Coronavirus might have robbed a baseball team of its farewell season

LOS ANGELES – In Lancaster, the temperature is forecast to fall into the low 40s on Thursday night. On what would have been opening night for the minor leagues, the Jethawks would not have given away T-shirts or bobblehead dolls.

The Jethawks would have given away beanies, the better to keep heads warm.

It is not just that minor league teams know their audience. It is that they know their community.

For the Jethawks and 119 other minor league teams across the country, the season will not open

Thursday, as the coronavirus crisis puts sports on every level on an indefinite hold. The Jethawks are doing what they can for the Antelope Valley community: With schools closed, the team has provided reading logs, and any youngster who reads for 30 minutes every day gets a free ticket to a future game.

If, that is, the Jethawks play any more games.

With this season threatened by the coronavirus, and with future seasons threatened by Major League Baseball’s plan to eliminate the Jethawks and dozens of other minor league teams, the last pitch might already have been thrown for the only minor league team in Los Angeles County.

“I’ve not said that among the staff but, personally, clearly that runs through your mind at times,” said Tom Backemeyer, the Jethawks’ executive vice president.

The Jethawks represent more than affordable family entertainment. They are a living tribute to the aerospace history of the region. They play in a ballpark named the Hangar, with an F-18 Hornet on display. Just as costumed presidents race between innings in Washington and costumed sausages race in Milwaukee, costumed astronauts race in Lancaster.

Distinguished alumni include Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Josh Hader, Dallas Keuchel, Brandon Webb, and the Dodgers’ Kike Hernandez.

These are perilous times for even the most stable minor league teams. There is no trickle-down from the billions that major league teams rake in from television networks.

Minor league teams spend money all winter – on cups and napkins, on bobblehead dolls and pocket schedules, on insurance and ballpark rent and staff salaries. They take in revenue during the summer, from fans who buy tickets and hot dogs and T-shirts.

“It’s hard to make money when the gates aren’t open,” Jethawks’ president Andy Dunn said.