Story by Knox Hargis / Contributing Writer
Baseball has been a staple of the American community since 1869, and having the start of the Major League Baseball season delayed with most youth and high school leagues canceled is less than ideal to local communities across the country, and to avid fans.
Henry Anderton is on the board of directors for the Babe Ruth Youth Baseball League in Bellevue, just outside of Nashville. Anderton is not in the most ecstatic mood about his youth league being canceled, but he also understands it.
“I know this statement is overused a bit, but some things are just bigger than baseball,” said Anderton. “The most important thing to us is to keep the kids and their families safe and hopefully, if this pandemic ends soon, we can have some sort of a summer league to make up for it,” Anderton said.
Sean Bovenzi is a recent graduate of MTSU now living in the Nashville area. He prides himself on his love for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“I have watched every single Diamondbacks game for the last 11 years, only missing three in that time span,” said Bovenzi. “I understand this is not an ideal situation at the moment, but I really hope the MLB comes back soon,”
Unfortunately, it seems as though the MLB will have quite a while to continue mulling its options on when to start the season up.
“You can make up a lost baseball season consisting of only 12 games, but you can not make up for irresponsibility if you end up getting someone hurt,” said Anderton. “The people I really feel for are the high school seniors who will never get to play their final year and have a senior day.”
The feeling around Nashville is kind of the same with most people. Although everyone misses baseball, most understand there is something bigger at play and life can return to normal afterward.
