By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., July 24, 2020 – The start of the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened Major League Baseball season Thursday night personally was mentally therapeutic and just what the doctor ordered to pull me out or the mire of depression that’s become commonplace in recent times as a result of some pressing personal problems I am currently shackled with.
I am a sports fanatic and baseball is my most favourite sport, so the euphoria of being able to watch my beloved Washington Nationals take the field against the New York Yankees in the first game of the 2020 season Opening Night doubleheader on ESPN for a couple hours relegated the stress imbued by my problems to the “backburner.”
Even though The Yankees won the game 4-1 after a two-hour rain delay in the top of the sixth and it was deemed an official game because five full innings had been completed, the loss did not have the same effect as a loss by the Nationals usually did during our World Series Championship 2019 season. After all, it was our first game of the season and although the 2020 season has been shortened to 60 games, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that my beloved Nationals will repeat at World Series Champions. What’s more, shortly before the game started it was announced that Nationals superstar outfielder Juan Soto, who had a breakout year as a rookie in 2019, had tested positive for COVID-19.
According to reports, “Soto, whose test results came back positive after he was tested two days ago, practiced with the team on the day between, calling into question whether he spread the virus to his teammates. Soto’s positive test paints a harrowing picture of what may be a futile attempt at an MLB season: While it’s appreciated and noble that players will attempt to play, the dangerous effects of the coronavirus may be more than the sport bargained for.”
I certainly hope that this speculation proves to be unfounded and baseball is officially back for the 2020 season. However, we can only “keep our fingers crossed” and hope that COVID-19 has not already dealt a crippling blow to the 2020 Major League baseball season.
Indeed, as The Washington Post notes in an article written by Dave Sheinin, “There are 30 teams in Major League Baseball, which, in the age of coronavirus, means 30 opportunities for calamity. Hardly a day goes by without a flare-up somewhere, a complication somewhere else. On Friday — the day 26 of those teams were set to play their first regular season games of 2020 — no sooner had MLB solved its Toronto Blue Jays problem than it developed an Atlanta Braves problem.”
The article continued, “Effectively booted out Toronto by the Canadian government and blocked from sharing the stadiums of the Pittsburgh Pirates or Baltimore Orioles, the Blue Jays settled on Buffalo’s Sahlen Field, home of their Class AAA affiliate, as their base in 2020.
“The Blue Jays’ first two home games, however, will come at Nationals Park, July 29 and 30 — immediately following two previously scheduled games there against the Nationals on Monday and Tuesday — to accommodate infrastructure upgrades in Buffalo. The Blue Jays will serve as the home team at Nationals Park for the latter two games.”
The article quotes Blue Jays President Mark Shapiro as saying in a statement, “This process has no doubt tested our team’s resilience, but our players and staff refuse to make excuses — we are determined to take the field … with the same intensity and competitiveness that our fans expect.”
The Post’s article continued: “Meanwhile, the Braves’ latest situation, arising Friday, is cause for concern not for the number of players (two) the team had to leave behind in Atlanta as it traveled to Queens for its 2020 opener against the New York Mets, but for the position both Travis d’Arnaud and Tyler Flowers play: catcher. Neither player has tested positive for coronavirus, but both were showing symptoms, and the team made the decision to leave them behind because, according to Manager Brian Snitker, ‘we’ve had guys test negative, and the next day they test positive.’ ”
All baseball fans, I am sure, support all the necessary precautions that are being taken to ensure the success of the 2020 Major League season.
