Phillies: Rhys Hoskins speaks truth to power on the MLB’s impasse
Rhys Hoskins just wants the Phillies’ season to start.
Rhys Hoskins just wants to play ball.
To some, Major League Baseball’s contentious negotiations with their players over the parameters of a return to play schedule is a nuisance, a collection of millionaires angrily squabbling over who gets a bigger cut of a multi-billion-dollar pie but lost in this war of words is something rather simple: Some players, like Hoskins, just want to play the game they love.
After news broke that the MLBPA had officially rejected the League’s latest proposal to play a 72 game season – a situation made even worse by reports that several players and coaches have tested positive for COVID-19 – MLB commissioner Rob Manfred expressed doubts over whether the season would ultimately go down.
Clearly, that didn’t sit well with Hoskins.
In a rare showing of public dissent, the traditionally reserved Hoskins took to Twitter with a trio of, well, tweets expressing his displeasure with yet another round of fruitless negotiations, going so far as to call the entire process “laughable“.
Couldn’t agree more with a lot you, it’s not funny! But it’s getting to the point where it’s laughable. We want to play. We are ready. We have been ready! Unfortunately this has come at the expense of the fans and the game... which flat out sucks. We just want to play.
— Rhys Hoskins (@rhyshoskins) June 16, 2020
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And here’s the thing, Hoskins is right. It does suck that this work stoppage is coming at the expense of fans and the game as a whole. As fellow Fansider Michael Collins pointed out here, baseball barely recovered from its last lockout season in 1994 and may suffer an even sharper decline thanks to an already dipped interest in the sport in the new, fast-paced post-social media world.
If baseball was on right now, fans, writers, and casual watchers alike would have something to digitally congregate around. Gamblers could bet on pretty much everything, fantasy players could jumpstart their leagues in a streamlined format, and a slew of lapsed fans would dust off their old jerseys – or buy new ones – and dream of the day when they can buy tickets to watch the Philadelphia Phillies take the field at Citizens Bank Park.
Baseball is, was, and could once again be America’s pastime, and for the players stuck between accepting a poor deal that would negatively impact their future bargaining power and holding out, this limbo has to be beyond discouraging.
Sure, baseball can be incredibly lucrative, as noted Twitch streamer Bryce Harper will attest, but there are some players who just love to play. Hoskins may be one of the Phillies’ top players, and will probably earn a nine-figure contract at some point down the line, but the joy he expressed as a member of the Iron Pigs and over his magical 2016 summer of home run hitting bliss truly showcases a player who loves what he does.
If Hoskins had his way, he’d be on the diamond tomorrow and the fact he can’t does, in fact, suck.
Next. Casey Martin is a textbook boom or bust big league bat. dark
Regardless of whether you side with the players or the owners, it would be a total bummer to have to suffer through the remainder of 2020 without professional baseball. But do you know who it would be even more of a bummer for? The players who actually play baseball because they love baseball. Rhys Hoskins loves baseball and to have his fourth professional season effectively eliminated due to matters out of his control has to make him feel powerless – a feeling I’m sure we can all relate to over the last few months.