An October like no other

 An October like no other.

What will the next thirty-one days be like? Can we really plan ahead?

As an Arizona Wildcat fan and a diehard baseball fan, I have looked forward to every October. What is there not to like? Arizona football...NFL games...MLB playoffs...followed by the World Series. Cooler days...beautiful sunsets. You name it. One of the best months of the year.

Maybe not this time around. Nine months into 2020 and our eyes are anything but. We can't say for sure if the road ahead is clear or more danger awaits. Over 210,000 lives are lost due to the coronavirus. Even our president finds himself in Walter Reed Hospital after testing positive for the deadly disease.

Baseball remains the only constant. Somehow, the MLB finished a short regular season where 30 teams played 60 games, followed by 16 exciting Wild Card games, leaving us with eight teams left to battle it out for a World Series berth.

In three weeks, I head for Phoenix to play in my 13th Men's Senior Baseball League (MSBL) World Series. Even the MSBL World Series has taken a hit. Normally, 330 teams are on hand for the prestigious event. This time around 200 teams will participate in the 33rd running of the annual event. Face masks will be worn in and around the dugouts as we play our games at all the major league spring training grounds through out the city.

We will play inside empty stadiums and hover in our hotel rooms at night, much like the major league teams have done the past five weeks. But we will play on.

College football has yet to start out West. Will there be games this month or not? Will college basketball follow or not?

Our world is topsy, turvy.

The month will end with Halloween. The Ghosts and Goblins may stay home and remain six feet apart.

Note: Up next the Division Series gets underway next week. The eight major league teams: Tampa Bay vs. New York Yankees; Houston vs. Oakland; LA Dodgers vs. San Diego and Miami vs. Atlanta.

Good luck to all eight teams.