God's in His Heaven, and All's Right With the World. Well, sort of!

Tonight, Major League Baseball opened season! Yes, near the end of July, with no fans in the stands, canned crowd noise, and some restrictions like no sunflower seeds.  The league will do regular testing, and the travel schedules will be truncated, and announced tonight, they will have an extended play off season that will not extend the season, but add more playoff games. Other changes include "a universal designated hitter" i.e. both the National League and the American League will be using the designated hitter. 

The New York Yankees played the Washington Nationals in Washington, D.C, aired on ESPN.  Before the game, the players took a knee, and connected with each other by holding a black ribbon or rope, for a moment of silence, then stood for the national anthem.  Behind the mound, the MLB logo was displayed in the dirt above the letters BLM (Black Lives Matter.)  

Dr. Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, threw out the "ceremonial" first pitch.  

The Yankees and Nationals played beyond the 5th inning, when the Heavens opened up, and the skies lit up.  A very heavy thunderstorm delayed the game, and eventually, caused it to be called, with the Yankees winning.

This was a doubleheader night on  ESPN, the next game was the San Francisco Giants playing against the Los Angeles Dodgers.  The opening ceremonies were similar to those at the Yankee - National game.  Only, some players chose to continue to kneel, with the blessings of their team leadership.  

I learned some things tonight:   

Mookie Betts, who had performed so well for the Boston Red Sox, signed a 13 year, $392 million dollar deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Mike Yastrezmski plays for the San Francisco Giants.  Yes, Mike Yastrezmski is related to Carl Yastrezmski.  He is Carl's grandson.  He wears number 5, and supposedly, when asked why not wearing number 8, he said there was enough pressure on him, he did not need to add to it by wearing number 8.  Wise young man. 

Also, the Boston Red Sox unveiled a 250 foot billboard along the Massachusetts Turnpike, near Fenway Park, that says Black Lives Matter. 



Baseball really is America's game, and Major League Baseball has stepped up to promote racial equality.  

I like baseball.  I am sorry that baseball was segregated until the late 1940s. I like that baseball sponsored a women's league during World War II.  I like that many of our presidents throw out the first pitch on opening day.  And baseball is important enough in our society, that many baseball terms have been appropriated for non-baseball situations.  

One thing I am not sure of is the runner-on-second rule for overtime games.  I understand, especially this year, it is a way to prevent very, very long overtime games, but how is this justified?  Why does the person who made the last out of the previous inning get to be on base?  It makes no sense, other than "time management."  Sorry, our world is full of time management ideas that make no sense, promote stress, and do not allow for quality or pure performance.  

Oh well, there is always good and bad in changes.  We will have to see what survives and what does not.