Balk in Baseball Coronavirus Talks, July 19 Start Off

NEW YORK (AP) — An email from baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred to union head Tony Clark led to a balk in the drawn-out talks to start the pandemic-delayed season,  which now won't begin by July 19. The executive committee of the players’ association was set to vote and reject Major League Baseball’s latest offer for a 60-game season. Players want 70 games and are worried that if the 2020 season is cut short, the deal being negotiated would lock in innovations for 2021. Manfred wrote that if fewer than the agreed-upon number of games are played, the 2021 changes would be voided.