Brett Butler Interview - Part Two

Bill Shanks talked with former Braves outfielder Brett Butler in 2018. SEE VIDEO ABOVE.

Damn. Just damn.

This is tough. Sure, we all are sensitive to the health issues going on in our country. We all hate that anyone is sick, or God forbid dying from this virus.

I had the flu five years ago. It made me realize the difference between the flu and a really bad cold. I had thought I had the flu before, but I hadn’t. My doctor told me if I had been 20 years older, I likely would have died. It was awful.

If the Coronavirus is anything like that or worse than what I had, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

This national emergency has now impacted sports, as basketball and hockey have been put on pause. And now, two weeks before the scheduled start of the regular season, so has baseball.

While we all ache for those who are suffering physically, we baseball fans are also going to suffer. We wait all offseason for the season to change from winter to spring, to hear the pop of the baseball hitting the glove or the sound of the bat hitting the ball. We countdown to the day when pitchers and catchers report and then for the first pitch on opening day.

And now, we must wait a bit longer.

Look, this stinks. We know it’s not what we want. However, the sport had to take a backseat to a more serious problem. Everyone has to take a breath, sit back and see what happens for a few weeks before we can resume our normal activity. And that includes watching baseball games when we yearn for it the most.

We can still talk about it, get ready for it and preview what’s to come. We just don’t know when it’s going to happen. We’ll continue to get ready for the season here on BravesCentral, with Braves stories from former players and more content to get ready for 2020.

Listen to The Bill Shanks Show weekdays at 3:00 p.m. ET on Middle Georgia’s ESPN. You can listen online at TheSuperStations.com. Follow Bill on Twitter at @billshanks and you can email him at thebillshanksshow@yahoo.com.