This MLB season is a farce......"Two MLB games postponed after Marlins outbreak"....

[USALiberal]

Two MLB games Monday night are being postponed because of an outbreak of the coronavirus among the Miami Marlins.

The Marlins' home opener against the Baltimore Orioles is off, as well as the Philadelphia Phillies' home game against the Yankees, a source confirmed to ESPN's Marly Rivera. The Marlins just completed a series in Philadelphia, and eight more players and two coaches with the Marlins tested positive for the coronavirus. An outbreak has spread throughout their clubhouse and brought the total cases in recent days to at least 14, sources familiar with the situation told ESPN's Jeff Passan and Jesse Rogers.

The Marlins remain in Philadelphia and continue to undergo testing. Baltimore general manager Mike Elias confirmed that the game in Miami was postponed.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29547211/two-mlb-games-postponed-marlins-outbreak

[BannonsLiver]

1. Odd that people are gleeful about it

[USALiberal]

3. No, not happy at all, 100s at risk. And two games cancelled in less than a week. nt

[Jirel]

22. Not at all.

The utter failure of sportball, with the money wasted on testing, the best precautions, and excellent care for the entitled players, owners, and staff, should be a wake up call the reopening schools is an idiot’s plan. I’ll be glad if it all shuts down. We don’t need it, and the money should be spent elsewhere. Let the lack of sportball in 2020 be a warning to everyone trying to reopen while the pandemic is racing unchecked.

[SlogginThroughIt]

24. Odd that you think that.

Maybe you need to change the moniker to Bannon’s brain.

[stopbush]

2. This could end being a one-weekend attempt at a season.

We still don’t know enough about this virus to be making the level of decisions needed to have pro sports season. Trying to act normal and hoping for the best is a recipe for disaster.

Sad to say, but it may take the deaths of a couple high-profile athletes for the virus to be taken as seriously as it warrants.

BTW - I watched a lot of baseball this weekend and am hoping the season can continue.

[Initech]

4. The 1918 season didn't make it past September because of flu conditions.

I suspect this season won't last that long.

[ProfessorGAC]

27. There Was A World Series Though

I only know that because I'm a Cubs fan, and they got swept by Boston in that series. (5-0)
Somehow, they still played the Series. Not sure how that happened.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

37. The last World Series victory the Red Sox would enjoy for the next 86 years.

And the following year was the Black Sox Series.

[Voltaire2]

5. basketball and football are going to go the same way

we are in full idiot mode here.

We've done nothing to implement the basics of test trace and isolate that are the core of pandemic management. So the virus is going to spread on its own, unhindered by a functional society.

[Pantagruel]

6. Watching the games

I noticed , especially yesterday, maskless players talking in close quarters, even hugging in celebration. Maybe the required restraints were simply doomed by sport's natural exuberance?

[Takket]

7. Great point a friend just asked...

If MLB with all the distance on the field and all their financial resources cannot handle this situation, how the hell can we be talking about packing kids into classrooms next month???

[USALiberal]

8. +1000! nt

[Jirel]

20. Yep.

But let’s talk about wealthy clubs and players getting the best care, precautions, and daily testing. Because who cares about kids, teachers, and families forced to reopen with next to no precautions, and they’re supposed to like it.

[crickets]

26. Exactly. nt

[greenjar_01]

9. English Premier League and other Euro soccer leagues finished their seasons without a hitch

The Premier League closed up yesterday with Championship Sunday (it was mainly Champion's League spots and relegation that was on the line, as Liverpool cemented their title weeks ago).

As far as I know, they were able to complete the final 7 games of the season (70 games in total) without COVID spread.

US soccer seems to be having similar luck in the MLS tournament and the NWSL tournament, which also finished yesterday (the Houston Dash defeated Chicago Red Stars 2-0 to win the tournament).

Anyway, there's not going to be any football this year, high school, college, or NFL.

[USALiberal]

11. Wonder why could soccer do it but not MLB or NFL?

[JackintheGreen]

12. Because those countries still have a sense of civic responsibility?

Because their elected leaders, you know, lead?

See also [link:

Link to tweet

|

[EllieBC]

21. NHL and NBA have done a hub Bubble system.

Sorry didn’t mean to get in the way of your American exceptionalism which also includes America is the worstestest ever.

[greenjar_01]

15. It is strange, but I think the other response you received is mostly right

Despite the imaginings of some anti-soccer folks, soccer is a contact and close contact sport. Obviously, not as much as football, but certainly more than baseball. Watching the Premier League since the restart, I have to say that I've seen no "going soft" on the plays - it's been top speed and top effort, no different than usual. I think they've had a strong testing and contact tracing regime put in place (obviously for the Bundesliga, but for Premier League as well). There were occasional players who tested positive, but it was well below 1% and stayed contained. In no case was there. clubhouse outbreak like we see for the Marlins, which is, at this stage of the pandemic, outrageous, really.

[HotTeaBag]

10. So far it seems like the NHL has a shot at finishing their season.

There have been very, very few cases throughout training camp and they seem to have figured out a way to keep the players and coaches safe.

The 'season' starts in a couple of days - it's being played in just two locations, both in Canada with the players all in one of two places and locked down.

[EllieBC]

23. NBA too.

They are bubbled away in FL.

[HotTeaBag]

25. The Florida bubble is concerning.

I really hope they are able to keep everyone safe.

If I were going to construct a bubble, I wouldn't do it in Florida.

[BumRushDaShow]

31. The Marlins were "bubbled" at their training camp too

/snip

Over the last two weeks, MLB officials were encouraged by the results of every-other-day testing. A 0.05% rate of positive tests among more than 10,000 samples collected in each of the last two weeks was lower than the overall 0.3% rate since testing began on June 27 and seemed to indicate that players, coaches and staff members were taking seriously the protocols for preventing the spread of the virus.

But those results occurred during training camp, when most teams were based only in their home city. With the introduction of air travel and hotel stays, containing the virus was bound to become more difficult.

“You feel safe at the ballpark,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “I feel safe with my surroundings going home. It’s a lot scarier on the road.”

And the Marlins train in Miami, a COVID-19 epicenter for the last month.


https://www.inquirer.com/phillies/miami-marlins-coronavirus-outbreak-covid-19-philadelphia-yankees-20200727.html

So someone is lying about the "testing" at those training camps (e.g., how much of it was really being done) IMHO, and perhaps "real, down-to-the-wire" testing was done right before the actual games and it's all coming out in the wash.

1 hour ago
12:48 PM - July 27, 2020

City working with Phillies, Marlins to minimize risk of additional spread in Philadelphia


The Philadelphia Department of Public Health has been working closely with both the Phillies and Marlins to minimize the risk of additional spread, agency spokeman James Garrow said. The Marlins are helping to identify and notify all people who may have been exposed to the infected players so they can take proper precautions.

Garrow issued a statement from the department as follows:

We support the decision by the Marlins to shelter in Philadelphia in response to the positive tests. Members of the Marlins organization who have tested positive are in isolation in the team hotel, which is taking all of the recommended precautions to protect staff, including no-touch food delivery. We are in consultation with the Phillies organization to ensure that they are following MLB safety and testing protocols with players and staff.

Per those protocols, the Phillies have been in frequent contact with the Health Department providing updates on both the Phillies and Marlins staffs and teams. The Marlins are conducting contact tracing as is described in the MLB protocol and have also been in contact with the Health Department.

The risk to others outside the hotel and ballpark is "extremely low," the statement continued. "As the pandemic continues to infect more than a hundred Philadelphians every day, we recommend that people maintain at least six feet of distance from others, wear masks, and wash their hands frequently," the health department said. Asked about the status of the remaining baseball season, Garrow said the agency had no comment.


https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/live/coronavirus-covid19-philadelphia-pa-nj-de-cases-testing-news-schools-trash-20200727.html#card-294396605

Then you have this mess -

1 hour ago
1:20 PM - July 27, 2020

Marlins players appear to be quarantined in Rittenhouse Hotel in Center City


At least 14 Miami Marlins players and coaches have tested positive for the coronavirus and are expected to quarantine in Philadelphia, and it appears at least some of the team remains holed up in the Rittenhouse Hotel in Center City.

The hotel didn’t confirm that it is where some Marlins players are isolating following their teammates’ positive test results, but Rittenhouse Condominium Owners Association told residents in an email obtained by the Inquirer that 13 hotel guests “who are a part of a professional sports team” tested positive for COVID-19. The condominiums and the hotel are physically separated at the Rittenhouse.

The message relayed to residents said the group was being tested daily while on the property and that all the individuals who tested positive are no longer in the hotel. The remaining “group members,” the message said, are being tested today and expect results within a few hours. “The group” also offered to test all hotel employees. The message also reassured condominium residents that the ventilation systems within those units are not shared with the hotel. It also stated the hotel said “they are reviewing whether to accommodate future sports teams.”

City officials have said they are working with both the Marlins and the Phillies organizations to mitigate further spread.

https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/live/coronavirus-covid19-philadelphia-pa-nj-de-cases-testing-news-schools-trash-20200727.html#card-1383767260

[HotTeaBag]

32. I think the bubble that the NHL teams are in is total - there is no travel, every game

is being played in the same two arenas - one for the East and one for the West, with the only time two teams would have to break the bubble would be for the Stanley Cup Final - being in Canada isn't hurting things either.

Hopefully it will work, so far it seems to be doing pretty well.

Fingers crossed.

[BumRushDaShow]

33. I've been seeing some alarming commentary from sports writers

about the NFL - mainly due to the issue of the huge sizes of their organizations (on average some 200 people per team) and the legs of travel and apparently little or no bubble.

For the NHL (outside of being an indoor arena sport, except for the winter classics), an expectation is that if Canada refused the MLB's Blue Jays for home games, I doubt they would allow any NHL playoffs or finals there. And the indoors issue for the NBA is naturally a problem.

If what is basically one of the most "socially-distanced" pro sports already failed in this endeavor, it really puts the onus on the other pro sports that have many more "points of failure", to not just hand-wave the rules away like the Marlins did, with the mentality that they are "trained to work through adversity".

[HotTeaBag]

34. The remainder of the NHL season is being played in Canada - Toronto and Edmonton.

Training camps have been going on for a month and play is set to begin by the end of this week - it was reported just yesterday that in both the NHL and NBA zero cases came back positive (from over the weekend), so it appears that they are doing something right.

The NFL is really going to have some problems for the reasons you mentioned and I'm seriously doubt they are going to have a season - and yet I am hopeful.

Baseball is socially distanced on the field, but not the clubhouse or locker rooms or busses or hotels etc., etc. Certainly the virus can be passed along during a game but it seems a lot more likely that it's happening in and around the other places the players spend time.

[BumRushDaShow]

36. As long as they keep the bubbled players/staff away from everyone

they may be okay, but there tends to be the whining about "seeing their family" and that is when stuff breaks down.

I am concerned for the NBA players too despite their "bubbles" because just from what I've seen here in Philly over the decades, they are very very "social" guys, probably getting more attention than any other sport when it comes to media exposure and consumer product development, endorsements, and sponsorships, so they like to hang out and "be out there". I.e., they can't be permitted to sneak people into some kind of clandestine "party" or they're screwed.

The NFL and no bubble (with the size of their organizations)? Forget it. The one mitigating thing that does make them different from the other 3 sports when considering potential cross-team spread, is that teams generally only play once a week and only play opposing teams once or twice a season, so any spread would primarily happen within an organization's players and staff vs rapid ignition of infection in opposing teams multiple times a week. It's that rest of the time when not playing or practicing, that will be concerning.

[HotTeaBag]

38. I completely agree about the NBA and how 'social' they are.

There was an article not too long ago somewhere that was talking about a belief that sex would be the one thing that would cause the bubble to break, as it would be impossible for all of those young guys (accustomed to copious amounts of it) to curb their appetites long enough to finish the season - and it makes sense to me.

So far the NHL players are doing pretty well - they only had to get through a shortened training camp and the tournament is (I think) only about a month long - once the play starts and they get back into the competitive mindset the time will fly for them.

My biggest worry about the NFL is for the coaches - a lot of them are post-60 and not in the best shape of their lives (Andy Reid comes to mind - and I don't want to see Andy get sick).

BTW, I am originally from Philly.

[BumRushDaShow]

39. Andy Reid

Like Buddy Ryan and Chip Kelly - was glad to see them go. Even though he never won a Super Bowl with us, Dick Vermeil will always be a Philly fave (especially since he is still active in area events).

I suppose Doug Pederson is the "rare" under 60 coach but I would agree with some of the sports commentary I have seen - these guys train and mentally prepare to "play through adversity" (which for them generally means injuries). But this "adversity" of a virus that is unlike anything known previously, is NOT the same as a "cold". There are many players of all sports who often have un-diagnosed heart conditions and whatnot, and you can only hope that if they do get it, that it doesn't eventually become career-ending, particularly what has been reported that it does to the lungs.

[HotTeaBag]

42. I like Andy - we would have won the SB against the Patriots if TO was healthy.

...not to mention taking us on four consecutive trips to the NFC championship game (five altogether). He just never could seem to figure out how to manage the clock when it mattered.

Anyhow, playing through adversity does take on a different meaning with regard to COVID - though with the amount of testing the teams will be doing (once per day throughout training camp), the chances of players getting sick and continuing to play is minimized, which is not to say that some won't contract it - they will.

I think that at the end of the day the Chiefs (and Andy Reid) will be the reigning SB champs for two years as opposed to having to defend the title this year.

[BumRushDaShow]

43. Unfortunately when he was here

there was too much "family drama" going on with Reid (notably with two of his sons, one of which sadly OD'd) and it distracted from our efforts to make it through playoffs (although we did get to the Super Bowl in 2005, which ultimately made the 2018 rematch and win so sweet ).

I know they were going to scrap the pre-season games, so not sure how that will affect their regular season performances. However of all the sports, they were at least "off season," unlike the others who were already underway or just starting, when this first hit. But the vectors for infection are just huge for these guys.

[TheBlackAdder]

13. I don't think they caught it in Philly, more like brought it there.

.

Before the Marlins' opening series in Philadelphia, the team played an exhibition game in Atlanta on Wednesday. It's also possible that the infections occurred there.

.

[greenjar_01]

17. That puts the Braves and the Mets in the mix

Bringing COVID to Flushing is just fucking great.

[TheBlackAdder]

18. Odd, it's primarily one team that is infected the most, coming from a COVID hotspot.

.

Drill down to Miami and click on it's county for stats.

Miami: 1 in 26 people infected, or 3.8% of population. Philadephia: 1 in 54 infected, or 1.8% of population.

https://infection2020.com/

.

[ProfessorGAC]

29. Makes One Wonder How Seriously...

...the Marlins players took this when they were home.

[RockRaven]

14. Those who opted out are fortunate...

Good for them.

As for the rest, they must have known this was gonna happen, or are deeply delusional.

[El Supremo]

16. I knew it.

I put up my Rockies abbreviated schedule on my refrigerator yesterday.

[Jirel]

19. Cool.

Let’s be sportball-free for the rest of 2020.

There is no reasonable way for them to do it, as they’ve just proven.

We get endless, meaningless stories about the wealthiest people on the planet who make that wealth by blackmailing cities into paying for useless stadia, while that money should be going to help the people of those cities. We keep hearing about how there will be a sportball season with rich, entitled players getting tested daily, with special care taken to prevent illness, when what we need is better health care and public health measures for everyone.

Screw sportball, the owners, the players, and all their staff.

If they can take all these precautions and still flatten a whole team with COVID-19 right out of the box, pray tell what will happen when schools reopen?

[BumRushDaShow]

28. Here is some of the latest

After COVID-19 outbreak, the Marlins decided via group text message that they would play Sunday’s game vs. the Phillies

by Matt Breen, Posted: July 27, 2020- 12:18 PM


The Marlins learned Sunday morning that their starting pitcher for the afternoon and two other players had tested positive for COVID-19 and would be unable to play. An apparent coronavirus outbreak was underway in the visiting clubhouse at Citizens Bank Park and the Marlins responded by asking their shortstop to determine if the game against the Phillies would be played. “He’s kind of an unofficial team captain of our club,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of Miguel Rojas. “He’s always texting the group and getting the feelings of the group. So when we’re dealing with situations or things, that’s usually who we’re working through.”

Major League Baseball issued a 113-page operations manual to all club employees before the start of the season. It outlines everything from on-field rules to testing procedures and what happens if a player tests positive. But Sunday afternoon, the status of the game amid a coronavirus outbreak was decided by a group text-message between Marlins players. “We made the decision that we’re going to continue to do this and we’re going to continue to be responsible and just play the game as hard as we can,” Rojas said.

/snip


It could be easily argued that every Marlins player and staff member came in close contact over the weekend with the infected players. If so, the operations manual says those individuals should be quarantined or isolated pending the results of an Expedited Diagnostic Test, which the Marlins received Sunday morning. Instead of quarantining and thus postponing Sunday’s game, the Marlins played a 3-hour, 44-minute game against the Phillies and then learned Monday morning that eight additional players had tested positive.

The Phillies were alerted Sunday morning about the Marlins’ situation and sent a text message to their players. They didn’t know exactly what Marlins players were positive, but told their team to take precautions. Bryce Harper wore a mask when he ran the bases. Rhys Hoskins had a mask on when he played first base. But the Phillies never considered not playing. Manager Joe Girardi said he thought the Marlins “followed protocol.” Harper said the Phillies do “all the things the right way to hopefully not contract that.” So they played Sunday, but can’t play Monday.

https://www.inquirer.com/phillies/miami-marlins-coronavirus-outbreak-phillies-mlb-season-20200727.html

[Yeehah]

30. It's too bizarre seeing games in empty stadiums

Just do the right thing and cancel the season, imbeciles.

[lindysalsagal]

35. And so will go "the school year."

Until everyone gets a vaccine.

[BumRushDaShow]

40. The latest - 4 more Marlins test positive, with one earlier positive getting a subsequent negative

Link to tweet

TEXT

Ken Rosenthal
@Ken_Rosenthal
Marlins remain in Philadelphia. One of previous team members to test positive had a subsequent test come back negative, source says. Would need two negatives at least 24 hours apart to become eligible to return.

Ken Rosenthal
@Ken_Rosenthal
Marlins have had four additional players test positive, sources tell The Athletic.

[Renew Deal]

41. Why is it a farce?

It is fairly successful if they can keep at least 2/3 of the teams playing. And it's not just about fairness. A big aspect to this is release from the world's problems.