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Around the Horn with Paul Ghiglieri: 27th Edition

Sliding face-first into baseball... for all of us.

Paul Ghiglieri
Across The Seams 4/27/2020

Welcome to the 27th edition of Around the Horn, a recurring op-ed with a satirical slant that riffs on whatever’s recently noteworthy in baseball. Think of it as a stripped-down Last Week Tonight or The Daily Show in a column format with recurring segments about the good, bad, and ugly in the world of America’s pastime. Additionally, as often as possible, we’ll end with an interview as well.

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Our global pandemic continues to ebb and flow as scientists struggle to gain a foothold in the struggle against COVID-19. Baseball remains shelved indefinitely, though the league continues to explore potential avenues to resume play. No one knows when this will end, but when it does, we may look back and say that baseball saved America.

https://gfycat.com/sneakyuniquedogwoodtwigborer

 

I know that idea sounds both figurative and hyperbolic, but there could actually be some truth to it.

Just wait.

 

The Rundown

Our Main Story

 

Researches are embarking on the first and largest coronavirus antibody study in the U.S., and the subjects of that study will be none other than MLB team employees.

I say that because Molly Knight reported the following in her article over at The Athletic:

Ten thousand employees of 27 of the league’s 30 clubs have volunteered to take part in what researchers from Stanford, USC and the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory are calling the COVID-19 Sero Prevalence Study, an MLB spokesman confirmed. The antibody test does not look for active COVID-19 infection, but rather the presence of a specific blood protein the human body produces in response to it.

This is highly noteworthy on so many levels. First, there has been an overwhelming, united effort on the part of everyone to mitigate the dangerous impact of this pandemic. Whether it involves wearing a mask in public places like grocery stores or staying at home to prevent the spread of illness, all of it has helped. To think that baseball could provide the missing ingredient in fighting this viral outbreak is quite an astonishing thought.

While it’s true that the season remains on hiatus (more on that later), we can be hopeful that this collaborative study involving baseball employees will provide researchers with the blood proteins necessary to more effectively fight this deadly virus.

Imagine for a moment that it does, and it truly might. We would look back at this Prevalence Study and remember how baseball saved us all.

Of course, this wouldn’t be the first time baseball has come to the rescue during our dire times of need. We forget that the golden era of baseball featuring legends like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig ran parallel to the Great Depression, a time marked by strife where more than four million Americans found themselves unemployed and the average wage for the American worker dipped more than 50% at the time.

During World War II, President Roosevelt wrote his “Green Light” letter urging MLB to keep playing for the morale of American citizens. A small minority felt it wasn’t fair or just that able-bodied men should stay home and play a game while others went off to way. However, The Sporting News published views of servicemen supporting Roosevelt’s directive. Private John E Stevenson wrote, “Baseball is part of the American way of life. Remove it and you remove something from the lives of American citizens, soldiers and sailors.”

Who could forget the All-American Girls Professional League keeping the game at the forefront of the public’s eye during the war, as well. The league pioneered women’s sports in many ways, inspiring the 1992 film A League of Their Own. In fact, that film brought us arguably the most famous baseball line ever uttered in a baseball movie.

 

Furthermore, whether it be national tragedies like 9/11, which saw the battered city of New York band behind the Yankees as they vanquished the 116-game winning Seattle Mariners in the playoffs, or the Boston Marathon bombing which saw the Red Sox rally the city to be “Boston Strong”  as they cruised to an inspired World Series title (more on that later, too), baseball has been there to help us through dire straits.

I must admit, however, that it is rather interesting thinking about ballplayers getting stuck with needles today in the hopes of helping to save the nation in the fight against COVID-19, and our prevailing praise for the act, while so many still shun the ballplayers who got stuck with needles during the steroid era while simultaneously, even if inadvertently, helping to save baseball in the fight against declining ratings.

I suppose it’s where you’re sticking the needle that counts.

https://gfycat.com/meekcautiousafricanjacana

 

 

Out of the Park

A Look Beyond the Boxscores for the Best in Baseball This Week

 

The reality is this: since there is no baseball, finding “the best in baseball” becomes a difficult task. Nonetheless, there are some things to discuss.

Let’s start with when baseball will actually come back.

According to Ken Rosenthal at The Athletic, the “Arizona Plan” has been expanded already by MLB, and a proposal is being explored that involves starting the season in three states (Arizona, Florida, and Texas). There’s also the possibility of playing in five states, or even close to a dozen depending on what experts and the government advises moving forward.

All we know is that we don’t know. And by that, I mean things are changing, seemingly by the day, so next week could bring entirely new wrinkles to the plan. For now, there is no baseball. Despite that, MLB has agreed to keep playing league employees at least through the end of May, and teams have followed suit.

It’s nice to see MLB and these teams doing a solid. However, with revenues all but wiped out right now, there were bound to be some unfortunate casualties.

 

 

Backdoor Sliders

Where Baseball Got Caught Looking

 

A new agreement has minor league baseball poised to see 42 teams lose their big league affiliations. This means more than 1,000 team employees and players will lose jobs and opportunities.

Yes, the structure will be tighter with an equal number of affiliates for each MLB club, more efficient travel schedules, and the PR-friendly announcement that minor league players will get paid more, even if it comes at the expense of fewer jobs for other players.

It’s almost as if MLB invited MiLB to the negotiating table and made it look like a party to celebrate what should be a new and improved relationship, and then the entire affair went something like this:

https://gfycat.com/bittercrispbushbaby

 

Cold-blooded? An opportunistic power grab? A necessary and inevitable consequence? No matter how you look at it, whenever there is economical turmoil, there will always be those who lose and find themselves embroiled in hardship and turmoil… and those who try to buy the New York Mets.

One final note regarding league affairs these days. MLB finally got around to concluding its investigation into the Boston Red Sox cheating scandal after handing down punishments for the Astros for the same nefarious behavior.

Or, to be more concise, this (turn on the volume for this one):

https://twitter.com/TroutSzn/status/1253045901796339712

 

 

Extra Bags

 

It’s really hard to be stuck at home without baseball these days. At least we still have Joe Kelly.

Stay safe!

———

That’s the ballgame for this week! Thanks for joining me, and I’ll see you all next week!

 

Featured Image by Justin Paradis (@freshmeatcomm on Twitter)

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Paul Ghiglieri

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Paul Ghiglieri has written fantasy analysis and hardball columns for PitcherList and FantasyPros. A lifelong Giants fan living in LA, he spends his free time writing screenplays with metaphors for life only half as good as baseball.

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