MIAMI — Major League Baseball slogs, regrettably, avoidably, toward the eighth season in its history to suffer a reduced schedule and shortened season.
The first in 1918-19 and the most recent before now in 2020 had pretty good excuses: A world war and a global pandemic. Every one in between, including this one, were rooted in money and played out at the intersection of avarice and intractability.
So this should be opening weekend for spring training. Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, training camp of the Marlins 90 minutes north of Miami, should be lively, anticipation in the air. Instead the place is quiet but for the exchange of rancor between MLB executives and players union reps (including the Marlins’ Miguel Rojas) meeting there and failing to solve this.
