The full list of baseball's mistakes and transgressions is too long to list here, even for a sportswriter who often traffics in long lists.
The health and financial consequences of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic have touched all aspects of American life. Baseball isn't the only business navigating unprecedented challenges, and ongoing nationwide protests against police brutality have put sports in their proper place.
But within baseball there's a growing frustration in the pace and style with which the sport is navigating a possible return in 2020.
Some remain optimistic _ "I'll see you at a game this summer, I'm sure of it," one insider told me _ but that positive outlook is harder to find than ever. Many who default toward hope are increasingly concerned that history will show baseball missed an opportunity to grow this year because the men who run the sport could not see beyond their own immediate self-interests.
This time, during a pandemic and social unrest, presents a chance for baseball to sell itself to America. Instead, the sport is confirming some worst assumptions.
"I can't believe some of this (expletive)," said a person with more than 30 years in the game with good relationships on both sides of the labor divide.
