Not This Summer

Such a familiar sight: back in the dugout after a home run, a player receives a steady stream of high fives from his teammates.

But not if we have baseball in 2020. The 67 page operations manual proposed by the owners would ban that and many other aspects of the game that players and fans take for granted.

• No tobacco or seeds in the dugouts, to eliminate spitting.
• Players in the dugout spaced six feet apart, with others six feet apart in the lower rows of the empty stands.
• No fist bumps or handshakes.
• No on-field mascots such as the Phillie Phantatic or Mister Met.
• No exchanges of lineup cards before the game. 
• New balls any time a ball is put in play and touched by multiple players. 
• Players wearing masks except while on the field, standing six feet apart during the singing of the national anthem and “God Bless America.”  

Of course, players and fans want baseball to be safe when it gets the go-ahead to resume. And these measures are there to insure health and caution. Probably a small price to pay to salvage half a season. But still stark reminders that we're in a year like none other.

It will still be baseball -- 90 feet between the bases, 60 feet-6 inches from the mound to home plate, and 300-420 feet to the fences -- just mellower. A separation from much of the atmosphere players have been used to since their first days in a school yard or a little league field.

Social distancing means you won't be seeing one of these after a walk-off homer, either.