COVID-19 and the Red Sox

JCizzle

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The longer the game, the less ability you have to play multiple games in a single location on a given day, which means you need more fields.
Games could be shown and played throughout the day and it could be hosted in multiple cities like the NHL is pursuing. For example, MLS has been airing a 9am game everyday. I fully agree it's a challenge, but it's also probably better than not lasting a weekend.
 

E5 Yaz

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Maybe it's just me, but aren't there bigger long-term, multiple-season issues in play here than the luxury tax?
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Proper facilities are required for sure. I thought the idea was to use spring training stadiums, no?

what impact does length of games have on bubble-ability?
What makes the NBA bubble plan workable is that the entire league is self-contained in a resort. No such place exists with enough fields to play up to 15 games a day.

Spring training facilities still require housing for the players (everyone at one hotel or spring training style live on their own?) and travel between facilities to play the games. Players would still have exposure to the "outside world" in areas where the virus is spreading. The difference between that and what they're doing now with everyone in their own home cities is traveling by plane instead of bus. I don't think it's significantly safer or more contained.
 

nighthob

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I'm guessing we don't get a reset of the tax was mostly where I was going...
I actually don't think it's going to make a huge difference as people's fever dreams of a one year reset followed by a spending spree were misplaced.
 

djbayko

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What makes the NBA bubble plan workable is that the entire league is self-contained in a resort. No such place exists with enough fields to play up to 15 games a day.

Spring training facilities still require housing for the players (everyone at one hotel or spring training style live on their own?) and travel between facilities to play the games. Players would still have exposure to the "outside world" in areas where the virus is spreading. The difference between that and what they're doing now with everyone in their own home cities is traveling by plane instead of bus. I don't think it's significantly safer or more contained.
Yes, the Disney resort absolutely makes it easier. But I wouldn’t say it’s unworkable for MLB. Lack of imagination / effort is more like it. I bet a lot of people thought the NBA bubble was a fantasy at its inception too.
 

nighthob

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Or, you know, the lack of a self contained sports complex with five playing fields to accommodate all the necessary games.
 

bosockboy

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What makes the NBA bubble plan workable is that the entire league is self-contained in a resort. No such place exists with enough fields to play up to 15 games a day.

Spring training facilities still require housing for the players (everyone at one hotel or spring training style live on their own?) and travel between facilities to play the games. Players would still have exposure to the "outside world" in areas where the virus is spreading. The difference between that and what they're doing now with everyone in their own home cities is traveling by plane instead of bus. I don't think it's significantly safer or more contained.
Additionally basketball and hockey are controlled by a clock whereas baseball has an undetermined length of game.
 
Jul 5, 2018
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I'm blocked from the MLB COVID thread, but I was joking. Of course, Fauci is the best source of advice for the pandemic and people who don't play ball sports or are 78 years old, don't throw well.

I guess my sense of humor is too dry.
 

absintheofmalaise

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I'm blocked from the MLB COVID thread, but I was joking. Of course, Fauci is the best source of advice for the pandemic and people who don't play ball sports or are 78 years old, don't throw well.

I guess my sense of humor is too dry.
No, your sense of humor is shitty. And now you're blocked from this one.
You also earned three days off. Sexist posts are not tolerated here. Even if they are feeble attempts at humor. Next time you are gone.

Edit: added days off post
 
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trs

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Or, you know, the lack of a self contained sports complex with five playing fields to accommodate all the necessary games.
Yes and what would the facility look like that would also allow for proper social-distancing for 30 players from 30 different teams plus the support staff? At that point you're not talking about a resort complex but a small city.

I could see perhaps if you used all day for games, reminding us all of varsity tournaments, with games going from 7am until midnight, but I couldn't imagine that would be good for TV.

As others have said, this season will probably fail less as a result of poor planning by MLB and more because of what the situation is like in the US right now, in terms of policies and attitudes. As I've said in a previous post, I live in Spain, and we just finished the first division soccer season, as well as all the other professional divisions. Between the top 3 divisions, that's about 75 teams that each played over 10 games to complete the season. I don't think there was any magic bullet we had to make the Covid threat disappear (though not totally, there was one game canceled in the second division and that has led to a bit of controversy). There was no bubble. The games were played in the actual stadiums, sin aficionados, and as far as I can tell it was a success, especially if you are a Real Madrid fan.

However, these players were not living in areas where the virus has been called a hoax or a cause of overreaction. People ask how these Marlins players got the virus, it's because of where they live. There is just too much of the infection and not enough will to do something about it. So when they do something extremely inocuous like open a cardoor or buy a Gatorade, a few get infected, and then it spreads. Policies about mask-wearing in the dugout won't matter much at that point.

Anyway, it's sad, and I'm disappointed. It's as if the whole country is just hoping a miracle fix arrives before they have to change their lives. It's not fixed here either, and in fact we're dealing with a resurgence of the virus. But we got soccer, and more importantly, eventually far fewer deaths. Why? Not from a cure or a vaccine, but because of a very serious change in how almost all of us lived here.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Yes, the Disney resort absolutely makes it easier. But I wouldn’t say it’s unworkable for MLB. Lack of imagination / effort is more like it. I bet a lot of people thought the NBA bubble was a fantasy at its inception too.
The other big difference maker is that the NBA is just trying to complete their season, making it an easier decision for players to voluntarily go into the "bubble" for a few weeks (or less if their team is eliminated early). That's as opposed to a full season (even abbreviated, it's a minimum of 2.5 months with a possibility of four to win it all) being isolated from friends and family. Players understandably balked at that from the start.
 

Ale Xander

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Another feather in the winter sports bubble cap is they're keeping 25% of the teams home.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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Yes, the Disney resort absolutely makes it easier. But I wouldn’t say it’s unworkable for MLB. Lack of imagination / effort is more like it. I bet a lot of people thought the NBA bubble was a fantasy at its inception too.
I'm not seeing how it could have been done, but I'm also not seeing the comparison between MLB/NBA. Problem with MLB is 8 additional teams, plus about 50 more players per team, plus far bigger coaching and support staffs, for 60 games plus half of them into the playoffs. Where are you getting all that space to essentially quarantine, house and police, what?, 3,000+ people? And find fields for what equates to about 8 basketball courts? You could stagger games (let's say they play at 3 and at 7), essentially edit them and air via Extra Innings or regional networks at appropriate times, but they can't play overnight and day games after nights games is already a sticking point for players; you'd still need 15-20 fields unless you completely abandoned practice, drills, BP, etc. I think people questioned the NBA much more so from a practicality aspect as opposed to logistics. They've done an extremely good job of securing it and shown that when the virus has nowhere to go, it dies out; I'm not sure how that would work on such a larger scale, for a longer period. But do you have any ideas? This season is toast for MLB, but it seems NFL will have the same issues, but again, amplified even from MLB. As someone said, you'd need a small town essentially, likely with a perimeter of enforcement, that happened to have all those fields within it.
 

bosockboy

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I'm not seeing how it could have been done, but I'm also not seeing the comparison between MLB/NBA. Problem with MLB is 8 additional teams, plus about 50 more players per team, plus far bigger coaching and support staffs, for 60 games plus half of them into the playoffs. Where are you getting all that space to essentially quarantine, house and police, what?, 3,000+ people? And find fields for what equates to about 8 basketball courts? You could stagger games (let's say they play at 3 and at 7), essentially edit them and air via Extra Innings or regional networks at appropriate times, but they can't play overnight and day games after nights games is already a sticking point for players; you'd still need 15-20 fields unless you completely abandoned practice, drills, BP, etc. I think people questioned the NBA much more so from a practicality aspect as opposed to logistics. They've done an extremely good job of securing it and shown that when the virus has nowhere to go, it dies out; I'm not sure how that would work on such a larger scale, for a longer period. But do you have any ideas? This season is toast for MLB, but it seems NFL will have the same issues, but again, amplified even from MLB. As someone said, you'd need a small town essentially, likely with a perimeter of enforcement, that happened to have all those fields within it.
I have worked events at that complex at Disney for 20+ years; if they chose to the NFL could absolutely bubble there and do a season. They have an amazingly huge football complex that hosts the Pop Warner Super Bowl every December.
Guessing this pops up in the near future.
 

RIrooter09

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I have worked events at that complex at Disney for 20+ years; if they chose to the NFL could absolutely bubble there and do a season. They have an amazingly huge football complex that hosts the Pop Warner Super Bowl every December.
Guessing this pops up in the near future.
How many fields does it have?
 

OurF'ingCity

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How many fields does it have?
17 that can be used for football according to their website.

The real issue is (a) would the owners agree to this knowing they would be forfeiting all possible in-person revenue and (b) is the Wide World of Sports complex and surrounding area big enough to to accommodate all NFL teams and related personnel PLUS all the NBA teams they already have there (keeping in mind that football has a much higher volume of equipment and more personnel overall)? There is also the issue of whether the NBA would even agree to invite hundreds if not thousands of additional people into their "bubble" - and, if not, that would mean the NFL season couldn't start until mid-October or so.

Edit: here's an interesting proposal for how the NFL conferences could separate into "bubbles" in California: https://www.forbes.com/sites/shlomosprung/2020/07/23/nfl-coronavirus-nfl-bubble-nba-nhl-mls-mlb-football-covid-nfl-los-angeles-bay-area/#2a45ea137633. Per my above post, though, this would still require massive changes to the schedule at minimum, and it doesn't address how mid-week practices would be handled.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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I have worked events at that complex at Disney for 20+ years; if they chose to the NFL could absolutely bubble there and do a season. They have an amazingly huge football complex that hosts the Pop Warner Super Bowl every December.
Guessing this pops up in the near future.
Are the fields the same size? I was under impressions Pop Warner played on 80 yd fields, but that may just be the local league in my town. I can't imagine it's as wide is it? Figure, what minimum amount? 8 full NFL sized fields; plus 16 practice bubbles if they double up. Weight and training facilities for probably 4k people, housing, plus you'd need some kind of secondary team for street free agents in case of injury or illness.
 

bosockboy

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17 that can be used for football according to their website.

The real issue is (a) would the owners agree to this knowing they would be forfeiting all possible in-person revenue and (b) is the Wide World of Sports complex and surrounding area big enough to to accommodate all NFL teams and related personnel PLUS all the NBA teams they already have there (keeping in mind that football has a much higher volume of equipment and more personnel overall)? There is also the issue of whether the NBA would even agree to invite hundreds if not thousands of additional people into their "bubble" - and, if not, that would mean the NFL season couldn't start until mid-October or so.
Agree; the NFL would have to start later to accommodate. It’s an option if it’s that or no season.
 

bosockboy

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Are the fields the same size? I was under impressions Pop Warner played on 80 yd fields, but that may just be the local league in my town. I can't imagine it's as wide is it? Figure, what minimum amount? 8 full NFL sized fields; plus 16 practice bubbles if they double up. Weight and training facilities for probably 4k people, housing, plus you'd need some kind of secondary team for street free agents in case of injury or illness.
They are customizable; they get flipped constantly for soccer and lacrosse. Pop Warner is 100 yds though; width would be addressed.
 

richgedman'sghost

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No, your sense of humor is shitty. And now you're blocked from this one.
You also earned three days off. Sexist posts are not tolerated here. Even if they are feeble attempts at humor. Next time you are gone.

Edit: added days off post
Am I banned too? Someone said I was for my consistent bad posting.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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I count 12 fields, but I don't think more than 6 could be used concurrently

View attachment 32886
1/5/3 and 7/10/12; then 11? Maybe* 7 fields, probably 6.. But that's not factoring in practice facilities and 32 teams needing space that could be somewhat private (imagine the -gates that would spawn - Bubblegate, COVIDgate, Virusgate. Guess you could do 6 1PM games, 6 4PM games, Sunday night, Monday night on weeks with full slate? Then drop one each on the earlier time slots when byes kick in (would they keep bye weeks with no travel and essentially a fuse burning on the bomb?) Then where are 5k people being housed? You'd also probably need at least one if not two full rosters of guys for street FAs to stay in shape. Weight facilities, trainers rooms, etc. Should be simple as pie.
 

radsoxfan

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Egh, that's not good news. The devil is in the details here as myocarditis could be mild and transient (i.e no big deal) or career/life altering.

If he has no symptoms thats a good sign, but still a reminder that it's not simply about surviving versus not surviving when you think about COVID-19.

For people with spare time on their hands....

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589790X20300640
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7199677/
 
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bosockboy

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1/5/3 and 7/10/12; then 11? Maybe* 7 fields, probably 6.. But that's not factoring in practice facilities and 32 teams needing space that could be somewhat private (imagine the -gates that would spawn - Bubblegate, COVIDgate, Virusgate. Guess you could do 6 1PM games, 6 4PM games, Sunday night, Monday night on weeks with full slate? Then drop one each on the earlier time slots when byes kick in (would they keep bye weeks with no travel and essentially a fuse burning on the bomb?) Then where are 5k people being housed? You'd also probably need at least one if not two full rosters of guys for street FAs to stay in shape. Weight facilities, trainers rooms, etc. Should be simple as pie.
Not simple for sure but that complex could pull off the housing, weight facilities, etc...it’s got it
 

YTF

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Minimum 8 that can run concurrently.
Minimum of 8 major league compatible fields? What's the configuration of those 8 fields? Something like this is less than ideal.
32888

Locker room/clubhouse space? Dugouts? There are going to be many days when you're going to need to host 4 games at one field. Figure minimum of of 5 hours per possibly more to clear and properly douche the facility before allowing the next two teams in.

Edit.....Missed the discussion switching to NFL. Still curious about the baseball info if you have it.
 

bosockboy

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Minimum of 8 major league compatible fields? What's the configuration of those 8 fields? Something like this is less than ideal.
View attachment 32888

Locker room/clubhouse space? Dugouts? There are going to be many days when you're going to need to host 4 games at one field. Figure minimum of of 5 hours per possibly more to clear and properly douche the facility before allowing the next two teams in.
Talking about football.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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Hmmm, who's the next FA they would look at, Lindor?
And move him to 2B/3B? Or X?

I think the "fever dreams" were focused mainly on Mookie. Other than Stroman, there's not really any SP young enough to throw money at and not a lot of holes outside the bullpen. 1B/3B (wherever Devers isn't, I think it's still early to think about moving him); possibly 2B depending on Chavis; CF. The rest of the roster is pretty much set. The concern was draft pick, Mookie coming back were slim odds to begin with.
 

JBJ_HOF

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The next two winters are Realmuto/Springer, or Lindor/Story/Correa/Baez. Everyone makes sense.
 

scottyno

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Proper facilities are required for sure. I thought the idea was to use spring training stadiums, no?

what impact does length of games have on bubble-ability?
If you're using spring training facilities then it isn't really a bubble, some of them aren't exactly close to each other.
 

djbayko

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If you're using spring training facilities then it isn't really a bubble, some of them aren't exactly close to each other.
A bubble doesn't need to be a single location that you can completely cover with an imaginary sphere, although that makes things a lot easier. It can be a virtual bubble if you define boundaries and provide transportation between each sterile locations. I/m not saying it would be easy, but it would've had a much greater chance for success. Clearly the desire just wasn't there.
 

jon abbey

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I'm genuinely not sure why anyone thinks that sending all 30 teams to ARI and FLA would have been a good idea, there was no realistic way to do it originally and that has gotten so much harder with the explosion of cases in both states.