As the 2019 baseball season began to wind down, there teams and there are fans that focus on the playoffs with hopes their team ends up in the World Series. For others the countdown begins to when the season ends, and they can begin their off-season activities and tackle that honey-do list that has been accumulating since February when pitchers and catchers reported. But for the diehard fans whose team may have come up a little short of the post season they start to dream of next year with the hopes that the baseball Gods will smile upon them and their favorite team.

When the 2020 season schedule was announced in late 2020, I gazed at each game date imagining what I would be doing and how the team would be playing. All the disappointment of 2019 washed away like a gentle rain shower. With the last recorded out on September 29th I put away my scorebook and cleaned out my seat cushion to store for the off-season. My mind was already looking ahead to March 26th, 2020 when the Diamondbacks would open the season against the Atlanta Braves in the first of a four-game series. This would be followed by a three-game set against the San Francisco Giants to start the year at Chase Field.
As Spring Training started, I eagerly watched as the roster began to take shape. I was counting down the days and hours and minutes until that Opening night. But then things took an ominous turn. The Coronavirus began to spread across the land and suddenly Spring Training just disappeared. A mere week and a half from Opening Day and baseball season was gone. I remember in the first couple of days after the closure of Spring Training my Diamondbacks ticket representative called to tell me my season tickets were being mailed. Two days after that she called back to say that my tickets were sitting in the stack to go out as soon as team employees went back to work. That day never came. If I close my eyes, I can see my tickets in an envelope emblazoned with the Diamondbacks logo, my mailing address typed on the outside patiently waiting to be delivered. This will be only the second time in the history of the Diamondbacks that I don’t have ticket stubs from a baseball season in Phoenix.

Like most other fans I have tried to fill my time with other activities, but life just feels incomplete. Every night when it’s time for first pitch I look at my watch and sigh. Granted, there are much more important things in life than a baseball game but for me it was and is a stress relief. For a few short hours I can forget about the troubles in the world and bask in the sights and sounds of baseball. In times of national troubles, baseball helps to ground us and give us something to look forward to, for hope that tomorrow will be a better day. That day seems to be on perpetual delay; at least until today.

Today Major League Baseball announced the new and revised regular season schedule and with it renewed hope. There is finally something to look forward to besides the daily statistics of a pandemic that is still ravaging this country and state.

The 2020 season is going to be something different than anything anyone has ever experienced. The old adage that the baseball season is a marathon not a sprint has been thrown out like a stale bag of peanuts. The new revised schedule is not just a sprint but a drag race. Sixty games from start to finish with only six days off for the entire season. No more being patient or letting players work through their slow starts. Instead it will be the hottest nine players in the lineup every night. Every game will feel like it has play-off implications because it probably really does.

What will be odd is that this will be the first Opening Day I will not be able to attend. Every year since 1998 I have been in attendance for the Diamondbacks home opener. The 2020 season will be played in empty stadiums across the country to protect the players and the fans from the pandemic. It is heartbreaking to think about it. Chase Field is so special especially for Opening Day. The crowd is electric, and the stands are filled with emotion and hope for the upcoming season.

In this new reality the Diamondbacks open the season on July 24th in San Diego against the Padres for a four-game series. That is followed by a two-game set in Texas at the Rangers new ballpark. The first “home” game will be against the Dodgers on July 30th. After four games with Los Angeles the Houston Astros come to town. Sadly no one will be in attendance to boo them for their sign stealing scandal from 2017.

Arizona will play the teams from the National League West for 40 games, 10 games per team. The remaining 20 games will be played against the American League West to minimize travel for teams. Interestingly the Diamondbacks play Texas for four games (two at home and two away). The same with the Oakland Athletics (two home, two away). Arizona does not have to travel to Seattle, the Mariners come to Phoenix for three games starting on September 11th.

The final road trip of the season has the Diamondbacks going to Anaheim to play the Los Angeles Angels for three then to Houston for three. The last week of the season Arizona will be at home with two against the Rangers followed by an off day then ending the season with three against the Colorado Rockies. In an odd scheduling twist the Diamondbacks have three of their six off days in the last 2 weeks of the season.

The NL West portion of the schedule also has its share of oddities. Of the 10 games with the Dodgers only three are at Dodger Stadium. Of the 10 against the Padres only three are at Chase Field. Arizona only has three games at Coors Field August 10-12. And the Giants only have three games at Chase Field in this abbreviated season.

There is a lot of intrigue in this schedule and there are some matchups that could be very interesting to watch. Given the caliber of the NL West and AL West teams the Diamondbacks have a good opportunity to make the playoffs if they play as well on the field as the matchups look on paper. Maybe after all this time and all the challenges of 2020 we finally have something to look forward to at least until the murder hornets arrive and ruin everything.