Happy 244th, America!

FenwayNation POLL: Almost Six In Ten Will Not Watch All 60 MLB Games

Early results to our latest FenwayNation Poll indicate that readers are equally divided between those who will watch all 60 games in the truncated 2020 season (42%) and those who will only watch some games in a "bogus" season (42%). As the chart shows, about one reader in seven (15%) won't watch any games, believing the entire season should have been cancelled and re-started fresh in 2021. Thus, almost six in ten readers will not watch all 60 games. If our readers are in any way representative of the national fanbase, MLB should be worried. You can still vote in the poll HERE.

FenwayNation POLL: You And The 60-Game MLB Season

For the truncated, 60-game 2020 MLB season, I will:

Watch EVERY game—I'm desperate for baseball

Watch only SOME games—because this is a bogus season

Won't watch ANY games—should have been cancelled until 2021

 

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FenwayNation POLL: Slim Majority Oppose New 50-60 Game MLB Plan

Early results to our latest FenwayNation Poll show that a narrow majority of readers (53%) oppose the new MLB plan to play 50-60 games in the 2020 season. As the chart shows, 47% favor the plan. Major League Baseball countered with the 50-60 game idea after the players' union proposed a 114-game season. The new owners' plan does provide fully-prorated salaries for players—which would amount to about one-third of a full year's pay in a normal 162 game-season. You can still vote in the poll HERE.

FenwayNation POLL: Favor Or Oppose New MLB Plan For 50-60 Games?

MLB has now proposed a 50-60 game 2020 season—with players getting full pro-rated salaries (equal to about one-third of a full year's salary). Do you favor or oppose this new MLB proposal?

Favor

Oppose

 

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FN POLL: Readers Support Baseball In 2020—But Only By 55%-45% Margin

If the early results to our FenwayNation poll are representative of all baseball fans, Major League Baseball had better tread carefully with any plans to play baseball in 2020. As the chart shows, while a majority (55%) do support some form of baseball being played this year, a substantial minority (45%) oppose it. That's hardly an overwhelming endorsement. We posed our survey question after two guest columnists (Bill Collins for the 'Yes' side; Gary Morgenstein for the 'No' side) laid out the cases for each position. MLB has floated multiple plans for having some sort of abbreviated 2020 season—from playing all games in Arizona and Florida to a re-configured 'home stadium' division system based on geography and limited travel. In addition, it's unclear whether owners and players can agree on a host of thorny compensation and revenue-sharing issues. In the meantime, 2020 is rapidly slipping away. You can still vote in our poll HERE.

FenwayNation POLL: Should MLB Baseball Be Played In 2020?

Now that we've presented both sides of the issue, should MLB baseball be played in 2020, or not?

YES, MLB baseball should be played in 2020

NO, MLB baseball should not be played in 2020

 

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FenwayNation Point/Counterpoint: Just Say "YES" To Baseball 2020

by Bill Collins

As we enter what feels like Day 900 of this pandemic’s social distancing and self-quarantining, the absence of all sports, especially baseball, is glaring. Perhaps now might be just the right time to begin the steps to bring back our National Pastime. With all of the torment and upheaval that COVID-19 has brought to all of us, we can all use a nice, ongoing distraction. And baseball would be that perfect distraction. Just look at the online success of Taiwanese baseball to understand that we need to have it back with us.

But there are people who don’t want to bring baseball back until the world has once again retained its normal orbit. That might end up taking a while. A popular argument against bringing baseball back is that it won’t be anywhere near the same thing we’ve been enjoying for almost 150 years. Well, the game has changed over the years, and it’s had to adapt a bit since it’s humble beginnings. It’s time for that to happen again, even if it’s for a hopefully short while.

FenwayNation Point/Counterpoint: Just Say "NO" To Baseball 2020

by Gary Morgenstein 

The Lords of Baseball have assembled an ambitious and complicated plan for the 2020 season that’s rich in safety measures. Thank goodness for that. Not a single player or anyone associated with the game should be exposed to coronavirus. Make that points 1-10. So let’s play ball.

I say no. Presenting a season which makes a mockery out of the essence of the game will only hasten its demise. Baseball’s leisurely pageantry makes it different from all other sports. Now before I’m trolled, I have the utmost respect for the athleticism and the fandom of all sports. But they ain’t like baseball.

Because baseball is slower, it has time for the dramatic human pauses. For the runner and first baseman to exchange pleasantries. The manager to run onto the field and argue jaw-to-jaw with the umpire. The infielder to dart closely behind the baserunner at second. And yes, what is baseball if not a geyser of sunflower seeds.

To Be Or Not To Be?: Should MLB's 2020 Season Happen, Or Not?

Gary (L); Bill (R)

In the next few days, FenwayNation will be addressing the existential question of 2020: "Will there be some form of MLB season, or not?". We will be presenting advocates for both sides of the issue—in an effort to give our readers the reasoned (or not so reasoned) arguments for and against any baseball in 2020.

Advocating the "pro" side will be Bill Collins—a longtime friend of FN and a true baseball aficionado. This guy loves baseball so much, he actually rode in a car with your humble Editor-In-Chief to Cleveland and Baltimore just to watch the Red Sox play on the road. If you've ever seen me drive, you'd know that's real dedication on the part of Mr. Collins. Bill is a world-class chef and operates Chef Bill, Inc. which offers personal chef services, cooking lessons and 'romantic dinners for two' in the wiles of Western Massachusetts (actually Amherst). You can contact him at this email address: bill@chefbill.com or call him at (413) 230-3773. Look for his article advocating for the return of baseball (in some form, at least) in 2020.

On the other side of the ledger (the "no" side) will be renowned author Gary Morgenstein. Gary's fantastic novel "A Mound Over Hell" combines science fiction and baseball in the dystopian world of 2098. You can buy it on Amazon HERE. Gary is also a playwright—with his latest piece a play about racial harmony called "A Black And White Cookie". We're letting Gary do this even though he is a die-hard New York Yankee fan. Hey, think of it as penance—you'll get into heaven a lot sooner by letting Gary do this. Actually, I've met Gary in person, and I can tell you he is a terrific guy—despite his team allegiance. Look for his "anti" article soon.

Four Red Sox Make MLB's List Of The Best To Never Win An MVP Award

Getty Images

Major League Baseball's internet arm—MLB.com—recently selected the 15 best players never to win an MVP Award. More than a quarter of the players identified (26.7%) wore a Boston Red Sox uniform. The four Carmine Hosers were: David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Wade Boggs and Adrian Beltre. Three, of course, were long-time residents on Yawkey Way—while Beltre had only one (albeit spectacular) season calling Fenway Park home. It's amazing that none of these four brilliant players ever brought home the MVP iron—though each had the requisite "excuses" applied to them as "non-winners". You know, Papi was "just" a DH; Manny couldn't field; Boggs was just a "singles" hitter; and Beltre—well, actually, I can't imagine why this guy never won at least one. For the Red Sox in 2010, Beltre hit .321, with 28 HRs and 102 RBIs—and led the world in doubles with 49. He had an OPS of .919 and made the All-Star team. After leaving the Red Sox (who inexplicably did not sign him), he played eight more seasons for the Rangers—and the made the All-Star team four more times. Over his 21-year career, Beltre hit .286 with 477 HRs—finishing in the Top Ten in MVP voting six times. But, somehow, he never won it all.

Willie Mays Confirms That The Red Sox Could Have Had Him "Easy"

As if you weren't completely depressed with the lack of baseball, along comes a new biography of the great Willie Mays that confirms the blunder of the Red Sox in not signing perhaps the greatest player of that generation. In the new book "24: Life Stories and Lessons From the Say Hey Kid", Mays reveals that Boston passed on signing him. A Red Sox farm team shared an Alabama stadium with Mays' Negro League Team—the Birmingham Black Barons. Mays, as a supremely talented teenager, was showing his dazzling abilities right before their eyes every day. Said Mays of the Red Sox, "Oh, they had me easy." Think of it—an outfield with both Ted Williams and Willie Mays—and maybe Jackie Robinson at second. We think it would have worked out—even with Willie's disdain for the Junior Circuit: "I didn’t like the ballparks in the American League. I thought the National League was stronger than the American League. That’s what I thought. When I went to the All-Star Game over there, they wanted me to say that I wanted to be a Red Sock. I said, ‘No, I’ll go where they paid my family.'" Growing up a Red Sox fan, Mays was always my favorite non-Carmine Hoser (until Brooks Robinson came along many years later). Mays' magnificent two-way talents and his joy in playing the game made him seem larger than life. In any event, the Red Sox did not sign the 24-time All-Star and the team, the city and fans of Boston are poorer for it.

POLL UPDATE: Still A 50/50 Division On New MLB Plan For 2020 Season

Continued voting in our latest FenwayNation Poll shows that readers are still literally divided 50/50 on MLB's new plan for the 2020 season. As the chart shows, 50% favor MLB's plan for a shortened season starting in June or July—and played at all 30 MLB ballparks—and 50% oppose. The plan envisions 100-110 games, and some sort of playoff scheme. No fans would be allowed at games, and three new, geographically-based divisions (of 10 teams each) would be formed. You can still vote in this poll HERE.

POLL: FenwayNation Readers Divided On New MLB Plan For 2020 Season

Early voting in our latest FenwayNation Poll suggests that fans are literally evenly-divided on MLB's new plan to play a truncated 2020 season. As the chart shows, 50% favor the idea and 50% oppose it. The plan would eliminate the traditional American and National League alignments and create three new geographically-based divisions: East, Central, West—with 10 teams in each division. All 30 teams would play home contests in their own stadiums. Regional groupings would keep down excessive travel. It is estimated that this idea could result in 100-110 games—plus some sort of (yet to be determined) playoff scenario. No fans would be allowed during the regular season, but might be allowed (on a limited basis) for post-season tilts. You can still vote in the poll HERE.

FN POLL: Favor Or Oppose New MLB Plan For Shortened 2020 Season?

MLB is considering starting a shortened 2020 season in June or July—with 100 to 110 games played in the teams' home stadiums. Three new 10-team divisions would be created (East, Central, West). No fans would be allowed to attend—but might for the playoffs. Do you favor or oppose this plan?

Favor

Oppose

 

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FenwayNation POLL: MLB's 2-State Plan For '20 Season Gets More Support

Early results to our latest FenwayNation POLL suggest that MLB's new plan to have an abbreviated 2020 season in two Spring Training locales garners far more support than their earlier Arizona-only idea. As the chart shows, more than six in ten readers (62%) support this new plan, while 38% remain opposed. Essentially, under this new plan, all 30 teams would play a shortened schedule in the state where they have their Spring Training facilities. League and division alignments would be completely re-shuffled to match the geographic alignments in each state. For example, the Red Sox and Yankees would be in different Florida divisions. While a post-season scenario remains unclear, there would likely be shortened play-off rounds—leading to a World Series (a match-up of the top team in each state) The series would take place in a domed, neutral stadium (probably in November). You can still vote in this poll HERE.

FN POLL: New MLB Plan Plays In AZ And FL With New Leagues And Divisions

Another MLB plan would play a shortened 2020 schedule in both Florida and Arizona—with no fans in attendance. Leagues and divisions would be completely re-aligned based on a team's Spring Training location. Some form of playoff would end in a World Series played at a neutral site. Favor or oppose?

Favor

Oppose

 

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