Photo | Edd Cote
Dave Peterson, GM of the Worcester Bravehearts.
April 28, 2020
Bravehearts planning to play 2020 season
Photo | Grant Welker
The Worcester Bravehearts play at Hanover Insurance Park at Fitton Field at the College of the Holy Cross.
By Grant Welker
Major League Baseball and other prominent sports leagues have been put on hold indefinitely during the coronavirus pandemic, but the Worcester Bravehearts aren't giving up.
The baseball team, part of the seven-team Futures Collegiate Baseball League, is expecting a delay to the start of the season but still wants to play, General Manager Dave Peterson said Tuesday.
"All seven [teams] agreed the best path is to have some aspect of a baseball season," Peterson said. "We don't yet know what that looks like."
A series of factors will make playing a season challenging. For now, non-essential businesses are closed, which has left sports leagues, museums and other amenities off-limits. Social distancing is still recommended, something that would make teams sitting together on a bench, gathering in a locker room or traveling together on a bus either inadvisable or impossible.
The Futures Collegiate Baseball League was to begin playing May 27, but that's now expected to be delayed, Peterson said — potentially to late July. If students don't go back to campus in the fall, the league, which normally ends its regular season in early August, could go later into August or even September, he said.
The Bravehearts are considering a range of back-up plans to play even if little would go on as typical.
If players can't travel by bus, for example, they could take smaller vans, or the players may even drive to away games themselves. If the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, where the Bravehearts play, chooses not to allow games, they're considering other potential sites. If area families typically hosting players for the summer can't or shouldn't do so, the team is considering using only local players who'd ideally have been staying home with their families recently anyway.
"There are a lot of contingency plans being put in place because we do not want to cancel the season," Peterson said. "We'd rather figure out a way to do it than just say no."
Holy Cross officials weren't immediately available for comment Tuesday.
As for the games themselves, fans may have to number in the hundreds, not thousands, to allow for proper spacing. Bats, helmets and other equipment may have to be regularly sanitized. An umpire, who normally squats directly behind the catcher to officiate the game, may have to instead stand behind the pitcher.
"I don't know that going without fans is the long-term solution for the Futures League," Peterson said, dismissing the idea of playing the whole season without fans in attendance. "Maybe in the short-term."
Major League Baseball is reportedly considering playing games without fans at small ballparks in Arizona normally used for spring training. The Cape Cod Baseball League, the country's most prominent summer collegiate league, announced April 24 it is canceling the season.
But Peterson said the Bravehearts and the Futures Collegiate Baseball League are taking cues from other collegiate leagues that, like it, have for-profit teams, unlike the Cape. They've been talking with two other leagues still hoping to play this season: the Northwoods League in the Upper Midwest and the Coastal Plain League, which has teams between Virginia and Georgia.
There's one last potential factor for the Bravehearts: they're due to be joined in Worcester next year by the Pawtucket Red Sox. The PawSox, who play in a league just one step below Major League Baseball, will begin play as soon as April 2021, though construction of their Polar Park baseball stadium has been delayed because of the pandemic.
The Bravehearts have been steadfast in planning to continue playing in Worcester despite the bigger competitor by focusing on customer service and the fan experience, Peterson said.
"We firmly believe we're going to be here for the long-term," he said.
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Anonymous
April 28, 2020
Dave, keep fielding teams in the future and we will come!
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