As MLB owners, players bicker over money, fans fear a lost season would hurt the sport
Texas Rangers fans seeking to get glimpse of Major League Baseball’s newest cathedral finally had a chance to make their way inside Globe Life Field as tours of the retractable-roof dome started Monday morning.
Foot traffic was steady and cellphone cameras were busy snapping photos of the $1.2 billion ballpark, where the only thing missing was baseball. Everyone seemed to love what they were seeing.
Some players and coaches were working out on the field during the tours, which are still available even after most were gobbled up once they went on sale last month.
But the Rangers aren’t playing games, and no one knows for sure when they will be.
Those on the tours miss baseball and are missing the chance to see a game at Globe Life Field. Having the ability to attend games might be on hold until next season, and, despite fans’ optimism, baseball might be, too.
The 30 MLB team owners and the MLB Players Association remain at a standstill. Health considerations for playing amid the coronavirus pandemic is an unresolved issue, but the greater threat to 2020 MLB season is a financial one.
The optics of a season that could be lost over money would be even worse with the backdrop of 40 million Americans who have lost jobs in recent months due to the pandemic.
But the baseball die-hards who toured Globe Life Field said they will be back no matter how negotiations play out, however, they aren’t blind to the potentially game-changing error that owners and players are on a pathway toward committing.
“That would be the biggest black eye,” Bedford resident Keith Miller said. “You have NHL and NBA saying, ‘We’re going to do our thing.’ Baseball’s the one sport to me that would have the biggest impact from not having a season ... When you’re not doing things to attract the new folks or make it exciting for new folks and then you just don’t have a season at all.”
The players on Sunday countered the first proposal from the owners, according to multiple reports. In it, the players asked for a 114-game schedule, 32 more than the owners proposed, and called for pro-rated salaries, as opposed to the sliding pay scale that owners want.
The players offered to defer some money to next season if the postseason were to be delayed by a second wave of COVID-19. They also agreed to the expanded postseason proposed by the owners.
Just as the players rejected the owners’ proposal, the owners were expected to reciprocate.
In asking for a June 30 start to the season and three weeks of spring training 2.0, the players seem to be setting a more urgent tone. An agreement would need to be reached no later than early next week to meet that timeline.
The owners are hoping to start the season over the Fourth of July weekend.
“I do think the last offer that came through is the most plausible,” Shane Williams of Grand Prairie said. “It’s a starting point.”
Among the risks of not having a season is an 18-month layoff from the end of the 2019 World Series to Opening Day in 2021. That’s a lot of time for other leagues to capture fans who are pining to watch sports.
People also remember how the 1994 strike, which canceled the World Series and led to an attempt at using replacement players in 1995, did to the sport.
“I think it would still come back, but it would be a lot like the strike season from years ago,” Williams said. “There’s going to be backlash, and it’s going to take a while, especially if they get into a prolonged argument between the players and the owners.”
Caitlynd Henry of Austin is one of those Americans confronted by unemployment. As she waits for her job to return, she sees baseball as a tool for bringing people back together during some tumultuous times.
A lifelong Rangers fan, Henry believes there will be a season. “It’s going to be nice to sit at home and still follow the Rangers,” she said. “And maybe it will bring a little solidarity and something to bring the world back together because we’ll have something to root for.”
But as someone out of work, Henry could see why people might turn their backs to the sport if money cancels the season. “It’s sad that they’re doing it over money, but I understand because it’s their job,” she said. “At the same time, there’s tons of us who are working off of unemployment right now. So, it’s understandable, but at the same time it’s a little frustrating.”
The Rangers might find themselves in a unique situation compared to other teams because of Globe Life Field. It would still be a brand-new ballpark for fans next year if a 2020 season is played with empty stands or if the 2020 season is nixed altogether.
Upon seeing it for the first time, Jarrod Link of Sanger thinks the ballpark would help baseball in this area come back strong from a lost season.
“From a financial standpoint it’s going to be horrible,” he said. “From a PR standpoint, there’s going to be more built-up enthusiasm for next season. Just look at how many people that are out here and pay 25 bucks just to walk through the stadium.”
