The past three months, baseball has given us 1,000 reasons to hate it.
In the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, the players and owners have acted like petulant children bickering over money, settling scores and improving bargaining position for future negotiations instead of understanding that all that mattered this year was agreeing on something and getting a season started for the health of the game and the morale of the country. Baseball, with its soothing daily rhythm, its innate beauty and its rich history and tradition, has always been vital to lifting the nation. Instead, this spring, when collaboration was critical, baseball contaminated its own game and alienated its fans, some of whom will never come back.