The bickering between Major League Baseball owners and the players’ association continues, but I’m betting an agreement will soon be reached that will see players receive 75 per cent of their salary for a 74-game season beginning July 10.
The owners have agreed to provide the option for players to play or not while those who are high-risk coronavirus (COVID-19 strain) candidates will be paid even if they don’t play. The owners also intend to expand the post-season with additional teams and games and it is another plus for both sides since that’s when the TV revenues grow.
Commissioner Rob Manfred has the power to force a baseball season this year even without union approval and that could happen. One way or the other, there will be baseball this summer. It will happen just as it will for hockey, basketball and football, it’s all about the money.
The problem for the major sports is that come October all the teams will be in action at the same time. That’s right, the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL and you can rest assured NFL will command the biggest audiences.
Fewer viewers will result in lower advertising dollars for everyone and especially for Rogers, who purchased the NHL rights for an outrageous sum. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is looking like a genius in securing the TV contract a few years ago, as he and the owners are laughing all the way to the bank while other major sports suffer.
Morell catcher Cole MacLaren, who played AA last season in the Detroit Tigers’ organization, was on a conference call Wednesday and the fitness crew went over his program and told him be ready to roll soon. Many of the minor pro clubs are privately owned but have development agreements with the major league club and they need the attendance to pay the bills. Many minor league clubs may not survive without fans. A number of major league clubs have decided not to pay the minor leaguer players, but Detroit pays its farmhands and that’s good news for MacLaren and the Detroit prospects.
The Tigers had the top pick in Wednesday’s draft and grabbed Spencer Torkelson, the slugging first-baseman from Arizona State. It’s the first time a first baseman had been drafted first overall, which tells me he must be a real-deal hitting prospect.
This month’s skirmish between owners and the union sets the stage for next year’s major battle when the current baseball contract expires in December 2021.
Golf
All reports suggest that golf courses across the Island are in great shape.
Stephen Anderson, the Morell native who starred with Gardner MacDougall’s UNB hockey teams and is headed to an NHL camp later this year, fired a hole-in-one last week on the fifth hole at Belvedere.
His playing partner, Mike Judson, fired a hole-in-one the previous day at the same course on hole 16. That’s a rarity, back-to-back holes in one by the same playing partners.
At Stanhope on June 5, Florence Skinner posted a 95 in her debut while at the same course Kevin Devine of the Buffalo Sabres posted a high-70s score, which was too much for Sandy MacDonald and Bob Gollaher.
Avondale golf pro Dave Bowlan is staying busy with longtime golfers and beginners seeking help with their game. Wednesday, Christiana Coady was out for her first lessons. She’ll probably be contending in a year or two. Assistant GM Saul Lanigan has the Avondale course in immaculate condition.
Harness racing
Red Shores at the Charlottetown Driving Park has another 10-dash card tonight with a 6 p.m. post time. The $3,200 Race 9 feature is a dandy with ex-Gold Cup and Saucer candidates Avatar J and Rose Run Quest in a compact six-horse field with the likes of Screen Test, Mantario, Soccer Hanover and Beyondthesilence N.
At Mohawk Tuesday, Wade and Ed Peconi’s top three-year-old trotter, Lovedbythemasses, was razor-sharp, qualifying in 1:55:3 for Mike Saftic. This is one of the best sophomore trotters in Ontario and he is in line for some big paydays.
At The Meadowlands tonight, 13 races make up the program and would you believe that 777 horses, that’s right 777, were declared in to start. Only 10 horses per race go to the post, leaving almost 650 on the outside looking in. Neither Yonkers nor the Pennsylvania tracks are yet racing, which makes for the surplus.
Mark MacDonald made his 2020 debut at the Meadowlands winning June 5’s trot with Obrigado in 1:51 and change, plus with Ray Schnittker’s colt Captain Groovey in 1:49:3 on June 6, when they got home in 26 and change. Gettin Messi, the standout from last season here for Mike McGuigan, was in to go Friday night at The Big M in a $15,000 trot.
Fred MacDonald's column appears every Saturday in The Guardian. He can be reached at [email protected].
