Monday should have been the 60th game of the 2020 regular season for the Dodgers; an afternoon getaway day game against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park in Cumberland, Georgia just north of Atlanta. Instead, the two teams, along with the 28 other Major League Baseball teams, remain in COVID-19-induced limbo, as federal, state, and local officials continue to debate when baseball can safely return.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that even if health officials were to give MLB the green light to resume play right this instant, there still would be no baseball.

The reason, of course, is because MLB and the MLB Players Association are still bickering over how many games should be played in the COVID-19-shortened season and how much players should be paid.

Unfortunately, the deadly coronavirus (and the lack of baseball because of it) is no longer the hot topic facing our country right now. This horrible distinction now belongs to the civil unrest occurring in nearly every major city in the United States; and by this, I am not referring to the peaceful and perfectly legal (and 100 percent warranted) protests taking place from coast to coast as a result of the murder of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis, MN by a police officer. The civil unrest of which I am referring to is, of course, the looting, rioting, and other criminal activity by those taking advantage of the platform being used in these peaceful and lawful protests which, tragically, now includes the shooting of five law enforcement officers (one of whom is in grave condition) while attempting to restore order in their respective communities.

For those who follow this site with any regularity, you are fully aware that we absolutely do not talk politics here, and this is not going to change. However, you don’t have to be a genius to figure out that now is not the time for bickering between Major League Baseball and the MLBPA.

To be brutally honest, it is difficult – if not impossible – for the average American with a median annual income of (approximately) $66,538 to feel sorry for guys making millions of dollars. Now granted, when (or if) baseball resumes, players would receive a prorated salary based on the actual number of games played. But even a guy making the 2020 MLB minimum salary of $563,500 is going to do better than $66,538 – a lot better.

Herein lies the problem. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is proposing a 50-game season while the MLBPA is pushing for a 114-game season (for the obvious reason of that prorated salary thing). As a result, and while many small (and large) businesses across the country are being looted and burned to the ground, the baseball clock is ticking and the 2020 season is slipping away when we need it most.

Come on, guys, do the right thing here. Look beyond your already fat wallets and address the real issue here: America needs baseball right now … more so than at any other time in its 151-year history

Play Ball, dammit!

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