Potentially awkward scenes we could see during 2020 MLB season
Baseball fans are hoping for the best.
Everyone that loves the sport is hopeful that the owners and players can iron out their financial differences and come to an agreement that clears the way for a 2020 season. In the meantime, we are left to wonder what a season played in the midst of a pandemic might look like.
Beyond there being no fans in the ballparks when the season starts, players would also keep their distance from one another, both on and off the field.
A potentially awkward scene comes to mind. Say the home team wins in walk-off fashion. What would the celebration look like? We’re used to seeing the entire team stream out of the dugout and charge whoever delivered the winning hit, mobbing him somewhere along the basepaths and ripping his jersey off.
Or in the case of a walk-off home run, everyone waiting at home plate to dump the Gatorade bucket on the hero and jump around in unison.
We saw Phillies star Bryce Harper in the middle of several such celebrations last season, most notably after his walk-off grand slam against the Cubs. What would that look like in 2020? Harper sprinting around the bases, charging towards home plate where … no one is waiting for him. Everyone gives him a thumbs-up from a distance and goes their separate ways? It’s a weird scenario to think about. But it will likely play out quite a bit should there be a season.
Former Phillies outfielder Jeff Francoeur was a guest on the Phillies Talk podcast this week and said that if he were still playing, he’d probably still hug a teammate after a walk-off and just pay the fine.
Back to the possibility of playing in empty ballparks without fans. At first thought, that doesn’t seem like too big of a deal for the players. Baseball is baseball, it’s still the same game with or without fans. But not having the energy and electricity that the fans provide could have a big impact on certain players, particularly the Phillies’ best player. Francoeur, for example, explained how players sometimes really use the fans’ energy to get up for day-games when the fatigue of the season mounts.
No one feeds off the fans more than Harper. He loves playing to the crowd at Citizens Bank Park – pumping up the fans sitting behind him in right field and gesturing to the crowd behind the dugout after a big home run. Harper fires up the fans, and vice versa.
Harper is equally effective in feeding off negative energy on the road. He’s probably been booed in opposing ballparks more than any player in baseball and he’s been dealing with it since his teenage years. He was heckled throughout a game in San Francisco last season, with one fan yelling ‘overrated’ each time Harper stepped into the batter’s box (a chant Harper hears in most road cities). He channeled that negativity into a pair of monster home runs and made sure to let the fans know about it afterward.
His first game back in Washington last season is another great example. Nationals fans were all over Harper the entire night. He responded by going 3-for-5 with two doubles and a two-run home run into the upper deck.
Harper is a showman. He relishes his roles of fan-favorite at home and villain on the road. Harper will still be effective playing in an empty ballpark. But it’s fair to wonder if the lack of energy could have an adverse impact on him.
It’s one of countless unknowns as we brace for what promises to be a baseball season unlike any we’ve seen. Of course, there is still plenty of work to be done to ensure there will be a season. The clock is ticking.
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