For better or worse, there is a wide ranging viewpoints on COVID, even in the Major League Baseball universe. Joe West says he doesn’t ‘believe in his heart’ that the death total, that has now passed 150,000 is accurate (if anything, there’s strong evidence that it is under-counted). Trevor Bauer seemed to advocate for fans in the stadium on Twitter. On the other end, some have decided to opt-out for the season because they were concerned about the safety of their family. Employees of the league are like your Facebook news feed, with different views on the virus. So it’s likely that some other taking the virus more seriously than others. But in a non-bubble setting, one player that doesn’t take it seriously can spread the virus to the rest. Manfred should have known this, and the MLB not setting stricter rules is a misstep on his part, not the players.
We learned Friday afternoon that may have been what happened with the Miami Marlins. According to a report Saturday by The Athletic. players were relaxed on wearing masks when they would hang out with one another in the hotel. This is contrary to initial reports that implied players were spending time in bars and going out at night. All of this was predictable.
As a reaction to the Marlins outbreak, Rob Manfred told MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark that if players do not change their behavior, they will have to cancel the season. MLB will also require each club to have a Compliance Officer that will travel with the team and make sure they are follow the league’s protocols. Which should have been there in the first place, but at least they will have it now.
Outside the Marlins, the Phillies and Cardinals have had positive cases from their organization, but not at outbreak level. The Phillies will return to play Monday against the Yankees after getting another round of all negative tests.
So whether Manfred categorizes this as a nightmare scenario doesn’t matter, it was not the headlines baseball was hoping to make opening week. It made the MLB look bad for their plan. They were first to come up with the concept of a controlled environment or a ‘bubble’. The plan fell through mainly because players, understandably, do not want to be trapped in a hotel in Arizona for three months.
The bubble plan is not foolproof and it’s very expensive, but it is a better alternative than having players travel city to city. If a bubble was a deal breaker for the players union, then they should have been stricter with enforcing the CDC rules. It was foolish for Manfred and his office to assume that all players and staff were going to take it seriously as they should. Having a person on every team that would help enforce the rules away from the ballpark was obvious. The honor system will not work. It is human nature to go back to old habits, and it’s hard to adjust to wearing masks all the time, staying six feet away and not going out when in a city. The only for the season to continue, or for it to remain competitive, is for everyone to be disciplined in follow the rules and having people holding others accountable.
The regular season has 8 weeks to go, then an extended playoff. It might not be impossible if the players operate with a bubble-like mindset. Having professional athletes living like monks is not realistic unless you have a system where they don’t have a choice.
Also one last thing…
Everyone is hoping that the league can stay healthy and competitive. Acknowledging that there are serious issue that could players, coaches, and other staff in danger, does not mean rooting for league to fail. When the local news reports on crime or local corruption, they are not rooting for their community to fail. They are informing the public to what is happening. Turning a blind eye to the risks of playing this year would be irresponsible for sports journalists to do. Even when it could potential hurt their livelihoods.
Header photo from AP Photo/LM Otero
The Efficient Shot 