Still wondering whether there's going to be baseball

Young students should be filing into Camden Yards this morning for the annual "Weather Day" event at the ballpark. A chance to watch baseball after they learn about barometric pressure.

Sun is in the forecast with temperatures in the upper 60s. It's been a little chilly for the second week of May, but no one would be complaining.

The weather doesn't really matter. We're stuck at home, wondering whether there's going to be a season. So yes, it's "Whether Day."

My optimism fluctuates like the forecast. I feel good about a second spring training in Sarasota or Baltimore and reduced schedule, and then the front shifts. I feel like a kid listening to the radio in the morning and waiting for the announcement of the school closures.

I grew up in Anne Arundel County, so mine was among the first, right after Allegany.

I felt sorry for those poor saps in Wicomico and Worchester.

The Orioles would be completing a three-game series against the Indians, followed by an off-day and a weekend set versus the Rays at Tropicana Field. The three-city trip also would include stops in Minnesota and Toronto.

The next homestand also is going to be cancelled, which deprives fans of receiving an Orioles beach towel, fanny pack and cap, as well as the Jim Palmer bobblehead. The promotions could resurface later this summer if games actually begin. And if fans actually are permitted inside the ballpark.

There are more pressing matters, but a lot of planning goes into it. And these were opportunities to attract bigger crowds during a rebuild that's cutting deeper into attendance.

Losing the gate from the Sept. 6 celebration of the 25th anniversary of 2,131, including a Cal Ripken Jr. bobblehead, would really be a low blow. The Orioles could have used the entire weekend to honor him.

If you build it up, they will come.

I suppose they could make it a 26th anniversary celebration next year, but baseball tends to prefer nice round numbers.

If Major League Baseball is tracking the Korea Baseball Organization and floating it like a weather balloon for its own potential return, there must be some new concerns brewing this week. Reports stated that the KBO is braced for a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic and the idea of allowing fans into games by early June no longer seems feasible.

How can MLB reopen spring training camps and start the regular season if the health crisis won't relinquish its hold? Fans or no fans. Media or no media.

Players would have to give their approval to potentially be put at risk, to be quarantined away from the ballpark, to have their pay impacted in extreme measures by a schedule that's cut in half. The mere mention of revenue sharing is going to lead to a fight.

May as well toss in the phrase "salary cap" and really get the fur flying.

And players aren't the only ones with health concerns. They aren't the only ones who could be exposed to another wave. They just carry the highest profiles.

Hurdles? Yes, there are plenty of them.

The season forecast remains cloudy.