Watch now:
Player review: Phillies and Blue Jays postpone series over weekend due to Covid-19
(6:47)
The Chicago Cubs did not play the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday night as originally planned. Rather, the game was postponed after a delay, not due to COVID-19 related issues, but due to pouring rain. Unfortunately, rain delays have become COVID-19 related complications.
The Miami Marlins, who have suffered the worst COVID-19 outbreak in sports, complained about social distance disability during a rain delay against the Atlanta Braves just days before the season began. “We had all these guys and nowhere to go.” manager Don Mattingly told reporters. “So we have a million guys on the bench, so there is no way we are distancing ourselves socially.”
Perhaps Mattingly’s quote was on the mind of Anthony Rizzo when he went to Twitter on Thursday night to ask why players could sit at the clubhouse when it was apparent that the game would not be played.
“Player safety?” Rizzo tweeted on the league’s official account: “@MLB, let’s sit for more than 8 hours inside the clubhouse … I’m sure I can find that somewhere in the 113-page player safety protocol.”
Rizzo followed up on that tweet by sending a weather radar image to the Reds’ account, asking where they saw a window to play.
Rizzo, a cancer survivor, has been taking COVID-19 seriously. They even lead him to carry hand sanitizer when he’s working in his position. He also has a point here. Based on what is known about how COVID-19 transmits, the chances are greater when people are exposed to large crowds for long periods in closed or poorly ventilated areas at intimate distances. Slipping more than 30 people into the major league standard clubhouse for hours seems like a questionable idea (although players are supposed to be masked).
It’s evident if MLB takes Rizzo’s criticism seriously and starts making obvious calls about weather-related deferrals earlier than normal. It couldn’t hurt if the league wants to do everything possible to avoid that other kind of postponement.
