of supporting the Astros, however statements like the one made by team owner Jim Crane on June 24th, only reinforce the stance that is time for me to retire my Astros fandom, just like the new owners retired poor Junction Jack as their mascot.

I really want to stop writing about the Astros, but when they throw a fast ball down the middle of the plate, I have no other choice but to knock it out of the park.

To set the stage, with Major League Baseball set to return in the middle of a global pandemic with a 60-games in 66 days mini season, and the Houston Astros already facing scorn for getting caught cheating, it is almost like Crane said to the person standing next to him at one of the golf courses that he owns, “hold my nachos, I am going to say something so absurd that they will forget about the fact that we cheated in 2017.”

In one of the most tone deaf, failing to take the temperature of the room, comments that I have ever heard, Crane was quoted by many news outlets as saying that in order to recoup some of the money that he has lost by the Astros not playing a full season, he wants to have fans at games at Minute Maid Park this season in order to raise revenue selling concessions and team tchotchkes.

Houston Astros Owner Jim Crane is eager to recoup some of the money that he has lost by the Astros not playing a full season, having fans at games at Minute Maid Park this season in order to raise revenue selling concessions and team tchotchkes.
Photo R. Anderson

Crane’s ludicrous comments also come amid the backdrop of Houston health officials warning that they’re running out of ER space because of a surge in COVID-19 cases.

That means that even someone who does not have COVID-19, but needs to go to the ER because of something like a car accident, may not be able to get the lifesaving treatment that they need.

Crane’s remarks are like giving a single foam finger salute to Houston and the surrounding region by saying I want your money more than I want you to be safe.

Crane’s “let them eat cake” moment translated in Ballpark parlance as “let them eat garlic fries” as a COVID-19 pandemic surrounds Minute Maid Park is so out of touch with reality. A better optic would have been created if Crane offered up the meeting space inside the Union Station area of the Ballpark as a potential surge hospital for COVID-19 patients instead of wanting to open up the Ballpark to potentially create more patients for an overtaxed health district

At 71-years-old, Dusty Baker, is the oldest manager in MLB. Baker, who also happens to manage the Astros, told the Associated Press that, “I’m a bit nervous. I’ve seen the reports in Houston how COVID’s going up so I’m going to have to really be careful.”

Houston Astros owner Jim Crane’s “let them eat cake” moment translated in Ballpark parlance as “let them eat garlic fries” seems a bit tone deaf in light of the raging COVID-19 pandemic that surrounds Minute Main Park. A better optic would have been created if Crane offered up the meeting space inside the ballpark as a potential surge hospital instead of wanting to open up the Ballpark to create more patients for an overtaxed health district.
Photo R. Anderson

Part of that need to be careful involves Baker’s age which puts him in the higher risk category. But, it seems that Crane is willing to expose Baker to more people in order to make a buck.

While Crane is ready to go full speed ahead as soon as possible, Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, is hitting the pause button on reopening the state amid a “massive outbreak.”

Abbott is urging all Texas residents to stay home unless they absolutely have to go somewhere to try to corral the deadly virus that is rolling through the state like floodwaters indiscriminately affecting everything in its path.

If the Governor, who was once one of the most pro reopening advocates in the country, is saying it is time to slow down and stay home, sorry Jim, going to watch a baseball game is not an essential function.

To be fair, there are likely fans who will be willing to go to games and risk their health in order to see some baseball in a Ballpark so quiet you can hear a trash can drop. But, in order to have fans buying food and tchotchkes, you need to have, ticket takers to let the fans in, security to protect the fans, concession workers to make the food, workers to sell the food, and workers to man the cash registers at the gift shops.

Oh yeah, and you need to have workers to empty the trash cans that are full of the trash generated by those fans, as well as workers to disinfect the Ballpark from top to bottom to get ready for the next game. Perhaps the players can help with the cleanup since I hear they know their way around a trash can.

It really shouldn’t be a shock that the owner of the Astros is the most vocal in wanting fans and their money to return. His entire tenure has been one big monetizing of the ballpark. Who can forget the time the view of downtown was blocked by huge billboards that would make a Minor League Ballpark manager say, “that is a step too far.” Thankfully the eyesore was relocated prior to the 2014 season.
Photo R. Anderson

Each of the people who enter the Ballpark will run the risk of getting infected, and in turn, they run the risk of infecting others when they go home. I am sorry, but no helmet full of nachos, or team shirt, is worth that amount of risk.

If I do not want players in the Ballparks due to potential risk of virus spread, I definitely do not want fans adding to the number of potential super spreaders.

Of course, as noted last week, the Sugar Land Skeeters are also looking to host about 1,700 people a game in a mini summer four-team league they are running at Constellation Field starting in early July. It is entirely possible that Crane thought that if the Skeeters can make money during a pandemic, he should be able to as well. Any fans allowed at either Skeeters or Astros games would need to be socially distanced and wearing a mask.

I totally get it; people are tired of being locked up inside. I would love to run free outside the walls of the Gigaplex, eat fried catfish on my favorite restaurant patio with a half and half tea, and act like the world is back to the way it was in the olden days of pre-March 2020.

But wishing it to be true, and going out there and acting like it is true, does not make it true.

The only thing acting like everything is fine, and there is nothing to see here does, is risk my health, and the health of those I love and care about.

And yes, it even risks the health of those I don’t care about. But, I care enough about people I don’t care about to not want to get them sick either.

Based on his comments, billionaire Crane appears to care mostly about back filling his pockets like a money vault diving Scrooge McDuck. I am used to stories of sports owners trying to fleece taxpayers to get better deals on their Ballparks. Crane used those tactics when he was negotiating for a new Spring Training site for the Astros to share with the defending World Series Champion Washington Nationals.

The Sugar Land Skeeters, of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), recently announced their intention to form a four-team professional baseball league at Constellation Field, beginning July 3 and running through Aug. 23 with up to 1,700 fans allowed inside the Ballpark for each game.
Photo R. Anderson

However, one could argue that being greedy about tax breaks on a Ballpark is far less Ebenezer Scrooge, pre-visit by the three spirits, then encouraging people to risk their health to watch a game in order for the owner to make a few bucks on food and souvenir sales.

Ultimately, Crane’s desire to have fans in the Ballpark could be declared dead on arrival by local officials in Houston and Harris County, who will most likely get the final say on allowing gatherings like fans at a ballgame.

Based on previous statements made by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, I am fairly convinced that Crane’s pitch to have fans at the games will, in the words of Harry Doyle in Major League will fall, “Just a bit outside.”

Still, the fact that the statement was even made in the middle of a pandemic, and on a day that Houston reported nearly 1,000 new cases of COVID-19, which is around 1.3 times higher than it was a week ago, either demonstrates Crane has a total lack of situational awareness, or is aware and has a total lack of empathy.

COVID-19 has killed over 122,000 Americans, and even the people who recover from it may end up with long-term effects, like holes in their lungs. That is not a political statement that is a medical fact.

Sadly, uniting against a common foe for the common good, does not seem so common anymore. At least that is the case when it comes to public health and COVID-19. The simple act of wearing a face covering, or mask, to protect others has turned into a litmus test of whether you vote blue or red. Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott of Florida get it. Mitt Romney gets it. Masks save lives.

Even Governor Abbott is able to show that he needs to take the virus more seriously than he once did. It is time for everyone else, regardless of political affiliation to do the same. At the end of the day COVID-19 does not care if you vote red or blue. It also isn’t going to give anyone a day pass because they are tired of being inside and want to catch a ballgame and eat some nachos.

As for the comment made by Jim Crane, perhaps he was only kidding. I hear that is the thing people say these days after making a seriously tone-deaf remark in public.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a sudden urge to watch Major League.

Copyright 2020 R. Anderson

 

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, Minor League Baseball, Sugar Land Skeeters

Sugar Land Skeeters Form A League of Their Own to Play Ball During Global COVID-19 Pandemic

The Sugar Land Skeeters, of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), recently announced their intention to form a four-team professional baseball league at Constellation Field, beginning July 3 and running through Aug. 23.

The idea of a four-team quick summer league sounds great on the surface. Of course, as one peels back the layers of the onion, they are reminded of the fact that we are still in the middle of a global pandemic caused by a virus with no known cure or standard treatment.

The news of the league comes as the number of COVID-19 cases in Texas continues to rise to record numbers on a daily basis. As a result of the rising numbers of cases and hospitalizations, some businesses that had reopened, like bank lobbies, are starting to close again.

The Sugar Land Skeeters, of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), recently announced their intention to form a four-team professional baseball league at Constellation Field, beginning July 3 and running through Aug. 23.
Photo R. Anderson

With that in mind, the team ownership noted when they announced the league that they would be working with local and state health officials to provide as safe of an environment as possible for fans, staff and players.

Among the steps being taken is following the guidelines from the state of Texas as well as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in regards to stadium capacity and social distancing. Players will be tested for COVID-19 at least once a week, as well as prior to their arrival in Sugar Land.

In regards to fans in attendance, the plan calls Constellation Field to allow up to 25 percent of its 7,500-seat capacity to be full for each of the planned 56 games in the season.

According to a press release from the Skeeters, there will be a total of seven games played at Constellation Field each week from the Opening Day on July 3 through the conclusion of the season on Aug. 23. The schedule is subject to change, but single games are anticipated to be played on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and doubleheaders will be played on Saturday and Sunday.

The names for the four teams have yet to be announced. In the spirit of helpfulness might I suggest such timely names as, the Pandemics, the Social Distancers, the COIVD-19’s, and the Doc Faucis.

The four teams will be managed by Skeeters manager Pete Incaviglia, seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens (along with his son Koby), and former Cleveland Indians pitcher Greg Swindell. The fourth team will be led by a manager to be named later. It should be noted that both Roger and Koby Clemens played for the Skeeters.

Former Sugar Land Skeeters player Koby Clemens will manage one of the four teams in the Skeeters Summer League alongside is father, Roger.
Photo R. Anderson

Open tryouts for the league are scheduled to take place at Constellation Field on June 24. It is expected that the teams will consist of former Major Leaguers and an assortment of professional players who’ve appeared at affiliated minor league levels as well as independent leagues.

Despite the best efforts of social distancing and testing, it is extremely likely that there will be people associated with the league who contract COVID-19. In the event that occurs, team officials have noted that the show will go on as the league takes the posture of accepting a certain level of risk in order to play baseball.

This is the magic question faced by all sports leagues, and in fact all individuals, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. How much risk is one willing to take in order to do the things that were done in the olden days of pre-March 2020?

The answer depends on the individual’s level of comfort, as well as whether the individual involved belongs to one of the identified high-risk categories of greater susceptibility to the virus.

Years ago I saw this sign at a Pensacola Pelicans game. It is unknown whether the tickets to the Sugar Land Skeeters Summer League games will include small print waiver language stating that fans in attendance assume both the risk of getting hit in the head by a foul ball, as well as assuming all risk if they contract COVID-19 at the ballpark.
Photo R. Anderson

It is unknown whether the tickets to the games will include small print waiver language stating that fans in attendance assume both the risk of getting hit in the head by a foul ball, as well as assuming all risk if they contract COVID-19 at the ballpark.

I can picture the wording going something like this, “Sorry folks, you can’t sue us for getting sick. The lime green mosquito up front should have told you that.”

The Skeeters are not alone in trying to find creative uses for their Ballparks this season. According to the ALPB, the High Point Rockers, Long Island Ducks, and Southern Maryland Blue Crabs are working with several professional baseball clubs, towards finalizing a 70-game schedule of play that would begin in mid-July and wrap up at the end of September with a five-game championship series.

Other ALPB teams that are not able to host baseball games due to crowd size limitations in their regions are hosting movie and music festivals in their Ballparks as a means to generate revenue.

And of course, Major League Baseball is still trying to hammer out an agreement to play baseball without fans in attendance for the 2020 season.

Personally, I would love to see baseball at all levels sit the season out. I do not believe the short-term gains of unfurling those Opening Day banners in 2020 outweigh the long-term risks to player health, as well as overall league health.

The last thing anyone should want to do is have a short term pebble drop ripple turn in to a tsunami with unforeseen consequences down the road. One should not sell their soul for a shortened season.

And just because a Ballpark is open, it does not mean that fans need to go to it. If the movie Field of Dreams was filmed in the era of COVID-19 it is likely that the voice heard in the corn field would tell Ray Kinsella to “build it and they will come after the threat of the COVID-19 virus has been eliminated by the invention of either a vaccine or a therapeutic treatment.”

After all, those players may have been ghosts, but they were certainly in a high-risk category based on their ages. Speaking of that Iowa corn field, the New York Yankees and Chicago White White Sox are scheduled to play each other at a temporary ballpark adjacent to the field from the movie on August 13. It is unknown whether the game will be played, and if it is whether the people will be allowed to come, or if only the corn will have ears to hear the game.

Baseball, and the rest of life as we knew it in the golden days of pre 2020 will hopefully return next year. We will reach the other side, and when we do, the Ballparks will once again be full of fans and games of dizzy bat. Until then, teams and leagues will continue to seek creative solutions to “go the distance” as they navigate uncharted waters like a 21st century Lewis and Clark to ease our collective pain.

Now if you’ll excuse me, all this talk about shortened summer baseball leagues has me in the mood to watch Summer Catch.

Copyright 2020 R. Anderson