Baseball Like We've NEVER Seen It

So, here we go. It took the Commissioner of Major League Baseball to mandate a 60-game season, set to start in July.

It's going to be a season like we've never seen before. And, hopefully, we will never see it again!

They've sorted out a schedule that should help the Milwaukee Brewers -- 10 games (home and home) with their NL Central teams (Reds, Cubs, Cardinals, Pirates) and 20 games with teams from the AL Central (White Sox, Royals, Tigers, Twins, Indians). We can live with that.

The 60 game schedule makes EVERY game important and interesting. I like the urgency of this season will have. It's a sprint now, not a marathon. And what happens when a key player is sidelined for 14 days due to Covid-19? Or a whole team, for that matter. Strange times indeed.

How about those rule changes? The Universal DH will help the Brewers (gets that Ryan Braun bat in the lineup without hurting the team's defense) so I'm okay with giving that a shot for the years. How about putting a runner at second in the 10th inning? For this season, that's fine. I get it. Can't have a team playing 18 innings one day and then playing again the next. Not with this shortened season format.

But, I really, really don't want to see baseball go this permanently. As a fan, I happen to like being part of an extra-inning contest. One of my favorite memories is seeing a 15-inning game in the Houston Astro Dome, as the Astros knocked off the Chicago Cubs. (Remember that game, Mild Bill?)

Baseball is still concerned about social distancing on the basepaths. How will that look at first base? Or the shortstop or secondbaseman covering the bag on a steal or double play?

Here's my solution. That that playground standard -- Ghost Runners. We all have years and years of experience with it, stemming from games played when we lacked the right number of players for both sides.

Can you imagine the arguments that would stem from Ghost Runners on double plays or plays at the plate? And could you have them steal bases? Maybe use dice -- hello, Strat-o-matic or Sports Illustrated's Superstar Baseball!

Well, we've all wished for baseball to return. Looks like it will, warts and all!