John Steigerwald: Time to consider small-town venues for major league sports

Hit ’em where they ain’t.

That was Wee Willie Keeler’s hitting philosophy. He played right field for the Yankees in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was one of the best hitters in baseball history and inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939.

Maybe Major League Baseball could take Wee Willie’s approach when it comes time to start playing games again. The other major pro leagues could do the same.

There have been a lot of proposals for all the leagues, and they all seem to include, at least in the beginning, no fans in attendance.

So, if there are no fans and it’s going to be a TV production, why do you need seats? Why do games have to be played in large venues?

You might have noticed the densely populated areas seem to have the most cases of covid-19. That also is where the major pro sports venues are located.

So, why not go where they ain’t?

Why would the Pirates have to play games in an empty PNC Park?

There are eight counties north of Pittsburgh that have a combined 29 known cases of the virus. Warren and Cameron Counties have one each.

That’s not one death. That’s one CASE.

Somewhere in those eight counties there is a baseball field that could be converted to accommodate major league hitters.

Major League Baseball could send grounds crews in to make the field as close to major league quality as possible. TV networks easily could erect scaffolding and towers or use cranes for cameras.

Maybe Jefferson County, with four cases, has a field that would work as a real life Field of Dreams. There would have to be motels close enough to accommodate the players, but how much chance would there be of them catching covid-19 in a county with less than five known cases?

There are plenty of counties in every state, including New York and California, that have fewer than 100 cases, many with single digits. Why not start looking for fields in isolated counties with minimal numbers of infected people?

Wouldn’t that make the logistics of keeping teams and the media safe a lot easier?

How confident are you the NFL will be playing in front of fans in September? Can you see the Steelers opening training camp the last week of July in preparation for their game against the Cowboys on Aug. 6 in Canton, Ohio ?

In case you missed it, in Oregon, where 104 people have died of covid-19 and there are 16 counties with fewer than 13 cases, the governor just extended the lockdown until July 6.

How about the Giants or Jets playing home games in front of fans in September, not to mention preseason games in August?

Upstate, in Hamilton County, there are nine known cases of covid-19. There must be a high school football stadium nearby. All they need is a hundred yards and two goal posts. Placing cameras for the networks would be a non-issue.

Visiting teams could fly into New York City and never have to set foot in the airport. The sanitized bus would be waiting for them on the tarmac.

NHL teams need a good sheet of ice, and the NBA needs a good floor and two hoops. Why not do a search in the unaffected counties near each team and do whatever is needed/possible to upgrade the facilities and put teams where the virus ain’t?

Seeing major league teams playing on small-town fields, gyms and rinks might actually add some charm to what’s become a surreal sports landscape.

Ridiculous, you say?

What about the last two months hasn’t been ridiculous?