Rozner: Baseball questions and perhaps a few answers

So many questions, so little time.

Check that.

So many questions, nothing but time.

The next two months are going to be very quiet, so there will never be another time like this — hopefully — to answer your questions, and I've received enough to fill up an empty cruise ship.

And since we began discussing recently the lockout of 1990 and the strike of 1994-95, and how it may translate to an interrupted spring training and delayed season, let's have a gander at both work stoppages.

The players were locked out in 1990, thus postponing spring training by 32 days, before the two sides agreed to a new CBA on March 18.

About half the 40-man roster was in camp two days later and by March 21 there were full-team workouts with a few players missing, given until the 23rd to report.

By then, there would be only two weeks left of spring training, which extended one week into the season, Opening Day delayed by seven days.

Regular-season games were made up on off-days, in doubleheaders and the season was extended by three days, finishing on a Wednesday.

But the full schedule was completed. That required the players to waive CBA restrictions on off-days, which were chewed up throughout the season.

Spring-training games began only five days after players reported and camp was 19 days in all, proof that six or seven weeks of spring training is certainly unnecessary.

What we learned is that pitchers can be ready in three weeks, though in most cases not ready to pitch 9 innings, which — believe it or not — was the goal 30 years ago.

They were able to go longer than you would have thought, and the Cubs' Greg Maddux, for example, went 7⅔ in his first official start on 94 pitches.

Rosters were expanded by three players for the first month, from 24 to 27 — yes, 24 was the standard until 1991 — so managers would have pitching-staff flexibility.

One would think expanded rosters and extra pitchers would be essential again in 2020, perhaps all season, especially now that starters are asked to go only 5 innings.

In 1995, most players did not arrive in Arizona until April 3 or 4, a few days after Judge Sonia Sotomayor issued an injunction wiping out a CBA unilaterally imposed by the owners, and just a day before the replacement players were set to take the field in regular-season games.

With only three weeks of spring training, the season began April 26 and was shortened to 144 games.

Maddux, by then pitching in Atlanta for Bobby Cox and coming off three straight Cy Youngs, averaged 5⅓ innings and 72 pitches his first 3 starts before Cox turned him loose and he averaged 8⅔ innings and 98 pitches over his next 6 starts, posting a 1.73 ERA with a WHIP of 0.67.

It was a solid start en route to his fourth straight Cy Young season.

Nothing like that will be expected from starting pitchers when they begin again, if indeed there is a 2020 season.

Assuming they can begin training again in 6-8 weeks, or whenever they're allowed, some will wonder if teams could just forget Arizona and Florida and train in their home cities.

Logistically, it will be a lot easier than trying to find lodging for players in Arizona or Florida. Teams like the Cubs and White Sox will have a difficult time getting their pitchers ready in cold weather, but maybe by the end of May we'll have decent temps here.

The teams do have indoor mounds to use in Chicago, but Arizona has the big facilities with many fields, and you'll need that with the minor leaguers also returning for training.

In theory, you could hold a small camp in Chicago for the 40-man roster and play exhibition games here, weather permitting, and have the minor-leaguers in Arizona.

Players will be in shape and hitters will only need a week to get ready, but if starting pitchers aren't tossing at home, they'll be hard-pressed to get going without three weeks of camp.

In any case, we're definitely looking at a shortened season. Unlike the NBA and NHL, which could play until August if they want to, MLB can't depend on reasonable weather in October and November and would still need to wrap the season by the end of September.

Plus, there's the postseason TV schedule to worry about.

In the past, there has been talk of neutral-site postseason games and especially the World Series, but good luck getting owners of prospective postseason teams agreeing to such an idea.

So hopefully that answered some of your questions and provides some context for what's going to occur as baseball returns.

Whenever that might be.