Sports are generally considered a distraction from real life, but that is a fallacy. Real life hits sports and there’s no bigger story in real life than Coronavirus and events are being cancelled daily.
Most notably, NBA player Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus leading to the NBA first cancelling the Thunder/Jazz game then suspending the season indefinitely. The Jazz have played 5 games since Gobert may have become a carrier, all of those teams have played multiple games, this is how contagion works.
The NCAA announced no fans will be in attendance for March Madness. I have to wonder what happens if a player on any of the 68 teams tests positive.
MLB will hold a meeting Friday to discuss their plans. In the meantime exhibition games are already being canceled.
I’m preparing for baseball to follow the NCAA’s plan, especially in Houston where a large rodeo was halted and cancelled. This is notable because the Angels open in Houston in 14 days.
I know the words “Opening Day” are sacred among baseball fans, but I doubt any of us will be in attendance this go around. The baseball schedule is already too jam packed to move games around. Most ballparks are open air so the season can’t get pushed too far back. So empty ballparks seems the logical conclusion. Teams still collect the TV money that way.
There will be others, and this beats unknowingly bringing Cvid 19 home to grandma for Easter.
On a more normal day, I’d lead with these links….
Tom Verducci did a great piece on Shohei Ohtani. Angels fans are graced with not one, but two generational talents.
With Ohtani missing six weeks of the season and Canning’s status uncertain, Angels GM Billy Eppler should be looking at teams with surplus and/or out of options pitchers. Here are a couple with good velo and high spin rate who might catch his eye.
Showtime Sundays were great when Ohtani was a rookie in 2018. But might that now be Showtime Wednesday?
Out in the desert, Joe Maddon got Angels players and execs to shave their heads to raise funds for children with cancer. Well done, guys.
Meanwhile in Tempe top prospect Jo Adell is trying to make the difficult leap to MLB. Is he making progress?
For our Spring Training enthusiasts (guilty as charged) Ballpark Digest is having a fan voting contest to determine the best Cactus League park. For my money, it is Goodyear all day.
SI also did 2020 predictions and have the Angels going 92-70. I think we’d all take that.
Not a link, but I made my annual Spring Training pilgrimage last week.
Taking my son to Tempe Diablo was incredible. One of the best days of my life. My dad joined the trip as he has the last 4 years and a cousin met us out there. Spending time with family at the ballpark, three generations at times, is simply priceless.
We met up with Tim Fletcher (David’s dad) and ran into Kole Calhoun’s dad outside of the D’backs/Angels game. Kole really enjoyed his time here and was obviously happy to get a nice response from the Angels home crowd. He’s built himself a nice house, complete with a batting cage that descends from the ceiling. Mr. Calhoun is a really nice guy, down to earth, and happy to have his son and grandbaby back home. I told him Kole was a fan favorite on our site, that we enjoyed his hustle and wish him well.
I hope that the season is pushed forward by a month or so instead of being cut short like the 94 strike season. Maybe we’ll have the first Mr. December.
Trout
There have been games that counted played in December in the past, namely 2001. So it seems possible now.
What games would those be? The WS ended in early November.
Uhh, never mind. I am addled by events. You are of course correct.
A second Utah Jazz player has tested positive. Donovan Mitchell.
Shoot. I like him.
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Baseball operations suspended indefinitely.
Yup, I just got that notification too 🙁
You guys have this ahead of every other place I am looking at, including The Atlantic.
yeah I got a direct text from Manfred “no baseball lol” so I had an early warning
Fuck the Asstros
They’ll probably get to open the season to empty stadiums. Hooray for them I guess.
This morning l had an order cancelled from a customer telling us that they were closing there store so he does not want to sit on inventory, his business location is in Lowell Mass. l hope that this all passes quickly as folks health and the health of the economy are hanging in the balance. l remember years ago when the Hong Cong flu sweep through the country and everyone was scared but nothing like this. Folks over 60 should seriously take care. l don’t believe there are any DH’s over sixty, well maybe Albert………lol
Too funny: https://velvethamster.com/miami-marlins-applauded-for-decades-long-safety-precaution-banning-fans/
Ohtani link fixed.
PreSeason Tournament.
Grapefruit Champ Vs. Cactus Champ, if the season still hasn’t been cleared for play, All Star teams, All Shortstops Vs. all Catchers?, dook it out in another tournament.
They should try not to cancel if possible. Need to give the self quarantine something to stay home for.
This too shall pass. I’ve been around long enough to have seen similar situations that seem unbelievably dire. It takes a little time, but soon enough this will all be behind us. In two years, Covid-19 will be a trivia answer on Jeopardy (that most people will not remember).
This is an opportunity for great unity on a simple and straightforward subject – public health. We can all come together for the greater good. Wash your hands frequently – and utilize social distancing techniques for the time being. The more we unify and employ smart practices, the quicker we will move past this.
And once it’s all over, hopefully the great majority will have learned better and more effective public health practices which are good for society as a whole.
Stop Making Sense ! You are too calm and rational !
It might be the only benefit of age and experience. If you are lucky you learn from the past. I do think everyone should take this seriously and do their part. If they do they will help to bring this to a much quicker conclusion than if it is ignored.
Fear does nothing. Smarts does everything.
This also could be a chance for the world to reset re: pollution. It’s a terrible situation right now, but there are silver linings.
Most pollution comes from livestock production which is unaffected.
My uncle has always said he has more respect for a vegan driving a Hummer than a carnivore driving a Prius.
I’ve never heard this before, where can I learn more?
Yes, this will also fix the Social Security running out of money problem.
But Matlock and Murder She Wrote may never air again….
The Coronavirus SCARE will turn out to be one of the biggest con jobs ever. Why are we not hearing from the 95% of people who have survived having this virus to find out what they experienced??? Somewhere near 95% of people who get it Survive, just like the seasonal Flu!!! If they don’t have opening day at Petco, I plan on getting a reservation at one of the rooftop bars or restaurants that overlook the stadium. Fuck Fear ! There is my F-bomb for March.
It’s closer to 98% (likely higher) that will survive it, but 2% of the world’s population is a HUGE number of people, far far FAR more than the flu kills. Comparisons to the flu are not applicable. This is far more serious, hence the very serious response.
The survival rate is most clear in South Korea where they have actually tested the population routinely and with frequency. It’s approximately 99.5%. The death rate is highest with people 69 and above – particularly with underlying health conditions.
We don’t really know the survival rate in the US because we have zero clue how many have (or have had) the virus.
My speculation is that it’s around 99%. However the public health directive is to protect those people who are vulnerable. It reminds us we are all part of something bigger.
And because of the lack of testing a lot of very sick people are not being treated, on the excuse that they haven’t been in contact with anyone who is proven to have had it.
If they don’t test, there is no proof.
Dono, I naturally tend to be of your mind on this, but I’m afraid that in this case fear isn’t the issue. The issue is that COVID-19 is highly contagious, and once infected a person can be spreading it around for a few weeks before his symptoms even appear. Right now, great care must be taken in stopping the spread of this virus.
Given how long the bug lasts outside a body, how easy it is to spread, the long Arnot of the bug, how long you are contagious without symptoms, plus the fact that the old and infirm are a choke point of contagion contact because they all need so many people to do various things for them (ie all the people who help them+everyone those people have come into contact with over the past few days, plus the people those people come into contact with) this whole “shut down the world to save grandma” idea is a nice gesture but it’s not going to work. Not unless everyone avoids everyone AND avoids grandma.
My hope is that the elderly here in the US fair better. A lot of them are obese, so that’s a problem, but the scary stats with lots of dead oldsters is heavily shifted by old Asian and European men…. almost all of whom smoked for decades and decades. So with luck it won’t be as bad here.
For most people, there isn’t much to fear, but it’s worth taking some steps to avoid getting into the same situation that Italy or Iran is in (or Wuhan a month or two ago). The death rate appears to spike if the health care system is overburdened, and then it affects the care available for other health situations.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/italy/
Jeff, thanks for the links as always.
SI link on Ohtani links to NY Post on March Madness and Coronavirus for me.
Thanks for sharing your ST story. Very cool. Building those priceless memories is so worth it
Ok. I’ll do some edits this morning.
If we have to cancel a season of Mike Trout’s prime I will be very upset. But, the health and safety of the country and world come first…
Imagine being LeBron and after finally dragging this team back to the playoffs it may be all for nothing? Brutal. It’s not like this is going to end in a month and we can resume the season.
If they do continue to play at least the TV numbers should be up since we’ll all be barricaded in our homes. Baby boom in 9-10 months?
Listen to the CDC, WHO, and your local officials…take your temperature regularly, wash your hands, don’t touch your face, limit your time in public, you have a good chance of being just fine.
I will continue to go and live my life and enjoy the less crowded restaurants, bars, and beaches while everyone else lives in fear. I already know something is going to kill me, I very seriously doubt it will be a highly politicized over-hyped virus that originated in Communist China.
You’re conflating two types of fear: the fear it will kill you versus the fear that it will kill others. Few have a fear that it will kill them. Most have a fear that spreading it will lead to the kill of others. They are conducting all of our UCI law classes (and the entirety of UCI’s main campus with something like 20,000 students) remotely for the remainder of the semester for the second rationale.
This is an excellent point and very well put.
Well said. I have an 89 year old grandmother and I am worried about her. I will likely be the one delivering her food and supplies in the coming months as we keep her in her bubble, it’s imperative to me that I avoid this virus at all cost for her sake and the sake of others in the community. I’m doing my part. Wash your grubby hands and stay the hell away from other people.
communist china!!!??? What? You sound like a character in Dr. Strangelove.
Well, this whole thing is about maintaining one’s Purity of Essence.
I must admit I never saw a commie drink a glass of water.
NBC Sports MLB mentions there is a conference call tomorrow for the MLB owners. I don’t see how they can avoid empty stadiums.
Somehow I fully expect Manfred to screw this up
If anyone can screw it up, it would be Manfred.
Manfred is a very stark contrast to NBA Commish Adam Silver.