Hudson Head warms up in Spring Training. (Photo: David Jay)
For nearly 17 years, our schedule at MadFriars has followed a certain rhythm.
Just a month ago, we published our first coverage from Peoria as minor league minicamp opened. Our Top 20 prospects list went live at the start of March. Four of us were scheduled to be at Spring Training this week and we were already looking forward to getting into our daily game coverage along with interviews, analysis and breaking news stories throughout the season.
It goes without saying, these are not normal times.
COVID-19 has put a stop to baseball, and with it, the news and content we would normally have for our readers and subscribers have slowed to a crawl.
In the coming weeks and months, we will focus on telling relevant stories when there is something newsworthy. That said, we recognize that you have no need for, in the words of our new contributor Mark Wilkens, a list of our “Five Favorite San Diego Chicken Moments,” and neither do we.
Our guide at this time will be simple: if we aren’t interested in reading it, we aren’t going to ask you to do so.
As disappointed as we are to scale back, just imagine how hard it will be on our wives and significant others who were looking forward to getting us out of the house!
One potential silver lining in all of this is that we’ve loaded up on discount fares to get to the affiliates later in the year, stretching your subscription and sponsorship dollars. Once the season does begin, we intend to have more on-site coverage than ever before.
Kevin Charity’s preferred dining choice in Lake Elsinore. Photo Credit: Trip Advisor.
We hope everyone is safe and finding ways to navigate this new normal. If you have suggestions about what you would like to read, you can let us know here, on Twitter, by email or find Kevin Charity practicing social distancing at the KFC drive-through.
Thank you for being part of the MadFriars community.
John, David, Ben, Kevin, Travis, Marcus, Mark and Ryan
As a lifelong fan of all things baseball and the Pads, this suspension of my favorite sport is killing me. Always appreciate the articles MadFriars staff provide, never ending enthusiasm and entertainment. Hoping all of you and the Pads players, coaches and organization are staying healthy and in shape. Please if MadFriars could interview, probably by phone, any or all of the Pads organization to give us their stories on how they are handling the shutdown and are working out, I would be interested. What is AJ doing? Looking at any trades? Why is baseball thinking about taking away the draft? Is it just suspended or postponed? Hopefully baseball starts up by June 1! Go Pads!
Thank you, sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I have some ideas for next week, one of them was interviewing all five of the minor league announcers to try to get some type of update. David has a piece he is working on how the Padres are approaching the draft in light of the recent developments. As for the big club, there really isn’t a lot to report. For the most part, they are trying to adhere pretty close to what MLB is putting out, but if we hear anything different we will put it out. Again, thank you for all the nice words. john