Americans have been enjoying a small morsel of normalcy as of late, as several of our nation’s major league sports have resumed play…in one fashion or another.
The first to come back was NASCAR, which makes a whole heck of a lot of sense seeing how the stock car racing competition is almost entirely socially-distanced to begin with. I mean, that’s kind of the point right? To put distance between you and your opponent?
Soon after, Major League Soccer began their “MLS is Back” tournament, adopting the “bubble” approach to keeping teams and their staff from interacting with the general public.
Just days ago, the MLB joined in the fun, but with a much more lax approach to player safety.
They are paying for that decision…and quickly.
THE Miami Marlins home opener was canceled on Monday after nearly half of the team’s roster tested positive for the coronavirus.
The COVID-19 outbreak, which has since affected 12 of the team’s players and two coaches, may also affect the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees.
Among the positive cases are pitcher Jose Urena, who was supposed to start Sunday’s game, and outfielders Garrett Cooper and Harold Ramirez, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.
Here is where the story takes a turn, however.
Despite knowing about four positive COVID-19 cases on the team on Sunday, the Marlins still took the field against the Phillies in the first week of Major League Baseball’s shortened 2020 season.
Infectious disease experts speaking to The Athletic on Sunday said that those four positive results fit the definition of a “clear outbreak” within the team of 30 players.
The Marlins’ horribly selfish choices notwithstanding, the already-abbreviated MLB season may not last more than a week or two should this sort of trouble continue.
