MLB commish Rob Manfred is right: Let fans in where possible

Competitive Balance/Neutral Field

Two of the concerns expressed by opponents of allowing fans at games can to a large degree be considered as a unit. They sum up this way: You are tampering with the neutral nature of the entire season, and opening the door to a measure of home field bias.

One problem with that argument is that it forgets that baseball – and any professional sport, for that matter — was never designed to be played in a condition-free environment. The forced absence of fans this year is a necessary evil, not a social experiment.

And as a necessary evil, it ought to be cast overboard at the earliest possible moment that the changing conditions permit. That appears to be the view Manfred – a few weeks too late in my view – appears to be finally coming around to. He may be late, but he’s (finally) right.

As to the possibility that fans of one or two teams with especially loyal followings might ‘pack’ Globe Life – to the extent local regs permit – and create a  biased atmosphere, well, heaven forfend! That, obviously, has been the case for literally as long as there has been a World Series.

And not just a World Series; the Super Bowl is played annually at a neutral site, yet nobody has any problem with fans of the involved teams attending.

The reality is that COVID-related travel challenges plus the local limitation on numbers in attendance will combine to naturally restrict fans of any one team from dominating the audience, not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Finally, to the extent MLB fans jeopardize competitive balance during the first round – to be played at home fields – fate appears largely on course to thwart that concern. Of the eight teams likely to host first round games as of Friday afternoon – the Rays, Twins, Athletics, White Sox, Braves, Cubs, Dodgers, and Padres – none plays in an area open to admitting any number of fans.