Major League Baseball is back, so Div had to go

There was a time when, none of us who love the game could have imagined a summer without pro baseball. I mean, after all, it is America's favorite pastime.

But, for the last few months, it has looked more, and more like Major League Baseball was going to have to be shelved for 2020.

First, it was COVID-19 that stopped the baseball season from ever really starting. And while COVID is still in play, for a while, it looked like once again, it was going to be money and greed that would prevent a baseball season this summer.

In fact, for a few weeks in June, it looked so much like there wasn't going to be MLB this year that, I actually thought my best friend Ryan Divish was going to go from just visiting Havre to living here until the start of the 2021 season.

There were days when, between COVID, Rob Manfred and the Major Leaguer Baseball Players Association all screwing things up, it looked like Ryan wasn't going to be covering Mariners games for an entire year.

And here's why I don't know if I could have handled that.

First, I love baseball and I miss it. I miss watching the Cubs, I miss watching the ESPN Sunday Night Game, I miss the box scores, and posting the MLB standings on my sports page. I miss it all.

I'm sure all of you who love pro baseball feel the same.

So, the fact that, hopefully MLB has gotten its act together enough to play out a COVID-shortened 2020 season, that has given me some joy.

Had they not gotten their act together though, there's a chance Ryan would have been taking what he called a "sabbatical" here in Havre, and, as much fun as I have hanging out with my best friend, I don't know if I could have handled six to eight months of it.

Why?

Let's just say, it's tiring trying to keep up with my good buddy all the time. I know occasionally, I just have to wave the white flag in surrender, because, Ryan, he just lives life at a much faster pace then I do. And I'll leave it that.

Of course, I'm mostly kidding, but there is some truth to it. Ryan's pace of life reminds me of what Duke legend Mike Krzyzewski said about Michael Jordan when he coached him on the Dream Team:

"I don't know when he ever slept. I never saw him go to sleep on the whole trip."

That is Ryan and, at our age, bless him for being able to keep that pace of life up.

There were some perks to having him home for the entire month of June, however. Patsy's baking and cooking, he was integral in the installation of my underground sprinklers, and, I had someone to golf with every day, and not only that, but someone who I could routinely beat by 10 strokes.

By the way, for those of you who have found yellow Bridgestone balls in abundance at Prairie Farms of late, you have Divish to thank for them.

Most of all, though, it was a whole lot of fun to have Ryan home for a time. It's kind of like being able to go back in time. And, with how depressing the past few months have been, I'll admit, Ryan being back in Havre for the last month made June a lot more fun, and I know I'm not the only one that feels that way.

Still, all good things must come to an end, and while we had to say goodbye to Div this week, the trade off is, we get to have a Major League Baseball season.

I'm happy about that. I want sports to return, even if they have to do it without fans, and in anything but normal times.

I'm also genuinely happy for my best friend. Baseball being back meant he had to leave Havre again, but it also means he gets to go back to doing what he does best - writing and reporting on the Seattle Mariners. He gets to go back to being mad at his Twitter following for all of the crazy questions they ask him on his feed, he gets to go back to making an occasional appearance on MLB Network, and on local Seattle TV and radio, and, honestly, he's going to cover what will perhaps be an MLB season that, because of the coronavirus, is certainly going to go down in history as one of the most unique, if not the most unique, seasons in the game's great history.

Indeed. When we look back on the MLB season of 2020, stories by Ryan about the Mariners this season will be etched in the annals of history, and that's something that all journalists hope for.

Most of all, though, I'm just happy Div gets to go back to work. He deserves it, and while I really hate inflating his ego, he's a really, really good baseball beat writer, and as much as I love to tease and rib him, what I just said about him is no laughing matter. Div is one of the best beat writers in baseball in my humble opinion.

And while selfishly I would have liked him to stick around a little longer, so I could keep dominating him on the golf course, so I could have stolen a couple more of his shirts, or just so I could keep hanging out with my best friend, the fact that he's gone does mean baseball is back, and that's good for me, and it's really good for Ryan.