I had so many things I have been tracking during the offseason that I was excited to write about in the coming weeks. The controversial Minor League Baseball contraction proposal. The absurd MLB rule changes. The Brewers 2020 season outlook, in brand new uniforms. And at the top of the list was our Tour 2020 trip to Texas in 5 weeks. All of those things are either on hold or gravely insignificant in the wake of what has been happening in our world over the last month. With the country careening towards a complete shutdown by the hour, Major League Baseball and all other major sports announced last week that they would be suspending and/or cancelling their seasons in the wake of the Coronavirus' rapid spread to the United States. As I am writing this, the Commissioner has updated his original delay from April 9th to May 16th. That date falls in line with the CDC's latest recommendation to cancel all gatherings of over 50 people for at least 8 weeks. Some sports like basketball and college baseball are extending those delays out even further, and if we're being realistic I think MLB will end up doing the same.
Baseball is way down on the list of priorities at a time like this. I worry about Erik and my older retired parents getting sick, I worry about my 2-year old daughter getting sick and lacking the structure of daycare, and I worry about the disease spreading into our suburban and rural communities that do not have the capacity to handle such an outbreak. I worry about my job and my wife's job, both of which are very dependent on the economy. I think a lot about how Milwaukee's local businesses and community are going to survive with months of uncertainty. But through all sorts of tough times in our lives, the one thing we've always had as a society is each other, and as a part of that, sports and entertainment. Even that is now taken away, as a large contingent of our country is self-quarantining. And so, however insignificant it might seem, I worry about the social ramifications of this pandemic. I'm sure that we will get through this as a country like we do with everything, but with so much uncertainty it is hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Selfishly I wish that I was reporting on something happy like Opening Day, and I will admit that I am upset every day by the fact that Erik and I may not get to go on a ball trip this year. The best I can do right now is take time to work on my relationships and to be present for my family and friends, whether that is cooped up in a house or via text thousands of miles away. With everything in my life I have had to cope with, baseball has always been a constant for me, but now I know I will have to find out a lot about myself and grow stronger as a husband and father. Frankly I have no choice. In a few months I hope to be reporting on the 2020 season, and looking back at a dark time during which I made incredible personal strides, and realized there were more important things than a game.
Monday, March 16, 2020
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touch with baseball when his childhood heroes Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, and Jim Gantner retired but the Great Home Run Chase of 1998 reignited his passion. As a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Erik became involved with the campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity. With this group Erik traveled to Portland, OR and Baltimore, MD to work on construction projects and help the group raise $25,000 to partially sponsor a house in Milwaukee. Also at UWM, Erik met Peter Nagel. The two attended their first Brewers game together during Opening Weekend 2003. Despite their failure to ignite the coals at their first tailgate, the two had a blast and were soon making weekly trips to the ballpark. Erik has gone on to several colleges and changed careers several times, and has moved all the way out to New Hampshire, but has always stayed true to his baseball roots by holding part-time stadium usher jobs. To this day he looks back fondly on his incredible cross-country journey.