The New No-Fun-League- Major League Baseball Continues to Embarrass Itself
Joe Kelly was suspended by Major League Baseball for throwing behind Astros Shortstop Alex Bregman in July 28th’s contest between the Astros and the Dodgers. The following batter, Carlos Correa, was struck out by Kelly where he and Correa had a few words for each other. Benches would clear as Astros players clearly took an offense to his throwing behind Bregman. Joe Kelly did not hit Alex Bregman or any other Astros hitter in his dominant 6th inning outing. His punishment is an outrageous 8 games (out of 60) and continues to show the MLB has taken the, “No Fun League” title, from the NFL.
When will the MLB Learn That Player Empowerment is Good for the League?
The MLB seems to have done everything wrong in the last 6 months. The Astros were caught cheating in 2017 when they won the World Series. They were given no punishment for their discretions which has led to a lawsuit and players calling for action. To date, there has been no action from the MLB offices and there will not be any coming.
This summer, negotiations with players were a total disaster. Rob Manfred even came out and said that the season happening was no certainty. Their plans for player's safety were nearly nonexistent. When discussing how a 60 game season without fans will affect the league on Sportsbetting3.com, we did not take into account the fact that the Marlins roster would be in peril due to a Covid-19 Outbreak within a week of the league restart. To add to all of the player and fan frustration this year, Joe Kelly has been suspended after a rare moment of fun and intensity between two marquee teams in a Tuesday night regular-season matchup.
The breakdown of what this means for Kelly’s pocket is to follow. The price for making faces at Correa is a little worse than when school teachers would get mad at you for it in primary school. Kelly recently signed a 3-year deal worth $8.3 million per season. Prorated for 60 games, Kelly is losing 13% of his already prorated salary of $3,086,419.63 which equals about $411,522.61 for the suspension alone. With financial ramifications aside, the issue seeps into the sport as a whole, players are not able to have personalities.
Is it Already Too Late to Save Baseball?
The NBA is successful because they let their players have a voice, politically and socially. Joe Kelly throwing behind, not hitting, Alex Bregman, and then mocks former all-star Carlos Correa is what every fan wants to do. No one wants players to be put into danger in any way and while Kelly no doubt intended to hit Bregman, he did not. Allowing the Astros to not be suspended for cheating and then turning around and suspending Kelly for not hitting someone, is extremely shortsighted. The leading and growing sports in America are centered around storylines and tension. Kelly taunting Correa is not harmful, it creates tension and storyline; aka fun.
The MLB is so behind these trends that Basketball and Football have totally usurped them. Rob Manfred has been widely criticized as one of the worst Commissioners in pro sports and he has done nothing but feed that case in 2020. Adam Silver is a progressive Commissioner who has sought out change rather than hide from it as Baseball has. The further that they steep into the “No-Fun-League”, tag the further that revenue will fall. The days of Baseball being the premier American sport are over, but they must push towards reform if they have any hope of saving the sport we love.
