© 2024 KGOU
News and Music for Oklahoma
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Resources and links to information about the novel coronavirus COVID-19Oklahoma State Department of Health's Vaccination Portal: https://vaccinate.oklahoma.govOklahoma State Department of Health - Color-coded COVID-19 Alert System (Map)Oklahoma State Department of Health - COVID-19 OutbreakWhat to do if you are sickHotline: (877) 215-8336 or dial 211Integris Health symptom checkerOklahoma City/County Health Dept. Hotline for the Uninsured or those without a primacy care physician: (405) 425-4489Data Source: Acute Disease Service, Oklahoma State Department of Health.00000178-7581-ddab-a97a-7fb96f110000OU Medicine - COVID-19The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma encourages anyone needing food assistance to visit rfbo.org/get-help or call (405) 972-1111University of Oklahoma Coronavirus Resources

Baseball Is Coming Back For A Pandemic-Shortened 2020 Season

A bronze baseball player stands outside Coors Field in Denver, one of the stadiums idled during the coronavirus outbreak. The league and players association have agreed to  league is waiting for the players' union to respond to whether it will agree to play a shortened season beginning in late July.
David Zalubowski
/
AP
A bronze baseball player stands outside Coors Field in Denver, one of the stadiums idled during the coronavirus outbreak. The league and players association have agreed to league is waiting for the players' union to respond to whether it will agree to play a shortened season beginning in late July.

Major League Baseball and its Players Association have reached an agreement to play a shortened season this year. The MLB Players Association made the announcement first via tweet.

In a subsequent news release, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said players will report to spring training on July 1 and the regular season is to begin either on July 23 or 24. Instead of the typical 162-game regular season, teams will play just 60 games.

Major League Baseball halted spring training on March 12 because of the coronavirus – just two weeks before what was to have been opening day. MLB wants a shorter season because executives fear what would happen if coronavirus cases resurged in the fall and how that might affect the season and playoffs.

The decision to resume playing comes a day after the league's owners voted to begin a shortened season next month. Owners, players and MLB officials have been offering proposals and counter-proposals for three months to try to reach an agreement on playing in 2020. The biggest sticking points have been money and the health and safety of players and team officials.

Some of the details still haven't been worked out.

"MLB has submitted a 60-game regular season schedule for review by the Players Association," according to a league statement. "The proposed schedule will largely feature divisional play, with the remaining portion of each Club's games against their opposite league's corresponding geographical division (i.e., East vs. East, Central vs. Central and West vs. West) , in order to mitigate travel. The vast majority of Major League Clubs are expected to conduct training at the ballparks in their primary home cities."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

As NPR's Southern Bureau chief, Russell Lewis covers issues and people of the Southeast for NPR — from Florida to Virginia to Texas, including West Virginia, Kentucky, and Oklahoma. His work brings context and dimension to issues ranging from immigration, transportation, and oil and gas drilling for NPR listeners across the nation and around the world.
More News
Support nonprofit, public service journalism you trust. Give now.