The 2020 Major League Baseball season is going to be different than every other year as Opening Day has been put on hold due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
While there is no telling when the season will be able to get going, the league is currently discussing a number of different options to combat for lost time.
Since the season will now likely have to extend deep into the calendar, one solution would be playing postseason series’ in neutral sites in warm-weather places or stadiums with domes.
That possibility is something New York Yankees manager Aaron Boones said he would be in favor of during a recent interview on MLB Network Radio:
“This is the ultimate chance to try some things that have been considered, and to see in the end how they work. I’ve heard things about neutral site places, where you’re playing a whole series and eliminating some off days, because you know they’re going to want to try and get in as many games as possible. So it’s going to tack onto the end of the season, so obviously the season is going to carry on longer. You’re going to have to be in some warm weather spots or dome situations, so that may lend itself to some natural site situations. We’ll see how that works out.
But this is that opportunity to be a little creative and maybe at the end of it all, we’ll get to look back and say, ‘Hey, this was a good idea. This was something that worked and we’d like to implement moving forward. Or this is something that didn’t really work.’ That is one of the things that will present itself now that we’re in a unique situation.”
As it currently stands, the Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers are the two favorites to reach the World Series. That would mark the 12th time that the two historic franchises would meet in the Fall Classic, although it would be the first played at a neutral site if the league decides to follow through with that plan.
While it makes sense for the league to begin planning ahead, there is no telling how long this hiatus will last, so hopefully, the pandemic will slow its spread in the near future and MLB can get back to playing baseball.
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