Baseball Goes Dark
The coronavirus has infiltrated all aspects of our lives and when one sport coughs, the others catch a cold. And such is the case with Major League Baseball, canceling the remainder of its Spring Training games and delaying Opening Day. It’s all very real now for baseball fans and large gatherings of any sort are verboten which means the prospects of a 162-game season are in jeopardy, as is the season unless an antibiotic can be found in a hurry.
The MLB issued the following statement, “Nothing is more important to us than the health and safety of our players, employees, and fans,” the league said in its announcement. “MLB will continue to undertake the precautions and best practices recommended by public health experts. We send our best wishes to all individuals and communities that have been impacted by coronavirus.”
It’s just the latest domino to fall after the NHL and Major League Soccer announced their seasons were suspended along with the NBA and NCAA. The PGA’s granddaddy of tournaments, The Masters, has also been postponed from its originally scheduled April 9th-12th dates. The 2020 World Baseball Classic Qualifier games have also been postponed indefinitely, while Minor League Baseball announced that its Opening Day slated for Thursday, April 9th will be pushed back to an unspecified date. Despite the disruptions, the bookmakers are still dealing odds for the Mets to win World Series, the fifth choice in the league trailing the Yankees (+350), Dodgers (+400), Astros (+800), and Braves (+1400).
Mets in Flux
The New York Mets are just one of 30 MLB teams to be put on ice while this hysteria plays out but chances are there will be a season, most likely abbreviated, but a season nonetheless. However, the coronavirus has hit close to home as Donovan Mitchell Sr., the Mets’ director of player relations and community engagement, recently saw his son and Utah Jazz star, Donovan Mitchell Jr., play on March 4th at Madison Square Garden before he was confirmed as infected with the virus. Donovan Sr. flew to Florida the next day and was at the Mets’ spring training complex until Wednesday. He will be tested very soon according to team sources.
The Mets issued the following statement: “We have been in regular communication with medical professionals and public health authorities over the past several weeks. When news surfaced (Wednesday) night of the situation involving the Utah Jazz, we immediately contacted Donovan Mitchell Sr. to advise him to not report at our facility this morning. Upon learning today that his son, Donovan Mitchell Jr., tested positive for the coronavirus, we brought that fact to the attention of our medical team, who recommended, as a precautionary measure, that Donovan Sr. be tested, and we are making those arrangements. We will continue to closely monitor the situation and the medical staff will advise us if any additional testing becomes advisable.”
Baseball will wait.
— New York Mets (@Mets) March 13, 2020
Everyone be safe. pic.twitter.com/e4P10MjIlz
Practice Still On – For Now
Fans are left wondering what will happen to the tickets purchased and will refunds be issued? Those issues have yet to be resolved because a full season could still be in play but even if it is truncated, there will still be ballgames to watch – hopefully with people in the stands. And it doesn’t appear as though Major League Baseball wants to follow the Japanese model of empty stadiums but that is an issue for another day.
According to reports, the Mets will remain in Port St. Lucie to practice and train. The situation is fluid and the players could be told to go home until further notice. In the whirlwind of all of this is the fact that outfielder Michael Conforto will gain extra time to heal his oblique strain, and is now far more likely to appear in the Opening Day lineup.
The extra time is also good news for Yoenis Céspedes, currently out with an ankle injury, and Jed Lowrie (knee) giving both players an extended period to cure what ails them. Yet, many question just how injured Lowrie actually is after the Mets tried to deal him in the offseason but his injury prevented it. Lowrie provided terse responses to the media when pressed on a timeline to return to action.
According to Met’s beat writer Anthony DiComo’s (@AnthonyDicomo) twitter account, “Asked again today if he is close to games, Jed Lowrie responded: ‘I have to refer you to the organization.’
“Asked if he expects to play at all this spring, Lowrie said: ‘I have to refer you to the organization.’
