Written by Ryan Hodge and Carter Cox (Sports Writers) On March 19, 2020 the NBA, MLS, and NHL suspended their games because during that day a basketball player named Rudy Gobert was officially tested positive for having the coronavirus. The day after the MLB followed their lead and decided to postpone their regular season games and decided to cancel all the spring training games. The coronavirus has affected the MLB in many ways how it has stopped the minor league players from getting to be able to play, the fans aren’t able to watch the sport,
First the cancelation of spring training affects the minor league baseball players because spring training is a time where minor league players get to impress teams so they can be on them. But, with the cancelation of spring training minor league players can’t impress the coaches and so it will be a lot harder for them to make the team. Even though they did play about two weeks they missed out on a lot of games where they could have proved themselves more. It also has affected the minor league baseball players because now the minor league baseball players are not going to be able to play for a while since the MLB has canceled spring training. Also with spring training canceled the MLB announced that they would pay each minor league player up to 500 dollars per week since their work has stopped for them.
Second the coronavirus has affected the fans of MLB because now they don’t have any baseball games to watch. Spring training is a fun time to go out and watch a cheap baseball game right by the field but, since the rest of spring training is canceled fans don’t get to watch the games that they paid for. But, the MLB has total refunds for the games that fans wanted to go to for spring training are canceled. Also the MLBs season getting suspended has affected the fans of MLB because now they can’t watch any sports games. The MLB is hoping to return by April 7 but the fans might have to wait longer than that depending if the virus keeps spreading. The solution is that the MLB might have fewer games in the season than usual. But, it is affecting the fans that love and want to watch the game of baseball.
It has also affected the MLB players because the MLB players are not able to play their favorite sport because that they love. With the shelter in place they have to stay home and so it is harder time working out because there’s the shelter and place law in some states. The players are still getting paid over the time that they miss. It also has affected the MLB players because the MLB players don’t get to have to have the in game experience that they need to get better at the game because the best way to get better is to have in game experience.
Lastly it has affected the workers in MLB ballparks because now that the rest of the spring training games have been canceled and the MLB season has been suspended the workers are not able to work now. The workers who worked in the ballparks could only work when games were playing in the ballparks but know they can’t since there will be no games for a while. With no work since the ballparks have closed, the workers don’t get paid. But, the MLB decided to give thirty million dollars to ballpark employees since the ballparks are closed and so this helps the workers being able to be paid.
In review the coronavirus has affected the MLB but there’s still hope that the MLB will be open soon. The MLB is planned to be open by April 7, 2020. But in these hard times don’t forget about the love for baseball that you have even though it may be rough.
The Claw 