Local coach’s take
James Kuzniak shares his perspective of opening day.
James Kuzniak has a lifelong love for America's past time; the game of baseball.
Growing up playing the game, he would go on to play professionally before he made his transition into coaching; which has ultimately led him to become the head coach for the Gila Ridge Hawks varsity program.
His life in the game came to a sudden halt this past Spring, as the Coronavirus Pandemic put an end to the Hawks baseball season and now has many concerned about whether or not there will be a Fall season.
But, Major League Baseball is going forward with a condensed 60-game season; that opened up on Thursday and Friday.
Also serving as a volunteer coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks organization, Kuzniak sees this delayed start of baseball as a necessary 1st step of bringing back the culture of sports that was previously taken away almost completely 4 months ago.
He also believes this season will have a ripple effect on the local sports landscape with the MLB players leading by example in how they go about this season.
"I think just seeing the way the pros handled themselves as professionals and as role models, I think that's really going to help in kind of ease some of the fears that maybe parents or athletes have; or administration, coaches, state associations. So, I think that it is good to see those practices put in place. And then, if they are successful, as they've been so far, I think it's only going to help us moving forward as a country and as a community of sports."
The MLB is continuing to implement strict testing and social distancing guidelines for it's players, coaches and various team staffs.
As unpredictable as COVID-19 has proven to be, Kuzniak's familiarity with the Diamondback organization alone makes him confident that every big league franchise is taking every precaution to ensure the entire season and the playoffs will play out.
"I think for the most part, there might be some minor issues here and there. Maybe a positive case or two. But, a lot of it is done out of abundancy of caution. I think the season is going to make it all the way through. I'm pretty confident that they'll make it through the playoffs and we will have a World Series champion."
