Let’s be honest. When it comes to the Big Four of American sports, Major League Baseball is the dullest of the bunch.

Compared to professional football, basketball and hockey, baseball is about as exciting as watching a cat take a nap. For hours at a stretch, often the most exciting thing to happen in a baseball game might be how a player scratches his crotch.

But for the first time since April 1947, when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in the sport, baseball matters to America again. And it has nothing to do with the sport itself.

Baseball may be the only canary we have left in the coal mine that is about to become our public school system drilling during a global pandemic.

While basketball and hockey have committed to playing in a “bubble,” baseball, like football, plans to play in its home stadiums, travel together to away games, and return to their homes when the game concludes.

Kind of like a schoolyard.

So far, the results are daunting. The NHL doesn’t report a single COVID case, and the NBA’s last was July 20. They have missed no scheduled games.

Baseball, however, has been staggered by the virus. Just two weeks into the MLB season, and the league has had to cancel, delay or reschedule 20% of its season due to the pandemic. The St. Louis Cardinals announced this week it had seven players and six coaches test positive. The Florida Marlins lost more than half its roster to the virus last week and had to scour its farm system just to field a team.

College football is already rethinking its return strategy. UConn became the first Division I NCAA team to cancel its entire season due to coronavirus.

Meanwhile, students in some schools are already returning to opened classrooms. States like Mississippi, which opened some districts last week, have done  exactly what Trump did with the pandemic: punt the problem to a lower-level grunt. Governor Tate Reeves (R) announced that individual school districts will have to decide whether to open, and how.

Don’t even ask about a school bus plan; there isn’t one.

Have bucks ever passed so quickly?

So we have baseball to see how well COVID plays with others. And keep in mind: These boys have the best resources, the best doctors, the best protective equipment and the best medical advice to help them play safely. A far cry from a Mississippi jungle gym.

Batter up.