The headline is not something I wanted to write. I tried to make is sound sweeter, to dull the pain. But the fact of the matter is, the 2022 official kickoff to baseball is postponed and there is nothing we can do about it, except maybe pray.
“We regret that, without a collective bargaining agreement in place, we must postpone the start of spring training games until no earlier than Saturday, March 5th,” MLB said in a statement. “All 30 clubs are unified in their strong desire to bring players back to the field and fans back to the stands," reported NJ.com. Regret. Postpone. Unified. Desire. Those are the key words of that statement. But what is missing are Greed. Money. Entitlement. More.
Let's face it, life today is expensive. Cars, appliances, heat, electric, WiFi, phones. tuition, running shoes...all expensive. And in order to enjoy our quality of life, we have to put up the bucks to support it. But there is also overextension, overdoing it and just down right gluttony. And that is where baseball lands in all of it. Is it the players' fault? Is it ownership's fault? Yes. Film producer Robert Evans said, “There are three sides to every story – yours, mine, and the truth.” The truth is MLB has become inflated—salaries, ticket prices, venue costs, television rights—all too much. America's pastime is no longer grabbing a few buddies to catch a game, buying a few beers and dogs and having a sweet 'ol time. It is expensive; you have to "save up" to go to a game. And this lockout is exploiting just how much.
Beginning Monday both sides have agreed to meet everyday in order to get a resolution in place to start the season ontime. By the way, March 31st is the official start of the 2022 season. Anyone else see a problem with that goal?
"Say sometime late next week the players and the owners agree on a new deal. A March 5 start to spring training games means camps would open maybe a week prior. There’s still a path for camps to open four weeks before the first game of the regular season," reports NJ.com.
But here is the thing. The Yankees have experienced so many trips to the IL in the past few years, both veterans and rookies alike. A shortened spring training does not give time for players to get ready. Pitchers need time to stretch out and get their form right, guys like Luke Voit and Aaron Hicks need lead time to be in the best shape to prove their worth and stay healthy and rookies like phenom shortstop Anthony Volpe and catcher Austin Wells to get some air time in front to coaches to prove themselves ready for the big leagues. None of these things will happen if the greedy owners expect to shorten spring training in order to get in a full season.
So for now, Spring Training is on hold. There are a lot of ramifications of this, including the health and fitness of players. I hope there is a full spring training, and the season starts in mid/end of April. Let's not put the players at a disadvantage from the start. We want our guys out there, but we want them to be at their best!
--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Senior Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof
Not to mention the fact that hundreds of free agents are out there !!! When will they all be signed ???
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