Fans were supposed to file into Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock tonight for the start of another Arkansas Travelers baseball season.
The aromas of hot dogs, popcorn and peanuts and the sight of a freshly manicured field were supposed to greet them. A three-game series against the Amarillo Sod Poodles, last year's Texas League champions, was supposed to get underway.
A newly assembled crop of Seattle Mariners prospects was supposed to take the field, and Dave Berg was supposed to take his place inside the dugout on the first-base line and manage them, in what would have been his first game as the Travelers' new skipper.
Berg will instead be at his home tonight in Roanoke, Texas, just north of Fort Worth, with not much to do, like so many others in his profession.
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This is his new normal for now.
There is no baseball. There are no sports.
Berg's first season with the Travs won't begin for a while -- if it ever begins at all. The coronavirus pandemic has put everything on pause.
"It's a little hard right now," Berg told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "My whole life I've always played or been coaching. I'm just not used to being home at this time.
"You can't really go do what you normally do in an offseason. It's a little difficult to stay sane, I guess."
Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball have each suspended their seasons, although lately there's been rumblings that MLB could try to start things up next month in Arizona with no fans. How the minor league season would be affected is unclear.
Until any start date comes to fruition -- if it ever does -- about the only things going on for Berg at the moment involve spending more time with his wife and two kids and cooking -- activities he's rarely gotten to do during this time of year for the past decade -- as well as calling players and researching more online.
Berg said he's still being paid, too, as are all minor-league managers and coaches. Minor-league players are still being paid $400 per week through the end of May.
"I think my last check went in," Berg said with a chuckle.
Berg, 49, was supposed to begin his eighth season as a minor league skipper, and his fourth season working for the Mariners. New pitching coach Alon Leichman and new hitting coach Joe Thurston were each set to make their Travs debuts tonight, too.
Berg, who spent seven seasons in the majors as a utility player, was the manager for Low-A West Virginia in 2019, and before that he was Class AAA Tacoma's hitting coach for two seasons.
"Bergie's gonna do a great job here," Mariners Manager Scott Servais told the Democrat-Gazette in January at the Travs' annual hot stove banquet in downtown Little Rock. "Certainly is a guy that had a nice major league career, got his coaching career going being a hitting coach, managing last year."
It was very likely the Travs were again going to be rich in young talent, although an official roster had not yet been announced.
Last year's team -- which was loaded with top-30 Seattle prospects throughout the season, including a handful ranked inside the top 100 in baseball -- finished with the best overall record in the Texas League at 81-57, including a first-half title in the north division, before falling to the Tulsa Drillers in the league's semifinals.
This season's roster had a good chance of seeing plenty more top-30 prospects, including early on Seattle's top prospect and the 11th-rated prospect in baseball, outfielder Jarred Kelenic, as well as right-handed pitcher Logan Gilbert and catcher Cal Raleigh. Outfielder Julio Rodriguez, Seattle's second-rated prospect, and right-handed pitcher George Kirby also appeared primed this year for Class AA call-ups at some point, among others. Kelenic, Rodriguez, Gilbert and Kirby are each top 100 overall prospects in the sport.
Berg said he and the players would have arrived in Little Rock on Sunday had the season not been suspended, and their first workout as a team would have been Monday.
"I love the Double-A level," Berg said. "I think that's probably my most favorite level to be at. I just think the competition there is off the charts. ... I felt like we were, without naming names, I thought we were gonna have a pretty good team."
He said he's staying optimistic that baseball will come back.
Berg noted back in January during his appearance at the hot stove banquet that he'd been through Little Rock multiple times before but had never explored the city and didn't know much about it.
He'll have to wait longer for that now.
"I hope we play some sort of a season -- maybe pick up and, shoot, if it is 100 games or 80 games, it's better than nothing," Berg said. "I truly am disappointed, because I was really looking forward to being there right now, and I wish we were in Little Rock right now."
Sports on 04/09/2020