McConnell Tells MLB Boss: 'America Needs Baseball'

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wants baseball and football to get on the field, and he says Major League Baseball's opening day could take place around the start of July.

"I think there will be a college football season. They may have nobody in the stands or reduced attendance, but my understanding is, particularly in the ACC, which I follow, that they're anticipating having a season," the Kentucky Republican said during an interview Thursday on Louisville radio station WLCL.

"More immediately, I called the commissioner of baseball a couple of weeks ago and I said, 'America needs baseball. It's the sign of getting back to normal. Any chance?' And you may have heard, there is discussion about having an abbreviated season beginning around the Fourth of July, where the teams would either play at their spring training sites in Arizona or Florida or play at home to largely empty stadiums."

Baseball's opening day had been scheduled for March 26. The start has been pushed back indefinitely due the new coronavirus pandemic.

"I think there's an active discussion under way to salvage part of baseball season, and if we can salvage part of baseball, surely we can salvage football, as well. There would still be at the bigger schools, like U of L (Louisville) and UK, (Kentucky) television revenue, which would help.

"But I think the country needs sports. We've all missed that during the pandemic, and the sooner we can get at least some of our sports, and I think the one eligible to begin first would be baseball. It would be a great morale booster for the country and an indication that we're going to begin to get back to normal."