[ESPN] MLB suspends spring training, delays Opening Day at least two weeks

I'd prefer they cancel the season altogether rather than play a season of 100 games or so. Talk about tainted, meaningless titles.

 

So we will have two tainted titles

 

ESPN Classic had the Stros-Dodgers from '81 on the other day.

 

As someone that wants to watch baseball...I respectfully disagree.

 

Boy, if there is a shortened season how funny would it be if we won it all?

I see now some here wouldnt want it...why not?

 

Astros can go for the first undefeated MLB season.

 

Back in 1981, they played a split season and played around 110 games. Reds were thoroughly hosed as they had the best record in baseball, but based on having a first and second half division winner, they didn't qualify for the playoffs as they came in second each half.

That being said, pretty sure no one in Houston would have been upset had the Astros won the Series that year.

 

I wouldn't be upset but Jimeny Christmas can this city win ONE championship that isn't considered an asterisk please? Just one. I'm not saying the asterisks are fair, by the way, especially for the Rockets. I'll defend those till my death. 2017 not so much.

 

We have two. 1994 and 1995.

If you give a damn what certain idiots think about a certain East team that was eliminated in 95, you need to stop.

 

I usually like your takes...but not here

I want baseball...I want baseball badly...i'll take an 80 game season if that's all we can get in

 

Every time I listen to Dusty, I grow to like him a little more

Can't wait to see him win a title, and bring us our second

 

Based on these requirements, it's hard to see a season happening:

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/28962850/mlb-mlbpa-agree-stipulations-return-2020-season

As part of the agreement, obtained by ESPN's Jeff Passan, the players and MLB primarily agreed that the 2020 season will not start until each of the following conditions are met:

• There are no bans on mass gatherings that would limit the ability to play in front of fans. However, the commissioner could still consider the "use of appropriate substitute neutral sites where economically feasible";
  
• There are no travel restrictions throughout the United States and Canada;
  
• Medical experts determine that there would be no health risks for players, staff or fans, with the commissioners and union still able to revisit the idea of playing in empty stadiums.
  

 

The Legendary Houston Icon status of Steve Sparks is also firmly in place

 

Nah. The season is too long. A 100 game season would be perfect.

 

Except it's not too long. The game is too nuanced to decide who the best teams are at 100 games. There have been studies to suggest that even 162 isn't enough for that.

 

82 game basketball seasons are too long... especially for a league where more than half the teams make the playoffs.

In baseball, you need more to truly provide separation. yes, 100 games is better than nothing... but if they can do more, they should.

 

I think the max may be much higher than this, but this basically shows whether social distancing works or not ...spring training should be able to start in June sometime with Season starting in July/ early August.

 

After decades of watching both, in recent years, I've started to think that the two leagues have it backwards.

The NBA playoffs are pointlessly long, and I doubt that helps the NBA's popularity. There's only a single team in NBA history that's ever won the championship starting from lower than a fourth seed (and we all know who that was.) The hard historical data says that the NBA should just chop off seeds 5-8 and have three rounds like MLB. And since seeding has shown to be such a predictable indicator of playoff success in the NBA, I'll leave it to each individual to decide if the NBA regular season should actually be longer to further filter out the top teams. (I don't think so. Maybe a few games, but the season is already pretty long.)

MLB playoffs on the other hand are anyone's guess year-to-year. A wild card team has won the World Series three times in the last decade alone. If anything, MLB should admit more teams to the playoffs, add another round, and see what unpredictable chaos unfolds. It'd still go by very fast, because that's the nature of baseball playoffs. And because of the poor correlation between seeding and success in baseball, arguably the regular season doesn't need to be as long to stratify teams.

In both sports, there's obviously more nuance. Teams make trades and acquisitions and have to figure out how to settle into schemes that work best for the team. Injuries are a major factor that can lead to arguments in either direction. Players go into and out of slumps. But the simple win-loss numbers say that the MLB regular season doesn't say much about the MLB postseason, and the NBA regular season says just about everything about the NBA postseason.