Baseball Embraces the Weird and Hopes for the Best

“This is going to be history,” he said, “just how long we’ve waited.”

The wait consumed 266 days for the sport, from Daniel Hudson’s final pitch in Game 7 of the World Series to Max Scherzer’s first one against the Yankees on Thursday. It was a longer absence than the self-inflicted hiatus a generation ago, when a strike canceled the 1994 World Series.

There is no telling what we missed in the past four months, but what we have is the shortest season since 1878, and almost definitely the strangest one ever.

Thursday’s opener in Washington, a 4-1 victory for the Yankees, was the most-watched regular-season game on any network since 2011, according to ESPN. But while we can excuse the errant first pitch from Dr. Anthony Fauci — maybe he just wanted the ball to land a safe six feet (or more) from the plate — the night underscored just how much is out of baseball’s control.

The Nationals’ offensive headliner, Juan Soto, got a positive test result for the coronavirus just hours before game time. A storm cut things short in the sixth inning, prompting an embarrassing rain-delay interview with Commissioner Rob Manfred in which Alex Rodriguez — who just happens to want Manfred’s approval as the potential next owner of the Mets — fawned over the man who once vigorously pursued his cheating, leading to a yearlong suspension.

Rodriguez, of course, has transformed himself from a disgraced steroid goon to an officially sanctioned baseball ambassador, embodying our enduring fixation with celebrity. He does project genuine affection for the sport, but his role as lead analyst for baseball’s return was an off-key note for the league.

“Tails you win, heads you win more,” Rodriguez said at one point, fumbling around to describe a bunt by Tyler Wade. “He gets a sacrifice, on top of a sacrifice it’s a base hit; now you got first and second and the Yankees are set up.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/24/sports/baseball/mlb-opening-day.html