By: Benjamin Bian
One week has passed in Major League Baseball, and chaos has broken loose.
An entire team has been quarantined, with at least 18 members of the Miami Marlins testing positive. The Marlin’s opponent on opening day, the Philadelphia Phillies, had 2 members receive positive tests. But the season continues to go on.
The empty stadiums resonate an eerie, depressing tone. Instead of comforting fans, it's doing the opposite; a grim reminder of life during the ongoing pandemic. Cardboard cutouts of mascots, fake, flat attempts at making the games seem as they once were, and the addition of artificial, fan-like noises by TV networks only emphasize the dreaded quarantine.
In an attempt to make games move quicker, MLB will add a runner at second base in the beginning of extra innings. This may actually be good for the fans, because baseball is notorious for having ridiculously long games. The new, quickened pace is really going to allow baseball to hit it’s regular 162 games in such a shortened season.
The only exciting moment from the shortened season so far was Joe Kelly’s scathing chirp against the notorious Houston Astros. The slightly controversial Astros have been accused of cheating through messages via trash cans, and the entire league is itching to burn out their ears with ferocious volleys of boos. So, it's quite obvious that the Astros are getting a much needed break from the shortened season. Cue Joe Kelly. In a fit of rage, Kelly flung pitches that nearly shaved the heads of Alex Bergman and Carlos Correa, mocking and jibing at his opponents, which eventually led to both teams storming the field. Funnily enough, Kelly received a 8-game suspension, while the Astros were penalised nothing after their cheating antics. But baseball is known for interesting rules and punishments, so at least this was familiar to fans. Even through all the chaos so far, MLB seemed on track to return to its glorious standard for a few, hot-headed moments.