The joy of the first weekend was still fresh, early Monday it was learned that many Miami Marlins players had tested positive for COVID-19 and that some of them were aware of the positive tests and were still playing Sunday against the Phillies.
In doing so, they not only endangered their opposing parties, but also threatened to end the normal season as it was even though it all began. With trips starting this week and many groups departing for new cities after safely camping on their baseball fields for several weeks during summer camps, the chances of the virus spreading through Major League Baseball were already high.
Perhaps as troubling as the news that some Marlins players made the box knowingly despite the evidently erroneous nature of the scenario, the nature of the decision-making it took them to get there.
According to Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the players, under the direction of shortspless Miguel Rojas, sent a text message from the organization on Sunday morning to play even though they knew that at least 3 of their teammates had tested positive.
Manager Don Mattingly described Rojas as the Marlins’ “unofficial captain.”
According to Rojas, the players never stopped playing on Sunday, despite the significant dangers involved.
The Phillies were aware on Sunday morning of the news of the trials at the away club and also chose to play anyway.
What this shows is that decisions of this magnitude are not in the hands of the organization’s texts.
Major League Baseball has published a 113-page consultant on how to fix such situations, but there is no obviously explained threshold for positive testing or the number of affected players that automatically pauses or stops the season. Commissioner Rob Manfred’s indistinct force exists to act only if a team is seriously affected or if the integrity of the festival is threatened.
Having about a dozen players on a team tested positive for what doesn’t seem to have called a significant impact, so the only steps they took were for the Marlins to cancel their first home game against the Orioles on Monday night and move their series. Baltimore starting Wednesday. The Phillies-Yankees game scheduled for Monday was also postponed, but no other team has canceled games.
Meanwhile, the Marlins are looking for new faces on their list, probably to fill the big gaps left through COVID-19.
On Monday afternoon, they beat Justin Shafer and Josh Smith of the Cincinnati Reds.
In March, when the first NBA PLAYER tested positive for COVID-19, the league finished its season in about 24 hours. Months later, understanding the virus would possibly be a little better, but the United States is still suffering from involving its spread. Many states revel in summer peaks in new cases. Major League Baseball had the merit of several months of preparation to plan how to handle your normal season as safely as possible, and the first meaningful verification of this plan came early.
Players deserve autonomy, but leaving them the resolution to play Sunday to a large extent, this week in baseball can end with the season closed again, and this time forever. Stronger and probably more centralized leadership was needed to consult the Marlins and Phillies players’ decision on Sunday. No wonder players just need to play and decide to play even when they probably shouldn’t, but it’s not like looking to play in the rain or an injury. There is a palpable threat not only to end the MLB season at first, but also to sell the spread of the virus beyond the baseball network.
Those who were in the Marlins’ clubhouse on Sunday needed and deserved more on Sunday morning. If they had been encouraged to postpone the game that day, it would have been an encouraging sign for the plausibility of the season. Like the rest of your life those days, if in doubt, stay home.
I have baseball for several years in positions such as Sporting News, Chicago Magazine and NBC Chicago, with Forbes. BBWAA member for FIRST year in 2019. Follow me
I have baseball for several years in positions such as Sporting News, Chicago Magazine and NBC Chicago, with Forbes. BBWAA member for FIRST year in 2019. Follow me on Twitter: @jwyllys.