Odds of seeing Atlanta Braves in person are fading

Georgia COVID-19 case counts suggest that Atlanta Braves Truist Park will be a lonely place.

The hope here is that our Atlanta Braves will be able to generate their own enthusiasm for their games despite the lack of crowd noise.  But that’s all going to have to come from within without the roar of friendly voices behind them.

Several weeks ago, I was proposing an end to the MLB/MLBPA stalemate that included tiered provisions depending on the level of spectators that would be allowed into stadiums.

There was some real hope that we could start with 10% capacity and then ramp that up in stages along the way… perhaps to half capacity around playoff time.

Unfortunately, the month of June has gone to extraordinary lengths to dash those hopes.

Check out the chart in this Atlanta Journal-Constitution report:  Georgia positive tests are now double the daily levels reached back in April and May, and the decline since then has been erased completely this month.

What’s even more concerning is that while the early reports indicated that warmer weather kills the virus, it appears that this nasty bug is finding ways to do quite well, even in the heat of the deep South.

So any chance the authorities will allow stadiums to be filled with shoulder-to-shoulder fans?  Extremely unlikely.

Accordingly, watching the behavior of players is going to be … well, it might be comical if it weren’t so sad (and necessary):

• Freddie Freeman air hugs?
• Ozzie Albies warning off Ronald Acuna from touching him (so instead, he’ll probably pelt him with sunflower seeds tossed from a plastic-gloved hand)
• Much more “glove talking” on the mound in lieu of masks
• Walk-off celebrations in which 26-to-30 players are all dancing around… six feet from one another.

On that latter point, I might expect to see some teams come up with their own choreography for such post-game celebrations since the line of high-fives will be no more; dogpiles on home plate — gone; dirt baths?  Nope.

Heck, even getting doused with the Gatorade/Powerade jug is probably out, too.

There’s just going to be so much different this Summer that it’s hard to imagine it all.

But baseball starts with the fans… and we’re just not going to be able to share that experience in stadium together.