At 71, Astros manager Baker is excited — and a little concerned.
The Astros on Wednesday sent to ticket holders a brief “Let’s Play” email heralding the upcoming regular season reboot but did not provide updated options for customers seeking refunds or credits.
Ticket holders were instructed to “continue to check your emails in the coming days for further information regarding that purchase.”
At least nine Major League Baseball teams as of this week had offered credits or refunds for games scheduled in June. The Astros have offered those options only for games played through May 31.
Also, while Astros owner Jim Crane said Wednesday the team hopes fans will be able to attend games this season, the email stopped short of that projection.
“At this time, it is uncertain if fans will be allowed to attend games this season,” it said. “As we learn more about the 2020 regular season including the potential availability of tickets, we will share that information with you.”
Alternate site might be at UH
The Astros are in discussions with the University of Houston about using the school’s baseball facility as their alternate training site for the 2020 season, multiple people with knowledge of the negotiations told the Chronicle on Wednesday.
No deal is finalized between the two sides.
Each major league team must designate one nearby facility as an “alternate training site” for those in its 60-man pool who do not make the 30-player opening day roster. Wednesday morning, Astros general manager James Click said the team had not finalized its decision but was nearing a choice.
The Astros sent a group of employees to tour Constellation Field in Sugar Land as part of the decision-making process, but a person with knowledge of the process said Wednesday that ballpark is out of the running.
Alternate sites must be in close proximity to a team’s home ballpark, where most of spring training will take place. UH is only four miles away from Minute Maid Park.
The school stopped all of its athletic workouts June 12 after six symptomatic student-athletes tested positive for COVID-19 and in response to rising cases in the Houston area.
Baker iffy on free baserunner rule
Astros manager Dusty Baker will accept one free baserunner — but only for one year.
Protocols for the 2020 season call for each halfinning after the ninth to start with a runner on second base in an attempt to end extra-inning games quickly as MLB tries to cram 60 games into 66 or 67 days.
“I think it’s probably good for this year. I just hope we don’t have to do it next year, personally,” Baker said Wednesday. “You have to adhere to the rules, and you’ve got to stay within the boundaries of the game. You do what you have to do, whether you’re crazy about it or not.”
The rule was introduced in the World Baseball Classic before it was adopted in minor league baseball in 2018. Baker observed it while scouting minor league games as a San Francisco Giants employee in 2019.
The runner who takes second base to start the extra inning is the last hitter to have appeared in the ninth. For instance, if the cleanup hitter ended the ninth inning, the fivehole hitter begins the 10th with the cleanup man standing on second base.
Most of the rules for the 2020 season — including the extra baserunner — will not extend to the 2021 season. But because of an expiring collective bargaining agreement in December 2021, some wonder whether rule changes used this year (including a designated hitter in the National League) could sneak into the new CBA.
“This will be something new for us, but I hope it doesn’t go into next year or subsequent years,” Baker said.