NEW YORK – If the final pitch of the 2020 baseball season comes closer to Christmas than Halloween, that's fine with the players.
Major League Baseball owners ratified a 17-page agreement with the union on Friday in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, with players willing to extend the season as long as needed to cover as close to a full schedule as possible.
The deal provides for $170 million in salary advances and guarantees service time to players even if no games are played. The season was to start Thursday and Game 7 of the World Series was on track to be Oct.
28. With opening day postponed until mid-May at the earliest, the final pitch could come deep into winter. “We would play as long as we possibly could,” union head Tony Clark