Between December and early March, MLB fans didn’t know whether they would get to watch meaningful baseball games this season or not.
The league and the Players Association (MLBPA) took months to find common ground and approve a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that would guarantee baseball would be played in the 2022-26 period.
After weeks of threats, stalled talks, passivity, long discussions, disagreements, and animosity (yes, it was rough), a new CBA was approved and sealed on March 10, and spring training started shortly after that.
For all the league’s threats of missing games and not starting the season on time, the 2022 campaign will start with only a week of delay.
Originally, baseball would being on March 31, but negotiations took longer than the parts anticipated, and some adjustments had to be done to the calendar.
Baseball Will Be Back In A Week!
Yes, the season will start a week after the initial date, on April 7, but thanks to doubleheaders and a few days into October that MLB decided to take, they will be able to play the whole 162-game schedule, a win for everybody involved.
Fans, after all they went through, will get to enjoy a full season, and players will get their payment in full.
Those two groups were the ones that had the worst time from December to March, but in the end, it all worked out.
Baseball will officially start on April 7, only a week from now.
This time next week, it begins for real. pic.twitter.com/gjB9aRDqrL
— MLB (@MLB) March 31, 2022
America is glad that it didn’t lose its favorite pastime, and while it won’t be easy to draw some fans back into the show, the game should be healthy enough to survive for a long time despite owners’ best efforts to kill it.
NEXT: Bryce Harper Continues To Mash Baseballs In Spring Training
