Chicago Cubs might just be ‘essential personnel’ for fans during this crisis

Chicago Cubs fans are going stir crazy in homes waiting for baseball to come back and MLB is doing everything in their power to make it happen.

As first responders and medical professionals continue working to ensure the safety of all of us, several of the professional sports organizations are cautiously eyeing a potential return to action.

We have no idea when baseball will return. But Major League Baseball is planning for just about every imaginable scenario during this time in hopes of expediting a return to action once it’s deemed safe. We’ve seen several hypothetical proposals floated of late and, as people ignore the calls to stay indoors, perhaps the return of sports could help turn the tide.

One of the more prominent scenarios include testing of players and having them played in a quarantined setting, likely in the Phoenix metro area. This just goes to show how dire the circumstances have become in just one month. At the onset of this, I opined that America’s pastime could play a critical role in helping the world return to normal. 

In that piece, I predicted the league’s actions, suggesting all players be tested and quarantined, along with their families and any coaches, staff or broadcast personnel – that’s it! Then let the players play and the families could actually be the audience, along with all of us at home.

In between innings MLB could run advertisements like, “Stay inside – stay home – fight the spread.”  This would not only allow sports fans an escape from our current uncertain reality, but also reinforce the importance of practicing healthy habits and social distancing.

Now there is an opportunity because of the expanded testing and the need to keep people occupied enough to stay home – that MLB could really save lives by getting people back inside the house. Not to mention that a return of baseball could potentially be among the first live sports to return in the wake of COVID-19.  The Chicago Cubs could be essential personnel for fans across the country.

But will everyone involved think the benefits outweigh the risks with such a plan?