Mid June Weekend Reminds Baseball Fans Of What Could Have Been
Ronald Acuna and the Braves Should Be Spending This Weekend In Washington
June's middle weekend should have featured some of the biggest series of the 2020 baseball season, including a half a dozen geographic rivals who were expecting to compete for division championships. In addition to those exciting matchups, America's pastime had also scheduled the television broadcast of its annual draft.
Obviously the current pandemic, along with the greed of owners and players alike, has ruined what should have been an exciting week. While baseball did indeed deliver its televised draft, it also gave its fans the shaft.
Reigning N. L. East champs, the Atlanta Braves, should this weekend be playing at the home of the World Series winner. Washington would likely be starting postseason Most Valuable Player Stephen Strasburg and fellow ace Max Scherzer against an Atlanta lineup that starts with young superstar Ronald Acuna, who is followed by perennial MVP candidate Freddie Freeman.
As if that series were not enough to make you realize what we are missing, scheduled to battle on that same weekend were two rivals of both the Braves and the Bats. Bryce Harper and the Phillies should at this time be in City Field, where they would undoubtedly be greeted rudely by fans of the Mets.
Cincinnati, which after several key free agent signings is considered a strong contender for the N.L. Central crown, should be spending Friday through Sunday in St. Louis. The Cardinals themselves are the defending champs of that division, a factor further intensifying the rivalry between the two storied franchises.
Also trying to defend a championship on the road in the middle of this month should be Houston, who last season captured its second pennant in the last three years. The Astros were scheduled to play in Oakland against the team which has been on their heels for a long time, and it is very likely that the usually unfilled Coliseum would for this series boast a standing room only crowd.
To make us miss the baseball season even more than these intense matchups between contending rivals, June was also supposed to present a rare series between two once-cursed teams with the oldest ballparks in all of sports. At this very moment the Boston Red Sox should be playing the Cubs in Wrigley Field, the only park as historical as Fenway in Bean Town.
If the two sides can resolve their labor duspute, we fans might still see some gripping weekend series. All we can do until then is imagine how delightful it would have been to experience a weekend filled with series of rivalries, just ahead of the now cancelled All-Star break.
