A 60 game regular season starts next Thursday, when the New York Yankees travel to the D.C. to take on the defending champion Washington Nationals. It’ll be a little different this time however, with no fans in the stands this year.
For some teams, that won’t be a hard adjustment (I’m talking about you Oakland and Tampa Bay).
But for others, it’ll be a little odd. Fans have already gotten to see what the quiet atmosphere is like through live-streamed instrasquad games. For me, the ambient noise of the crowd is dearly missed.
Some notable players such as Buster Posey and David Price will be opting out of playing this season, one in which nearly every team has a chance of winning.
Say the Baltimore Orioles start off hot. In a 60 game season, once you grab a 3-4 game lead over another divisional rival, that’s a fairly comfortable cushion to have, where as in a 162 game campaign, you’d need at least 6-7 games.
Sure, there will still be no doubt contenders like the Yankees and Dodgers, but in 2020, anybody can win, and that’s a cool touch for a league who usually doesn’t have much parity in it.
And maybe just maybe when the playoffs roll around, we can have some fans.