2020 Major League Baseball season
The 2020 Major League Baseball season began on July 23 and ended on September 27 with only 60 games amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
[1] On March 16, MLB announced that the season would be postponed indefinitely, following recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to restrict events of more than 50 people.
[4] On July 18, the Canadian federal government denied permission for the Toronto Blue Jays to play their home games at Rogers Centre in 2020 on grounds that repeated cross-border trips by both the Blue Jays and their opponents would be a major risk due to the higher spikes in COVID-19 cases in the U.S. compared to those in Canada.
[20] The plan would have involved all 30 teams playing games with no fans in stadiums around the Phoenix metropolitan area, including Chase Field and spring training complexes.
Another report from USA Today baseball writer Bob Nightengale detailed another MLB proposal utilizing the Phoenix metro sites, but with the additional use of spring training sites in Florida, Marlins Park in Miami, and St. Petersburg's Tropicana Field.
[22] During May and June, MLB and Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) were unable to agree on a specific plan for a shortened season.
[24][25][26] On June 1, the MLBPA countered with a 114-game proposal, with a regular season running from June 30 to October 31, a November postseason, giving players the right to opt-out of participating, a salary deferral plan in the event the postseason has to be canceled due to a second wave of the virus, and a $100 million advance during the second spring training, among others.
[29] The owners then sent a 72-game plan with 70 percent prorated player salaries, to which the MLBPA replied in a statement on June 13, "Further dialogue with the league would be futile.
Amid an increase in cases in Arizona and Florida, including positive cases among staff of the Phillies, and a Blue Jays player showing signs of symptoms, it was reported on June 19 that all spring training sites would be temporarily closed for deep cleaning, and all players would be required to test negative for COVID-19 before entering.
[32] It was then reported on June 20 that almost all MLB teams had elected to re-locate their training camps back to their home cities.
[34] By allowing the owners to unilaterally implement such a plan without the MLBPA, both sides retained the right to file a grievance against the other for not negotiating in good faith.
The season started on July 23, with two games: New York Yankees at Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers.
[39][40] COVID-19 outbreaks among the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals, as well as positive tests on the Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets, Oakland Athletics, and San Francisco Giants, resulted in the postponement of a total of 40 games.
Miami received confirmation that starting pitcher José Ureña had tested positive and would not be available on July 26, but the team decided to play the third and final game of their scheduled series against the Philadelphia Phillies at the direction of Major League Baseball.
Player protests in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin resulted in the postponement of 11 games.
The first segment began in late February and lasted until mid-March, abruptly ending early due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
They also became the first, and currently only, team with a record below .500 to win a playoff game, as the 1981 Royals and Brewers were swept in the first rounds they played.
They also became just the second team to force a game seven after being down 3–0 to the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALCS, joining only the Boston Red Sox who ended up completing the comeback against the New York Yankees in 2004.
Tingler had spent the previous five years in the Texas Rangers organization as a coach and a front office executive.
[84] On November 27, 2019, Shelton, who spent the previous two seasons as the bench coach for the Minnesota Twins, was named the manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Beltrán was a special adviser to the New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman last season.
[93] Girardi, who served as a baseball analyst for the MLB Network the last two seasons, was hired as new manager on October 24, 2019.
He managed the San Francisco Giants from 1993 to 2002, the Chicago Cubs from 2003 to 2006, the Cincinnati Reds from 2008 to 2013, and the Washington Nationals during the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
[97] On April 22, the "interim" tag was removed from Roenicke's title, following MLB's findings about the 2018 Red Sox, which focused on the team's video replay operator.
Although they were allowed to conduct training camp with stricter protocols than those mandated by MLB, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marco Mendicino cited that repeated cross-border travel by players would carry a major risk due to the higher number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S.[198] Mendicino did not rule out the permission being granted for postseason games, depending on the status of the pandemic in the U.S. by then, however the Blue Jays would not have any home postseason games.
On July 20, the Pittsburgh Pirates offered the use of PNC Park as a site for Blue Jays home games.
[199][200] However, health officials in Pennsylvania denied permission for this arrangement, citing concerns over additional travel to and from Pittsburgh amid an increase in local cases.
[226][227] Furthermore, the home team's local television rightsholder served as the host broadcaster for each game, providing a neutral video feed to media partners (including the away team's local rightsholder, and in some cases, a national broadcaster), which added commentary, graphics, and other surrounding coverage for their audience.
[232][233] The pandemic also led to changes in broadcast arrangements for several teams: The following players retired during the 2020 season and before the start of 2021 campaign: Due to the delayed start of the season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the following retirement ceremonies were postponed and rescheduled to either 2021 or 2022.
For 2020 Team Marketing Report calculated $5 billion in game day losses for Major League Baseball as a result of not having fans in attendance.
