Baseball balks when it’s most needed

What a fool I was, desperately clinging for reconciliation of a longterm relationship and the time, money and vast range of emotions I had invested while involved.

But just when I needed you most, you turned inward to focus entirely on your own selfish needs.

I’m talking to you, Major League Baseball, a heartbreaker to another generation of sports fans pleading for your return in an increasingly chaotic world. But not me. I’m done with you.

I finally gave up on Major League Baseball during the strike in 1994, when the World Series and playoff games were canceled after regular-season games were stopped in August during heated pennant races. It was the eighth work stoppage in the history of the game and the fourth strike in 22 years at the time.

So, I don’t care anymore. I haven’t watched the entirety of a Major League game, including the World Series, and I certainly haven’t spent money in a big league ballpark in over 25 years.

Yes. I hold a grudge.

Fans following day-to-day negotiations in Major League Baseball are aware the Players’ Union released a statement Friday that rejected MLB commissioner Rob Manfred’s counter proposal from the owners. I’m not sure of the specifics, but the latest version of the blame game went something like this:

Owners: Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, go play.

Players’ Union: Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, no way.

The sports world came to a full stop this spring because of covid-19. I didn’t realize how much trouble we were in until March 11 when the National Baseball Association announced it was suspending play. Other team sports then fell like dominoes as covid-19 spread around the globe.

Three months later, people in America have mostly emerged from shelter smarter than before but with a yearning for a return to a normalcy that includes team sports. Sure, there are real issues to resolve, especially in regard to the health of the players against covid-19. But if the NBA can return, why can’t Major League Baseball?

If Major League Soccer can return, why can’t Major League Baseball?

If NASCAR can return and ban the appearance of Rebel flags without much controversy, then why in the world can’t Major League Baseball?

It’s because Major League Baseball is all about money with millionaires and billionaires divided in a tug of war where fans are caught in the middle. Yet, the fans keep coming back again and again.

It’s sad, actually, to be used like that. Yet, I sympathize with younger baseball fans who hope players and owners can settle their differences and allow the games to resume, even without fans in the stands.

While others wait on Major League Baseball to come to an agreement, I’ve enjoyed covering the Perfect Timing Collegiate Baseball League at Tyson Park in Springdale. The league is comprised of amateur athletes from throughout the region, including a number of coach Dave Van Horn’s baseball Razorbacks.

The games are mostly wellplayed and professional scouts armed with stopwatches and radar guns are an indication of the talent level in the league. This satisfies my baseball fix, but others need more from baseball at the highest level of competition.

So here you are baseball fans, waiting, wishing, and pleading for a breakthrough in what used to be called affectionately, “America’s pastime.” I hurt for you because I was once like you, when I began at 7 years old to collect anything with St. Louis Cardinals written on it.

Those items have long been tossed, long been forgotten from a relationship turned sour.

It’s you, not us, Major League Baseball. You’ve proven over and over unworthy of devotion and we’re at a point again when you’ve turned your back on the people who’ve made you prosperous.

Just when they needed you most.