Britt Ghiroli of Athletic has what could very well end up being the most interesting story of the past four months without the Major Leagues: Some players, including a handful of stars, secretly played baseball during the shutdown between March and July. Players met at Cressey’s Sports Performance Gym in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and played a few games at Palm Beach Gardens High School.
The roster of players is extensive but includes Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Corey Kluber, Paul Goldschmidt and Giancarlo Stanton. Other players who participated were Luke Jackson, Logan Morrison, Richard Bleier, Robert Gsellman, Michael Wacha, Josh James, Taylor Guerrieri, Brian Moran, Mike Brosseau, Ryan LaMarre, Steve Cishek, Nick Wittgren, Brad Hand, Zach Plesac, Anthony Swarzak, Monte Harrison, Isan Díaz, Jordan Holloway, Austin Voth, Kyle McGowin, Tyler Kinley, Kyle Barraclough, AJ Ramos, Kevin Siegrist, Triston McKenzie and Jesús Luzardo. Noah Syndergaard also did his rehabilitation work at the facility.
According to Ghiroli, the players implemented their own rules to reduce the potential transmission of the virus as much as possible, implementing rules that included not sliding and distancing as much as possible. So far, no one who was at the Cressey facility has tested positive for the new coronavirus (COVID-19). Although it is worth mentioning that it is not known how many of those players were tested and at what frequencies.
The underground baseball ring proved to be a bonding experience for the players, who were in the midst of a battle with Major League Baseball owners over the details of the 2020 season. The owners wanted to replace the temporary March deal, but made some insulting offers and attacked the players and the union through the media. The union held firm and the two sides eventually broke off the negotiations. Morrison estimates that the pandemic was eight percent responsible and the owners were 92 percent responsible for uniting the group.
The players were concerned about the attention they might attract, but to their credit, they managed to keep it a secret, avoiding posting on social media about the adventure. Some players wanted it to be advertised. Braves pitcher Luke Jackson said: “Want to see Scherzer and Goldschmidt or Stanton go head to head? And hear them come and go? People will pay to go to a high school field for that. ”
In March, shortly after MLB closed operations due to the pandemic, Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer helped organize a wiffleball game “Sandlot” that was streamed live on YouTube. As of this writing, the game garnered over 110,000 views. One can only wonder how many views a real “underground” baseball game would have gotten with some of baseball’s biggest stars. However, as things stand, the company allowed players to get in shape ahead of schedule. Players now head to their teams in their home cities to officially return to the game form. The regular season will probably start on July 23.
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