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The 2020 Cleveland Indians

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It sounds like they're dead serious about doing this. I like the part about no mound visits, not even by the catcher. It also gives them a chance to test out the electronic pitch calling so the home plate umpire can stay away from the catcher.

Obviously base runners would be required to take leadoffs of at least six feet, which means Miguel Cabrera would get picked off every time. :chuckle:

Managers would not be allowed to scream in umpire's faces. No fun.

No fans at all. But some of the players would be mic'ed. Just don't do Lindor - he never shuts up.

It will be like sitting alone in an empty theater watching a comedy. The lines are funny but nobody is laughing. But it beats missing the play entirely.

I can't see the players sitting in the stands instead of crammed together in the dugouts, at least not for day games in Arizona in the middle of summer unless they all have beach umbrellas.

It seems to me they would lose less money just not playing the season as opposed to paying the players their full salaries without any ticket sales to offset the expense.

We'll see. Dana White was supposed to be "dead serious about doing" UFC 249; so much for that.

Regarding your last point, I am trying to find the analysis I read a few days ago that having no 2020 season could be near-fatal for many MLB franchises or at least their affiliates.
 
A thought that hit me recently - has Francisco Lindor played his last game as an Indian at Progressive Field?
 
A thought that hit me recently - has Francisco Lindor played his last game as an Indian at Progressive Field?
Most likely he has.

From May 31 to Sept 17 the average high in Phoenix is between 100-107 degrees every day. The lows are in the 80's. I'm thinking they would have to play exclusively night games, but they have 30 teams (15 games per day) but only 11 venues. Four games per day would need to be in the late afternoon or starting at 11 p.m., which would be a problem for TV, even if they scheduled the west coast teams for those games.

They could have four games start at 5:30 and four games in the same venue starting at 9:00. The other seven games could start at 7:30. The teams in the West and Mountain time zones would play the 9:00 games while the East and Central time zone teams would play the earlier games.

They did say they could use some other ballparks in the area besides the spring training facilities so maybe they have 15 venues and all games could start at 7 pm. It would suck having to wait until 10 pm to watch every single Indians game, but it beats no baseball.
 
IIRC the home ballpark used by the Dbacks is domed & with AC.
They might be able to play as many as 3 games a day in that venue with proper scheduling including earlier local times so games go back to the east coast at better times..
 
Most likely he has.

From May 31 to Sept 17 the average high in Phoenix is between 100-107 degrees every day. The lows are in the 80's. I'm thinking they would have to play exclusively night games, but they have 30 teams (15 games per day) but only 11 venues. Four games per day would need to be in the late afternoon or starting at 11 p.m., which would be a problem for TV, even if they scheduled the west coast teams for those games.

They could have four games start at 5:30 and four games in the same venue starting at 9:00. The other seven games could start at 7:30. The teams in the West and Mountain time zones would play the 9:00 games while the East and Central time zone teams would play the earlier games.

They did say they could use some other ballparks in the area besides the spring training facilities so maybe they have 15 venues and all games could start at 7 pm. It would suck having to wait until 10 pm to watch every single Indians game, but it beats no baseball.
My guess is they have a total of 13 sites available.

Arizona State Univ is in Phoenix. Univ of Arizona is 105 miles away (under 2 hours).. Both are PAC-12 teams so I would believe both parks are reasonable for MLB usage in this situation.

Using Chase Field (aka the former BOB) for 3 games per day & both college sites along with all 10 spring training sites give MLB 15 places to have games each day..


Edit: Grand Canyon University is also in the Phoenix area. Here are the field specs of Brazell Field (via Wikipedia):
Capacity3,500
Field sizeLeft: 320 ft (98 m)
L. Center: 390 ft (120 m)
Center: 385 ft (117 m)
R. Center: 375 ft (114 m)
Right: 330 ft (101 m)
SurfaceFoul Territory
AstroTurf (2018–present)]
Infield/Outfield
Natural Grass (1962-present)
Not sure if MLB would believe its a fit (or not)..
 
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The latest from Nightengale suggests total realignment with both the Cactus and Grapefruit leagues active. There are 15 clubs in each league, but many sights are shared.
It's speculated the Indians would be in a division with the Dodgers, Angels, White Sox, and Reds.
This whole concoction seems forced to accommodate the tv contracts.
But would I watch the games? Sure I would. It's better than MLB The Show. It would just be our luck to have the Indians as Cactus League Champs this season!
 

Interesting concept. My question is why would they have divisions? Why not just have two 15-team leagues with the top six making the playoffs. The top two records would get byes while the next four would playoff. The Arizona and Florida champions would meet in the World Series, which under this plan would take place in late November.

Can you imagine what November would be like? The Browns, Cavaliers, Indians, and Buckeyes would ALL be playing, with the Indians most likely playing playoff games. If the Browns have a Monday or Thursday night game you might be able to watch all three pro teams the same day.

Even under normal circumstances I think having divisions is kind of ridiculous. Do we really want to see 19 games against the Royals and Tigers against 7 games against the Yankees and Red Sox? Playing in a small market division like the AL Central hurts ticket sales and deprives Indians fans of getting to see many of the best players in the AL more than 3-4 games a year.

It's also unfair to teams like Baltimore that have to compete with Boston and New York 19 times a year. Why not eliminate divisions and have all the teams play each other equally, then the best six records make the playoffs? That would be the fair thing to do in terms of competitiveness (each team plays the same schedule) and revenue (each team gets the same number of games against the bigger draws). I don’t think any Tribe fans will cry about losing our “traditional rivalries”.
 
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Interesting concept. My question is why would they have divisions? Why not just have two 15-team leagues with the top six making the playoffs. The top two records would get byes while the next four would playoff. The Arizona and Florida champions would meet in the World Series, which under this plan would take place in late November.

Can you imagine what November would be like? The Browns, Cavaliers, Indians, and Buckeyes would ALL be playing, with the Indians most likely playing playoff games. If the Browns have a Monday or Thursday night game you might be able to watch all three pro teams the same day.

I have to think most any NBA restart on this season pushes next season's start to at or near Christmas, the way things are looking right now.
 

Interesting concept. My question is why would they have divisions? Why not just have two 15-team leagues with the top six making the playoffs. The top two records would get byes while the next four would playoff. The Arizona and Florida champions would meet in the World Series, which under this plan would take place in late November.

Can you imagine what November would be like? The Browns, Cavaliers, Indians, and Buckeyes would ALL be playing, with the Indians most likely playing playoff games. If the Browns have a Monday or Thursday night game you might be able to watch all three pro teams the same day.

Even under normal circumstances I think having divisions is kind of ridiculous. Do we really want to see 19 games against the Royals and Tigers against 7 games against the Yankees and Red Sox? Playing in a small market division like the AL Central hurts ticket sales and deprives Indians fans of getting to see many of the best players in the AL more than 3-4 games a year.

It's also unfair to teams like Baltimore that have to compete with Boston and New York 19 times a year. Why not eliminate divisions and have all the teams play each other equally, then the best six records make the playoffs? That would be the fair thing to do in terms of competitiveness (each team plays the same schedule) and revenue (each team gets the same number of games against the bigger draws). I don’t think any Tribe fans will cry about losing our “traditional rivalries”.

That's the way baseball used to be in a way and since they didn't keep it, that means the tops of the sport no longer liked it that way.

Now that being said, for a weird season like this one, that is legit option and have equal games against everyone as well. So do 105 games, face each team 7 times, then if you won the season series you win a tiebreaker if equal record at the end of the season. That's not really a farfetched idea for this awkward season
 

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