Did COVID-19 Fix Baseball’s Regular Season?

Do we really need a regular season for baseball at all? No. Here’s why: COVID-19 fixed baseball’s regular season.  No one really enjoys baseball’s regular season, but who doesn’t love playoff baseball? Let’s have the regular season last a week or two and get right to the good stuff.

A one to two-week league-wide home run derby can easily substitute the regular season if each team appointed its best slugger to duke it out for a shot at the playoffs. Then we can determine who gets home field advantage by sending out the team’s most famous fan, and see who throws the best ceremonial first pitch.

Actually, why do we even need a regular season at all? The coronavirus has shown us that we’re getting along fine without it, so we should just go straight into the playoffs. Since seven-game series are unnecessary, each series should start with Game 7. The players won’t even need to play Game 7 because a fan vote could crown the 10 best teams in baseball.

While owners might worry they will lose substantial revenue if teams don’t play a 162-game schedule, they could just charge $1,950 per playoff ticket. The Yankees have done it for decades, and they make more than enough.

This isn’t the only advantage of not having a regular season. At this moment, every pitcher in baseball has by far the best ERA of their entire careers.

“I’m going to absolutely be a lock for the Hall of Fame after this season,” said Miami Marlins Pitcher John Pagan. “Not even Cy Young had a 0.00.”  

It’s clear that removing regular season baseball and shortening the playoffs will make postseason play much more exciting, but do we even need a baseball postseason or World Series?