Baseball Is Back - 2020 Major League Baseball Preview

It took nearly four months, but it appears there will be Major League Baseball this summer amid the coronavirus pandemic that has rocked the entire world, especially here in the United States of America, where many states (mostly in the South and West parts of the country) continue to be ravaged by the COVID-19 that has shut down the country since mid-March.
With the season being limited to just 60 games, Heftyinfo will not go into much detail about the teams gearing up for the sprint to the post-season this October. Instead, just a brief look at what to possibly expect in what will surely be a most unpredictable season. Reason being should any players (especially key players on major league rosters) go down with the COVID-19 virus, it will have a significant impact on their team and could derail a run to the playoffs.
This virus has been very tricky and with so many people not wanting to follow protocol for health and safety (wear a face mask, wash your hands and social distancing) which is really pretty easy and very basic to do. That is a big reason fans will NOT be in the stands for the games. Stop the spread of this damn virus already and MLB  (like the other major sports in America) is looking to do just that.
When Dr. Anthony Fauci throws out the ceremonial first pitch for the game between the defending World Series champion Washington Nationals and the New York Yankees on Thursday, it will mark the beginning of what should be a very interesting baseball season.
Not since the 1981 strike shortened SPLIT SEASON has MLB seen anything like what will transpire for the next two months or so.
Teams will need to get off to a good start and those teams that do flounder out to a poor start can pretty much pack it in until next spring training. That being said, most people are picking the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees to face each other in the World Series. It's what the pick was here at this site a year ago and before spring training shut down back in March, was the likely pick once again for this year.
All bets are off for this season and picking a champion will be no easy task as if it ever is in baseball.
The Dodgers and Yankees both are loaded teams and have the pitching and the depth to go all the way for sure. But the game isn't won on paper, it is won on the playing field.
Here goes nothing as Heftyinfo looks at what could happen around Major League Baseball for the (brief) 2020 season.

*(Note - MLB has changed to expand the MLB playoffs to 16 teams this season rather than the usual 10 teams that it originally planned when the 60-game schedule was set. So disregard any playoff picks previously made. Still taking Yankees over Dodgers in the World Series.)


AMERICAN LEAGUE                                              NATIONAL LEAGUE

East                                                                              East
1 - New York Yankees                                                 1 - Washington Nationals
2 - Tampa Bay Rays (wild card)                                  2 - Atlanta Braves (wild card)
3 - Boston Red Sox                                                      3 - Philadelphia Phillies
4 - Toronto Blue Jays                                                   4 - New York Mets
5 - Baltimore Orioles                                                   5 - Miami Marlins

Central                                                                          Central
1 - Minnesota Twins                                                     1 - St. Louis Cardinals
2 - Chicago White Sox (wild card)                               2 - Chicago Cubs (wild card)
3 - Cleveland Indians                                                    3 - Cincinnati Reds
4 - Kansas City Royals                                                  4 - Milwaukee Brewers
5 - Detroit Tigers                                                           5 - Pittsburgh Pirates

West                                                                               West
1 - Houston Astros                                                          1 - Los Angeles Dodgers
2 - Oakland A's                                                                2 - San Diego Padres
3 - Texas Rangers                                                            3 - Arizona Diamondbacks
4 - Los Angeles Angels                                                   4 - Colorado Rockies
5 - Seattle Mariners                                                          5 - San Francisco Giants


* Original Post-Season predictions below no longer valid due to the change in playoff format announced on Thursday, July 23, 2020 by MLB officials.  The World Series pick made still stands for this post.

American League Playoffs

Chicago White Sox over Tampa Bay in Wild Card Game

ALDS
New York Yankees over Minnesota Twins (3-1)
Houston Astros over Chicago White Sox (3-2)

ALCS
New York Yankees over Houston Astros (4-2)



National League Playoffs

Atlanta Braves over Chicago Cubs in Wild Card Game

NLDS
Los Angeles Dodgers over Atlanta Braves (3-0)
St. Louis Cardinals over Washington Nationals (3-1)

NLCS
Los Angeles Dodgers over St. Louis Cardinals (4-0)


WORLD SERIES

New York Yankees over Los Angeles Dodgers (4-3)  

                   

COVID-19: The Return Of Lyin' Donald

After the debacle that was the daily "press briefings" of the Trump COVID-19 task force back in the
spring, we are now going to get round two of Donald Trump taking over what is supposed to be information regarding the coronavirus pandemic, which by the way he predicted would go away in April.
Trump made a complete ass of himself back in March and April before network (and local) news decided to pull the plug on the farce that was the COVID-19 "press briefings" that morphed into mini campaign  rallies for Trump.
It's all this guy knows how to do. He is not a president, he's a "celebrity" because that's all he can do.
Originally, Vice President Mike Pence was to lead the coronavirus task force but Trump can't help himself. He has to be front and center regarding everything. Look at what has been happening in Portland, Oregon with secret "police" coming in to stir up trouble among what are mostly peaceful protestors.
Add to that the Russian bounty on our American troops that resulted in the deaths of said troops overseas while Trump claimed ignorance to it all. The reporters that do show up for the nonsense Trump will provide in the coming days and weeks should hammer him with questions regarding the Russian bounty paid to foreign enemies to kill our troops. Do not let up on him because he did absolutely nothing to stop that action.
Trump insisted that people take dangerous drugs (hydroxychloroquine) as well as ingest disinfectants and drink Lysol bleach cleaning products to fight off COVID-19 and once that idiocy came forward, the briefings were stopped back in late April.
Since then, he and his administration have launched an all out attack on Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading health expert on viral diseases, because he tells the truth regrading COVID-19 and doesn't sugar coat the fact this pandemic is not going away any time soon. However, the Trump toadies (Dr. Birk comes to mind) have escaped the wrath of the orange menace because they bow to his will.
Look for the same tired schtick from Trump and his cohorts when these "press briefings" get going and of course now that Trump and his team control the information regarding COVID-19 cases and deaths from hospitals across the country, they will spin those numbers to make themselves look good. Hospitals are no longer required to turn the information over to the CDC (Center for Disease Control) regarding COVID-19.
Trump has to always control the narrative and a big part of the problem is the media lets him get away with it time and time again. Of course, the corporate influence over the bulk of the media has a lot to do with that conformity to the Trump administration.
With his approval ratings floundering around in the high 30's (perhaps even as high as 40 percent) Trump knows he is not likely to win the election this November so he will do all he possibly can to distract people and suppress the vote.

After all, the presidential election is just a little over three months away. 

Stay tuned. 

Into The Great Unknown

If and when the professional sports leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL) get things rolling again and actually play games that matter in the league standings, then Heftyinfo will have coverage along with thoughts and comments on those sports.
Here's hoping things go on without much damage due to the COVID-19 virus pandemic that has been wreaking havoc in the United States and all other countries around the world. People need to put differences aside and (once again it is stated) use common sense and do the right thing to try and get this virus under some sort of manageability. 


Baseball is slated to start again on July 23, the NBA on July 30 and 31, the NHL playoffs on August 1 (in Edmonton and Toronto, Canada) and the NFL training camps are looking to open up July 28.

Double Whammy For Trump

In two rulings handed down by the United States Supreme Court (7-2 decisions on each) it is determined that the Preisdent of the United States is NOT above the law and therefore Donald J. Trump has to hand over his tax returns to the New York Manhattan District.
However, expect Trump and his cronies to stonewall for as long as possible before we the people actually get to see said tax returns.
But the precedent has been set --  NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW -- not even the President of the United States.