I turn on the television at 3:40 ET on Monday afternoon and watch Chris Bassitt, in the gleaming Kelly Green A jersey, warming up to face the Los Angeles Angels in an afternoon game on a bright sunny day in Oakland , California. Mike Trout will reach second place for the Angels. Shohei Ohtani is back in the lineup as the designated hitter, the day after he failed to record an out on his official return to pitching. Albert Pujols, in recognition of Father Time, is hitting sixth for the Angels, but he’s still Albert Pujols and we should appreciate every turn at bat as his MLB career ends.
It’s a baseball game, and I think I’m happy that it’s in that reassuring background noise that creates the rhythm of summer for sports fans.
I also see it with a huge pit of anguish stirring in my guts.
It had been a wonderful opening baseball weekend. Kyle Hendricks threw a full-game shutout on Friday to give David Ross a victory in his first game as the Cubs’ coach. Eric Hosmer, in those beautiful new Padres streaks, hit six runs in the first game in San Diego. The Braves’ Marcell Ozuna surprised Edwin Diaz and the Mets with a two-out homer that tied the game in the ninth inning on Saturday, and even the cardboard cutouts at Citi Field wept with misery. In the boldest of events, the Rays’ Ji-Man Choi, a left-handed hitter, whirled around to hit the Blue Jays left-hander, Anthony Kay, with his right hand, and somehow, improbably, hit a home run. .
The first weekend of our short season also produced this unusual result: for the first time since 1954, neither team started 3-0. Each team won at least one game. The Giants even split their four-game series with the Dodgers. It was a fun, interesting, and exciting start to this chaotic race in the postseason. It could actually work.
Then we woke up Monday morning to the sad reality of 2020. After four players tested positive for the coronavirus before Sunday’s game, seven more Marlins players and two coaches tested positive, according to a report by Jeff Passan of ESPN. The Marlins’ two-game series in Miami against the Orioles was postponed. The Yankees and Phillies game in Philadelphia, where the Marlins had just played, was also postponed. It took only three days for the worst case, a major outbreak, to get to the sport.
The news hit baseball harder than a Giancarlo Stanton home run.
“My level of concern went from an eight to a 12,” said emotional Nationals manager Dave Martinez before his team’s game. “This really comes home now that you’ve seen half a team get infected and go from one city to another. I have friends on that Miami team, and it really sucks. I’m not going to lie or sugarcoat anything. It’s not good for them. No it’s good for no one. I have guys in our clubhouse who are also really concerned, and for me this is my family. “
Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke said this should serve as a wake-up call for the players and that “he was hoping it would scare them a little bit.”
“We have been good at this, but we could be better,” he said.
In fact, it was clear from watching the games over the weekend that players had not adhered to all the protocols outlined in the 113-page manual, like wearing skins on the bench and avoiding crashing all five. Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo even said Monday he was not overly concerned. “No, it doesn’t make me more cautious. I still want to go out and have fun, trying to make this as normal as possible,” he said, echoing large swaths of America, where a somewhat arrogant attitude towards the coronavirus persists.
However, A first baseman Matt Olson said Monday morning after hearing news from the Marlins that he was considering wearing a mask while playing on the field, and he did. Like some other players, Trout had already been wearing a mask while on base, and when he came first against the Athletics, we saw him and Olson side by side in their masks, the perfect symbol of all this fragile endeavor.
There was also outrage. Dodgers pitcher David Price, who had already chosen to exit the season, tweeted his displeasure: “Part of the reason I’m at home right now is because the health of the players wasn’t putting itself first. I can see that has not changed. ” “
Washington Post columnist Thomas Boswell wrote: “Underneath all the discussions and plans drawn up to reopen various sports – MLB, NBA and NHL now, and NFL and college football by the end of next month – it has been a naive assumption. : If the virus hit a team, it would infect one or two players. Maybe three. But the feeling was that things would still be manageable. A team could still be formed. When did he become the highest of all targets? humans? “
Commissioner Rob Manfred entered the MLB Network and tried to quell any belief that the season was suddenly in jeopardy. He said the outbreak was not a “nightmare” scenario. “We created protocols anticipating that we would have positive tests sometime during the season,” Manfred said. “The protocols were created to allow us to play through those positives. We believe the protocols are adequate to keep our players safe.”
Manfred pointed to the expanded rosters and group teams of 60 players can take advantage of filling their current 30-man rosters as a lot of backup to cover the Marlins. In other words, losing 11 players is not enough to destroy the season, at least not yet. The line we have all wondered about is still unknown.
I don’t blame baseball, and by baseball, I mean the owners, the league and team officials, and the players, for wanting to try to make this work. I want it to work. But it feels like a tightrope in the middle of a hurricane. In fact, league sources indicated that the outbreak in the Marlins may have started since the team’s charter flight after Wednesday’s exhibition game in Atlanta. If that’s correct, it’s a reminder of the delicate nature of keeping everyone virus-free. A stewardess, a girlfriend who spends the day on a crowded beach, a waiter at the hotel … it doesn’t take long for half the team to suddenly be out of action.
We need to prepare for more outbreaks. For example, maybe all teams don’t end up playing the full list of 60 games. The Marlins and Orioles are slated to play in Baltimore on Wednesday and Thursday, so if the Marlins pass their new round of testing, those teams may play two doubles to make up the lost games. Similarly, the Phillies and Yankees play each other Wednesday and Thursday at Yankee Stadium. There are additional days off during the season, but obviously the league wants to limit additional trips as much as possible. If an extra precaution means postponing more games or canceling them entirely, then postpone or cancel more games.
As we worry about the future of baseball in 2020 and the likelihood of playing this season, the virus continues to spread, worse in some states than others. As I write this, the New York Times reports a 13% increase in new cases compared to 14 days ago and a 27% increase in deaths from 14 days ago. Total deaths in the United States are close to 150,000.
However, I am seeing Bassitt pitch four scoreless innings. Mark Canha home runs and flips his bat. Trout goes from 0 to 4 with a walk, Pujols’ singles and five A relievers complete the absolute victory. Later that night, I see Evan White of the Mariners jump over a Josh James fastball for the first home run of his career. The Braves’ Mike Foltynewicz, an All-Star two seasons ago, is hit on his season debut and is then surprisingly appointed for his assignment. We received an update that Stephen Strasburg released “very lightly” on Monday.
I think of Martinez, who had heart surgery last year on his way to the Nationals’ title for the World Series. “I am afraid,” he had said. “I go from here to home, back every day. That’s all I do. I wash my hands. I went from 47 times a day to probably 99 times a day. I wear my mask wherever I go.”
The games continue. The news continues. None of that makes me feel good.
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