5:53pm: The league’s proposal is expected to be presented to the Players Association by early next week and perhaps before the weekend, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post. It’s expected to include a pay scale, though Sherman indicates that the MLBPA “almost certainly will reject” the terms put forth by MLB. That said, the league’s aim is to begin preparing for a best-case scenario so that in the unlikely event it comes together, the wheels will be in motion. And, if not, the logistics groundwork laid on this effort can be applied to dates further down the road.
Meanwhile, Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes tweets that the MLBPA just issued a memo to its members emphasizing that no proposal from the league has been received — particularly not one that specifies dates.
1:49pm: ESPN’s Jeff Passan said on Sportscenter today that some clubs have told players to “get ready” but without a specific date in mind. The June 10 Spring Training date and potential July 1 opener that Plouffe and Hughes have mentioned are the likely the earliest possible dates but are far from set in place, as everything hinges on the state of the ongoing pandemic.
The league has yet to even come to the Players Association with a proposal for the resumption of play, although that’s expected to happen within the next week or so.
10:43am: A couple of recent big leaguers created quite a stir when they suggested that MLB could have some dates in mind for starting play in the 2020 season. Trevor Plouffe (Twitter link) and Phil Hughes (Twitter link) indicated that a June 10th resumption of Spring Training and July 1st Opening Day were at least on the table (or about to be placed thereon).
There isn’t much support for Plouffe’s rather more optimistic initial framing of the dates, though subsequent developments indicate there could be some actual discussion of this general timeline. Phillies skipper Joe Girardi says he has “heard some chatter about that” potential schedule, as Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia writes. Jon Heyman of MLB Network characterized the dates as aspirational, as he has before (Twitter link).
Most interestingly, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes (subscription link) that Indians officials have floated a July 1st Opening Day in comments to players. But the dates were not set forth as as a firm plan so much as “mere targets, fully expected to change.”
This latest round of intrigue surrounding a resumption of play seems destined to go the way of the others we’ve seen — that is to say, it’ll ultimately prove obsolete when the next proposal hits the newswire. But that doesn’t mean it’s irrelevant to discuss, given the indications of some level of realistic contemplation around the league.
It’s notable, at minimum, that MLB is considering a season in which most or all of the play would occur in its typical home parks. We’ve heard all manner of possibilities for play involving the gathering of players in certain geographical areas, which broadly would hold out some potential for limiting certain risks associated with hosting games during a pandemic but also quite a few logistical and other challenges.
More interesting still is the concept of re-gathering players as soon as a month from now. Agent Scott Boras would like to see it occur even sooner than that, though there’s no shortage of reasons to question whether his viewpoint will take the day.
Though we’re still left without anything approaching real guideposts for a return of professional baseball to North America, it seems safe to presume that notions of a 162-game season can be put to rest. At the same time, the desire to attempt something like an otherwise mostly “normal” campaign (albeit sans fans in attendance) may be rising, as against the more drastic changes to the format of the game that had previously been floated.
Indeed, the major takeaway here may lie elsewhere in Rosenthal’s report. He writes that “the league’s goal, according to sources, is to open in as many home cities as possible.” Unfortunately, it still seems more an informed hope than a developed plan at this stage.
Are you ready to rumble! In this corner we have the corona crazies up against the it’s just a flu fighters! This is a no holds bar social distances cage match! Best insults win,! Fight!
I wonder when the season is going to end if the regular season starts on July 1st.
There was talk about playing through October then having playoffs in November.
If they start on July 1 and end on Halloween that’d be 122 days. A few double headers, a few travel days, and a 110-120 game season is possible.
But trying to play in the northern cities in October is a major gamble with weather.
Are we talking true double headers or day night double headers
Do the playoffs and World Series this year only in neutral, warm-weather cities. The Super Bowl is almost always done this way; also, the regular season fans in most cases cannot afford the post season ticket pricing. If only big shots are going to the games, why not use neutral sites this year as a trial balloon? Designated hitter in both leagues will probably happen soon as well.
The Super Bowl is also 1 game. Is there going to be a host city comfortable with tens of thousands of a team’s fan base coming from presumably more infected places into their area possibly infecting their residents?
Imagine Yankees fans coming from the epicenter in NYC (and all over knowing how large their fan base is) into somewhere like ARZ that doesn’t have too many cases, but could potentially be harmful. I’m a NYC resident and even I think that’s way too risky of a scenario.
Playoffs will have to be in neutral sites. Warm weather cities or stadiums with a roof.
Not sure in the double headers. With no fans, I’d imagine more true double headers would be possible.
I think this season a Super Bowl like one game winner takes all could be quite cool
“ Imagine Yankees fans coming from the epicenter in NYC (and all over knowing how large their fan base is) into somewhere like ARZ that doesn’t have too many cases, but could potentially be harmful.”
Bro I see your point, but we’re talking about something that’s 6 months away.
It’s almost moot to think about a fear of NYC people heading to Zona 6 months from now.
Thanks for telling me.
Even a 7 game series is relatively arbitrary, so one game winner-take-all would truly be potluck. Talk about small sample size!
6 months is even worse if a reported 2nd wave hits and we’ve skipped past the warmest months going into cold months with less site options.
True double headers are good for the fans so I’m sure we’re talking about day/night.
With fans in the stands, that is.
Olympic Stadium
Metronome
Astrodome
Kingdome
Or with stadiums with no roof the biggest canopy ever. 2 miles high. Foul pole to foul pole. From home plate and down each baseline.
The first four are decided but a former player from each team
Delino DeSheilds(expos)
Rich Amaral(Mariners)
Rick Aguilera(Twins)
Mitch Williams (Astros)
They play a game of rock,paper,scissors all at once. Then 1 on 1 top two then bottom two. 2 out 3. Those two will do 3 out of 5. With the time blindfolded. If they tie 3 times in a row. They go to a foot race around the bases from a player from the current team.
Roulette wheel position players only. Fastest time wins
Your assumption that play off games are only attended by big shots is ludacris
Nothing will be taking place in Montreal anytime soon.
@HalosHeavenJJ, If they’re sensible, they’d try to get games at home stadiums in worse-weather cities like Chicago and New York out of the way before October, then play the final month in domed stadiums or places like Florida, Texas, and California. It’s doable, it’d just take a little more planning.
almost moot? how can you even qualify that statement with logic, when every expert is warning against a second wave in the fall/winter?
more double headers are a def possibility if they use the 7-inning approach that minor leagues use for DH’s.
The purpose of day/night double headers is so teams can sell two sets of tickets. With no fans to sell tickets to, there’s no point to that. Maybe they’d extend the time between games to an hour gap, but 3 hours between wouldn’t make sense.
All the models your experts gave us were off so I wouldn’t say your line of thinking is great…
There won’t be fans this year. There won’t be a vaccine (most likely) until 2021 so large crowds (especially a World Series) will be played without fans in the seats.
Nah his assumption is spot on. Most people can’t afford to pay around $1000 a ticket to go to a World Series game. And if you deny that it just means your one of the big shots.
6 months is even worse if…
Stopped reading here. This pretty much supports why it’s moot to even worry about it. Just a bunch of if statements predicated on worst case scenarios
I can easily say we don’t have to worry about it if there’s not a second wave and we just steadily build up herd immunity
That’s no more valid. Because both of us would simply be talking out of our butts for something highly unpredictable 6 months from now.
So yeah it’s pretty much moot. Don’t point to expert expectations either. They don’t have a playbook for this and even experts have to take guesses with this. While I value that guess to some extent, it’s still a pretty big guessing game.
I’m sure this will fall on deaf ears though. Everyone thinks they need to be “right” when it comes to COVID.
There’s no gate receipts, so no rip-off day night scam jobs. Just plain double-headers
July 10th. Just kidding.
I’ll throw out my guess. If it starts July 1st….then season ends by July 31st when multiple players test positive and they have to shut it all down.
well considering the fact that the CDC deleted almost half of the reported deaths from it’s previous inflated numbers, I’d say it’s safe to say that we are looking at a disease that is far less deadly than expected
Please take your Qanon conspiracy trash somewhere else.
Epic fail.
Strike Four is going to call for your voting and internet privileges to be revoked.
GG, is this the latest talking point in an effort to downplay the virus? Keep trying to talk the virus away. It’s worked so well thus far. Meanwhile, infections are skyrocketing across the US, while states are loosening restrictions.
I’m a huge sports fan, but I don’t see how professional sports are going to be able to resume. Especially football.
Increased infections are not an issue, it depends on who is being infected, Healthy people getting infected and sequestering for the prescribed time is probably the best solution to slowing deaths.
Herd immunity should be the goal. It will get us closer to normal more quickly than any other solution.
The challenge is keeping the vulnerable away from the virus. Keeping the healthy away from the virus is counterproductive.
Increased infections are absolutely an issue. You literally do not know anything about this. You have zero expertise. Stop speaking with so much confidence and listen to doctors describe how healthy people are dying of blood clots and strokes. We know very little about this, and you can be reinfected. There is no ‘herd immunity’ from something if you can keep contracting it. Stop playing doctor and listen to one.
I am capable of research and reading what doctors and others have written. Healthy people are at almost no risk. Yes, of course, like anything, risk is present. It’s important to understand the risks so that each of us can make informed decisions about our lives. There is indeed herd immunity to this virus. The repeat cases in South Korea were announced a few days ago as false positives.
There is no hiding from this virus. We can be as careful as possible and take all the precautions and some will still end up infected. Isn’t it better for the healthy to be infected while we do everything we can to protect the vulnerable? Sadly, we can’t protect everyone from this virus
Sweden tried the herd immunity approach, and they are having worse results than their neighbors. And scientists are not declaring that a previously infected person cannot be reinfected, and say they could indeed suffer worse symptoms than the first time. Meanwhile, here in the US even healthy people are dying from Covid, and they’re dying in all age groups. You speak of people making “informed decisions”, yet many of us don’t have that luxury. If your boss tells you to go back to work in a high risk environment (for example, a meat packing plant), you don’t have much of a choice, particularly if you don’t have much in the way of savings. And your bad choices can affect me. Boris Johnson tried your laissez faire attitude towards the virus and it nearly killed him. He has access to the best medical care. John/Jane Doe don’t have nearly the same resources, and will generally delay going to the hospital long enough to put their lives at risk. We’re at 73,000 U.S. deaths, and the daily death toll is expected to double by June 1st. We’ve kept the death toll down with the shut down in most states. The number of fatalities is about to explode with the reopening of many nonessential businesses. I hope your family and friends are not put at risk by your decisions.
He doesn’t believe the death totals. FOX news has a grip on this guy’s reality.
Would love to listen to a doctor but they lie a lot. Eggs are healthy, eggs are bad, eat 6-11 servings of grain a day, wait grain makes you fat. Here have some opiates for your pain, you won’t become addicted. Oh wait
cherry picking poor medical advice from Dr. Oz doesn’t count
I think when it is all said and done, Sweden’s approach will prove to be the wiser one. Though clearly they could have done some things better.
I certainly do not suggest a “laissez faire” approach is wise, and how you come to that conclusion based on my few comments is curious. I believe the vulnerable should be protected at all costs. So far, I’d say our approach has been the opposite – protect the strong and let the weak die. I find it deplorable and mourn for all the families who have lost loved ones.
People really just can’t get the whole we quarantine to not overload the hospitals thing.
data is already suggesting that it’s not the wiser one.
It’s good of the Swedes to run this experiment so we don’t have to, especially since the results so far are not overly encouraging. It also has to be said that it’s quite a bit easier and more responsible to run a national public health experiment when the country has a unified approach and everyone has full access to medical care. We don’t do either one.
It’s funny how it seems so many baseball fans on this site know the best way to combat a new virus. Everyone here is so sure that they are right. Does everyone here get their taxes done by the guy at the liquor store? Do your wives go to welders for their pre-natal care? No? Then maybe we should leave this to the professionals. No, not your local md. The CDC. The Centers for Disease Control. What are we trying to do? Control a disease. Her, seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it?
Smokin Joe, that is the best response I’ve seen regarding this topic and you’re 100% correct. Our bodies are made to be exposed so our immune system becomes strong.
I don’t care which side of this you’re on, the only thing both sides are proving in this thread is that people, in general, are stupid. Congrats on finally proving something.
There are no ‘sides’ to argue. There are guidelines our global medical experts have given us, and there is misinformation.
Super sinker, you mean the same “experts” who have been wrong at every turn? Oh no, over 2 million people in the US are gonna die… unlikely to even get to 200k. Ventilators are gonna save them… turned out to basically be death machines. The WHO has been proven to be in bed with the Wuhan labs. Hydroxychloroquine and zinc have been the best treatments so far and Fauci speaks out against it because there’s isn’t enough testing but he wants this vaccine to pass through all the red tape. Fauci, Soros, and Gates are all a part of the world bank and are involved in the vaccine funding. If they don’t push a vaccine through, they lose multi billions of dollars. You’ll say I’m lying about that but do some research. This whole thing is a big crap show. Ignorance is one thing but naivety shows a lack effort.
I see the brown material factory is working overtime today.
@ DTD_ATL (maybe it should be DDT?)
Can I send you some disinfectant and a syringe? Or is that naive of me?
Stop watching Sean Hannity and read a book.
I think they should just do the original idea. Arizona stadiums only, starting in July. For the east coast teams games start at 9 pm, so at 6 local time it is still ridiculous hot but at least sun will be setting. Sets at 730 in July in AZ.
If the military can be way away from their families for a year, then MLB can be away from theirs for 3 months.
Let’s just get it started already! But love watching kbo and the bat flips
Be interesting to see which host cities are better off right now. For example OC has so many empty hospital beds doctors and nurses are being furloughed, but LA is still pretty impacted.
Phoenix and picked of Florida are the primary concerns as that’s where players will head first.
But I’m stoked to think baseball will be back.
Don’t get too excited. This the same “cautious optimism” crap we’ve been hearing for months now. So Trevor Plouffe misinterprets an email from his team and that means baseball season is a go? Pump the brakes on that one, big fella!
Haha, my SoCal “stoked”
For real, though, the Stanford/USC antibody testing is so far showing we’ve had over 500,000 cases in the southland with under 1400 deaths. I’m glad we’ve erred on the side of caution here, but each time those numbers get updated it makes me feel better and better because the hospitalization and death rates are lower than we feared they’d be.
Just read Illinois Five Phase Plan….it will be Phase Five when they let sporting events happen, and only when there is a vaccine ready. This is what their Governor just put out on Tuesday.
That means No Cubs, White Sox, Bears, Bulls, College Football, Blackhawks home games played in Illinois until a vaccine is given out.
So these Commissoners can say one thing but the State Politicians have the final say.
Since a vaccine ever being available is unlikely, I guess nothing really will ever happen in Illinois again.
And why won’t a vaccine ever be available? If they can eradicate things like measles and polio I’m sure they can engineer a vaccine for Corona one day.
I’m sure they can, but this thing is evolving/mutating faster than we catch up.
Vaccines are difficult, There are no vaccines for the cold, malaria, ebola, zika, SARS, lyme disease, etc. Even the flu vaccine is only partially effective. Polio and smallpox are making come backs in many parts of the world. Even with an efficient vaccine, this will be with us for eternity. We need to learn to deal with it; the sooner the better. It can be managed, but never eliminated.
I’ve read it mutates extremely slowly when compared to influenza.
How’s that working for AIDS and herpes?
Vaccines treat diseases like polio measles flu and one day corona.
Vaccines do not treat infections like aids and herpes.
It is not mutating fast. That’s the whole reason a vaccine will be possible. Do Americans seriously not read.
The polio vaccine took SIX YEARS to develop. It’s going to take some time, despite what some are telling you. Once a promising drug is developed, there will be a need for clinical trials, and then a ramp up of manufacturing. Add in the subsequent time to distribute any possible vaccine to the general public, and we’re talking about being on our own for quite some time yet.
We’ve also never been more capable of mass manufacturing or mass distributing. We have time now to come up with plans to do this as quickly as possible. If the US government would take part in global pandemic response (rather than sitting it out like they did) it would go a long way to getting sports back. But death cult gotta death cult.
A vaccine for polio took years
Uhm, I see your point but smallpox was eradicated in the 60s or 70s and polio is only still around because vaccines are either not available to people in poorer countries or people in these countries are skeptical of doctors giving their children shots. An effective vaccine can eliminate this, although it will take years and mass amounts of funding and awareness. I am not saying that it will happen just that it can happen.
Yes.
There is an Ebola vaccine.
This is an RNA replicating virus, vaccines won’t work.
Vaccines almost never get developed in less than 5 years. I hope that one can be developed much sooner. However the track record isn’t great when it comes to getting one quickly developed.
And what exactly is this hot take based on?
Phase 4 allows for up to 50 gathering, which is all would be needed to play without fans.
I don’t think they’re going to allow any major gatherings anywhere: sports, concerts, etc. until there’s some sort of of herd immunity, proven treatment, or vaccine.
2 teams, 25 (at least) players per team.
2 managers, 10+ coaches and trainers.
4 umpires.
2 broadcasters, 20+ behind the scenes production people.
I get more than 50 people.
What constitutes a gathering? That will be the next question. Baseball you’re never really that close to a person for a prolonged period of time (besides a few positions). Plus the 22 broadcasters and behind the scenes people will be spread out in a gigantic building not near anyone else.
Exactly. Even if all 25 players are in the dugout along with the manager and coaches and trainers, it’s still under 50. Pitchers are usually in the bullpen and staff and broadcasters are not on the field.
Large mass gathering without a vaccine, baseball without fans is still realisitc.
That will be revised because a vaccine in the near term is unlikely. And it may never happen.
Actually, it states a vaccine or a significant treatment OR consecutive days of declining numbers (paraphrase), so he does leave room for it to happen without a vaccine. A vaccine is likely a year away or more.
yeah pretty much the same here in CA
I just canceled my cable sports package……they raised the price for watching old games !
Unreal !
Doesn’t surprise me. I heard apartment complexes are still charging same rent prices despite not allowing people access to amenities they paid for such as pool and gym.
It’s not their fault politicians think the virus lives in a chlorinated pool (it doesn’t). Where I live, playground equipment is closed off with crime scene tape. As if the virus can live on a swing and infect a child.
The virus can live on a surface for up to 3 days. Seriously, what is wrong with y’all.
Children are at no risk and it is possible (likely?) they do not spread the virus either. The playground in my neighborhood has been closed for weeks, so even if there was a virus once on the surface of the swing (which by itself is highly unlikely) it no longer is.
You realize they would be carriers right? That they would touch their parents or grand parents? You understand how a highly contagious virus works right?
I’ve read that there is no evidence children have infected others. It seems crazy right? But it appears to be the case.
No virus on the playground because nobody is using it. As soon as they do the virus will eventually be back. Kids are very low risk if they have no medical conditions. Some do. Even if they don’t they could pick it up and spread it around to family that are at risk.
I don’t think this is right. I’ve read that there is no evidence children spread the virus. Add in that transmission outdoors is very rare, closing playgrounds is an answer without a question.
Put away Dr.Seuss and Dr.Phil and read something reliable. Of course children can spread the virus.
People spread the virus. Children are people.
current data suggests that children are ~1/3 the risk of adults of contracting but due to regular behavior expose themselves to 2/3 more pathogens making them ideal carriers to expose and transmit the virus to adults. you really need to read up and get it. So far there have only been 5 deaths but a number of hospitalizations of children as well.
SJC, what a load. “I’ve read that” is your factual reference? You’ve read it cause you’ve written that nonsense elsewhere?
Followed by “it seems crazy right?” Because anyone with half a whit of common sense knows that kids are notorious germ carriers and spreaders.
Topped off by “it appears to be the case”. Which you’d have us believe to what end? Smokin Joe = The Ly’n King
Who is they? Direct TV is giving refunds for Extra Innings, and emailed me to say they are giving me NFL ticket for 2020.
I luckily hadn’t started mine. Bad timing for a Cubs only channel for cable customers.
No crap! Absolute worst timing if you just started a new sports network this year.
MLB TV hasn’t done any sort of refund yet either.
It doesn’t seem likely that the virus situation will improve markedly in the coming months. Either get this thing started soon, or bang the season.
Sadly, I think we are going to have to get used to a world without sports for a while. They can be optimistic all they want, but until the risk is removed it will never be the same.
If you are waiting until the risk is removed, then mind as well shutdown sports forever.
Risk is part of life, the goal is to lower the risk but eliminating it completely is close to impossible.
There are different kinds and levels of risk, OK? There’s the risk of getting hit by a line drive or an errant foul, and then there’s the risk of spreading a life threatening virus that will continue to leave hundreds of thousands dead in its wake.
Nobody is calling for all risk to be eliminated; what is being called for is patience and ethics.
…and maybe a little critical thinking…?
Patience and ethics are out in many areas of the country already. Unfortunately involving millions.
it isn’t about risk it is about keeping people from dying. The whole idea of shelter in place isn’t to stop the virus it is to mitigate deaths by allowing the hospital system (which sucks here in the US for capacity) to deal with those that require hospitalization and not to overwhelm systems making it impossible to treat non corona patients. The more quickly it spreads the greater the chance of overwhelming the system.
Wolf – Everything has a risk factor that is considered when making decisions, from business to illness. By protecting the high risk population, the death rate is mitigated. The prescribed procedure for protecting the high risk people is the same as it is for the flu or any other illness. By all reports, those at high risk are defined as the elderly, obese, or anyone who suffers from an underlying medical condition including heart disease, respiritory issues, diabetes, or a compromised immune system,
Which is about 160 million of the 320 million or so people in this country.
mrk – Where did that stat come from that shows collectively those catagories of people make up half of the population?
What exactly is ethical about taking work away from those who depend on it when experts have been wrong at every turn? You may want to do a refresher on ethics.
Hospitals are so overwhelmed they’re empty…swing and a miss
America is one of the most obese countries in the world.
DTD – Nothing is ethical about the economic devastation caused by this overreaction. I live in a relatively small town and there are small businesses in my area that have closed for good because of this. Here is an article from the Washington Times. It’s an interesting read:
m.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/apr/28/coronavirus…
Death cult for money. What a value system Americans cling to.
The risk will never be removed, but it is already being managed in most places. Since transmission outside is difficult, and healthy people under 70 are at little risk, sports could start tomorrow (with appropriate guidelines and safety measures) in many parts of the US, But politicians are very risk-averse; unfortunately they are the ones making the rules.
I rate this comment as “mostly untrue.”
The goal is not to “remove” risk but to mitigate risk. This means reducing it to manageable levels. We’re not even close to that point in most of the country. We’re still not testing anywhere close to enough to get there.
The mortality risk by age is not actually known yet, and the biggest problem with making a statement to the contrary isn’t even that it isn’t based on the science. The biggest problem is it assumes that people at lower risk (whoever that might be) don’t transmit the virus to people at higher risk. This virus is unusually tricky because so many people are minimally symptomatic or asymptomatic and may not know for days, if ever, if they are infected. They are even more likely to be infecting others than people who know they are sick.
The risk of transmission outdoors is lower than indoors very likely, but in or out of doors the vector is the same. If an infected person coughs or sneezes near you or on a surface you touch, you will likely become infected yourself.
Firstly, in my state, they are now allowing anyone to get tested who wants a test. There are multiple sites around the state offering free testing. Could this be offered if people who actually need to be tested are not being tested? Are there people who needs tests still waiting for one? Is it possible there are more available tests than people who want to be tested? I honestly don’t know the answers to those questions, but the testing situation seems far better than it was just a few weeks ago. And it should only get better.
Secondly, infection seems to be more complex than just being sneezed upon (as horrid as that would be without the sneezer being infected of anything) or touching the wrong surface at the wrong time. Basic hygiene can eliminate most risk. Almost all infections are occurring in closed systems with the infected being in close, repetitive contact with the non-infected (nursing homes, prisons, assisted living facilities, hospitals, and, sadly, meat packing plants). Casual transference is rare; transference while being outside is also rare.
Thirdly, healthy people being infected is not something we should worry about. Yes, those people then infecting a vulnerable person is worrisome, but just having the virus is actually a positive if one can manage to not infect anyone else. That obviously is a challenge, but manageable.
Bottom line: There is no such thing as a completely risk-free environment, though some environments present more risk than others; don’t sneeze on people; be sanitary, and be kind to all. Even those you may disagree with.
Blue – Smokin’ Joe is correct.
“The mortality risk by age is not actually known yet, and the biggest problem with making a statement to the contrary isn’t even that it isn’t based on the science. The biggest problem is it assumes that people at lower risk (whoever that might be) don’t transmit the virus to people at higher risk.”
First – the mortality risk by age is known, just not widely reported.
Second – Those people who are considered high risk and low risk are clearly defined. Here is the link to the Surgeon General PSA again. In it, he defines specifically who is at high risk:
youtube.com/watch?v=712pH5tWPWw
“This virus is unusually tricky because so many people are minimally symptomatic or asymptomatic and may not know for days, if ever, if they are infected.”
Do you see the contradiction in your own statement? The fact that “so many” people (I’ve read approximately 60%) have little to no symptoms means we overreacted based on inflated models instead of the facts. People at a higher risk, as defined by the Surgeon General, should take proper precautions to stay healthy, as they would for the flu or any other risk potential.
BlueSky, you reason well. Too bad you keep rooting for the wrong MLB team 😉
Lol imagine taking this surgeon general, or any US administration official, seriously.
@Smokin Joe Charboneau It isn’t simply a matter of being able to test everyone who asks for a test, it’s being able to test repeatedly especially for people who are working or living in places where exposure and transmission risk is high. Testing is better now, but only because it was ridiculously inadequate before. Still not enough, and that isn’t according to me, but doctors. I’m sure you’ve seen forehead thermometers being used in other countries for screening in public places. I have yet to see this done anywhere in the U.S. except possibly at airports. We also need contract tracing in a big way and that is still hardly being done here. It is in countries where they are getting ahead of the curve.
A sneeze or a cough is still is and always was the most common vector of transmission. This is the reason behind social distancing and the value of masks. You can never know when it is the right or wrong time to touch a surface. In high traffic areas they need to be cleaned. Often.
And yes, we should be concerned about younger and healthier people contracting the virus because it is effectively impossible to segregate the more from the less vulnerable populations. A quarter of the mortality has come in nursing and veteran’s homes, and not because the residents of these facilities are going out but because the staff are bringing it to them. The same is true in households where higher and lower risk people live together.
Bottom line: I already said it isn’t about completely eliminating risk, it’s about mitigating risk. My point is we’re still quite aways off from doing that.
@prov356 No contradiction, you simply did not understand the point.
BlueSky I do not disagree with a single thing you wrote in your reply. Thank you for an intelligent, coherent and respectful reply.
Regarding forehead thermometers, I believe these should be in widespread usage. They are a cheap, effective tool than can screen out the most obvious risks. If fans are allowed to attend any sports games, I hope use of these thermometers becomes routine. I’d much rather be near a person without a fever and no mask than a potential fever and a mask.
As you know, contact tracing will be difficult in the US. I think the idea of social distancing among strangers is valid; but among friends and family perhaps looser restrictions can be in place. Why? Contact tracing is much easier among people who know and trust one another.
Super = Why? Because he has an “R” with his name instead of a “D”? How would you define high risk people differently?
Because he’s a clown among clowns. Fauci’s the only honourable person in the building.
Super – How would you define people at high risk differently?
@Smokin Joe Charboneau. Probably we see this more or less the same way. I think we need to be careful about the terminology. Words like risk don’t have simple or obvious definitions, at least not in the sciences. Risk assessment is a science in itself. We build seawalls to withstand 100 year floods not 200 or 500 year floods for good reasons. We try to mitigate risk, not eliminate it. That’s what we are going to do in this case, I assume.
I have no ideas about how contact tracing can be done effectively in this country, but I believe it is being done reasonably well in others without authoritarian governments spying on every movement. It’s the fear of that sort of intrusion into our lives that can mess up any reasonable plan. I see all the people with twitchy knees out there already. The plan can’t be to make them happy because they will never be happy and will refuse to cooperate with any plan.
it already is improving in a lot of areas
Things are opening up too soon without any distancing being practiced unfortunately. The second wave now could be bigger than the first. Sad.
Some think we are in the second wave now. And at least where I live, distancing is pretty much everywhere. I sneezed at Wal-Mart and I think about 10 people could have outraced Usain Bolt.
I live in Memphis and it’s “high pollen season” here (yeah, thanks for that timing and all). Every time I sneeze, I feel like I have a thousand eyes on me, all practicing the Death Stare.
I’m a couple weeks from high-pollen season here. I carry a hankie everywhere. I’d rather sneeze into a hankee than a face mask.
sneezing into the same bacteria ridden cloth every time? that’s healthy.
Everyone is missing the major sticking point, which is players needing to make MAJOR concessions before any part of a season starts. Without local TV revenue and ticket sales, the large market owners in particular will NOT let a season begin without huge monetary concessions (well beyond what was already negotiated).
its not that people are missing this, its that its assumed and probably already being negotiated behind the scenes.
I have been saying this for awhile. For too many teams, cancelling the season would cut their losses if playing means paying the players full pro-rated salaries.
Agree completely. And big market clubs are the ones with the most incentive to cancel.
And regarding “negotiating happening behind the scenes”, we can be hopeful. But publicly Tony Clark is saying “we’ve already negotiated player salaries”. Not even close to being where owners will need them to be to hold even a partial season.
I said it before and I said it again. The players outsmarted the owners, and they have to live up to what they signed. Basically they have two options. A: Play the season with no fans. B: Cancel the season. A team like Tampa Bay who does not draw flies to the Trop playing that way is fine, The Yankees who pay $75m in mortgage payments on Yankee Stadium: That is unacceptable. The one thing in their favor is they have around $100m coming off the books ( Ellsbury, Paxton, Tanaka, Happ and Gardner).
If the players won’t take a pay cut, cancel the season and let us watch Triple-A. Those guys will play. And they don’t need $25 Million to play ONE SEASON (which is a joke, really, how overpaid athletes are in light of things).
I still think this virus was a ploy by the NFL to get ratings up lol. Just think, if it was a normal year the draft would be going on during MLB, Nascar, and some kind of Golf. Now it was just the draft, and people tuned in because they wanted to see some form of sports. And now projections are making it seem like we can start an NFL season like normal here in a few months (albeit with less/no fans), but people will tune in because they want to see Joe Burrow on the Bengals, or CeeDee Lamb on the Cowboys.
Just know that all I said was a joke.
I listened to talkin baseball today and I believe Trevor Plouffe #JakeSucks
things are improving in most places. i still doubt the validity of playing in home parks, but i think some sort of multi-state plan that has been mentioned could allow a comfortable ammount of time for a July 1st start.
Just heard from my Season Ticket Rep with the Rangers, and he stated that as of today, they (MLB & Rangers) are planning to have baseball with fans in ballpark in late summer, unless conditions do not improve or heaven forbid get worse.
Yeah I read a local DFW article that stated that the Rangers Ticket refund policy is the worst of all MLB teams, and how you can only get credits for other games. Is that true?
Hey Rangers29, I didn’t particularly ask about ticket refunds, but he did say the Rangers are going to add 5% of the total season ticket cost in the form of Captains Cash, which is basically coupons to buy Rangers merchandise and or food at the ballpark. Not as good as some of the small market teams, Royals and Twins have offered. And of course, any games not played in front of fans will be credited to next seasons, Season Ticket Renewal.
Ok thank you, I am not a season ticket holder, nor did I even buy tickets in advance for this season, but I was just curious. I still want to see the new stadium, but it will have to wait (for obvious reasons).
I haven’t been able to get credit for any Texas Rangers games yet. The only exception was I did get a refund for the Spring Training game versus the Cardinals. That was supposed to be the first baseball game played at the new stadium. The rest of my tickets won’t be paid back until the games are actually cancelled.
I don’t see how they improve with several states already ‘re-opening’.
Currently I would assume there’s no possible way anything is being hosted in NYC until August at the earliest. Too many people here, far too many people not respecting the virus and I think it needs to get to some consistent “no new infections reported” level before trying to get 50,000 people to/from Queens and The Bronx. Neither stadium is set up for everyone to get there without public transit and right now as a New Yorker I am not going anywhere NEAR the subway and staying on for the hour+ journey it takes to get from Brooklyn to either ballpark and I would figure a lot of folks would agree.
If they do fanless games, yeah sure maybe. I just know that New York City is nowhere near having fans at games until there’s some realistic expectation that going on the subway wouldn’t get you infected when it’s full of people.
As a fan, I’m highly in favor of the TX/FL/AZ plan of 3 “leagues” and keeping the players in essentially extended Spring Training. I know a lot of players are dumb and would have weird objections to having a weird season, but it makes a lot more sense than assuming travel is safe and that they should put more people at risk than absolutely necessary.
50k in a stadium any this year seems unlikely. What about 10k at Yankee Stadium? Close off every other row and every other seat.
No.
I’d attend a game if I knew I did not have to sit next to a stranger. I think fever monitoring would be a helpful tool as well. It is common in Asia
You can have Covid and not have a fever. there are many, many cases of asymptomatic carriers. It’s why testing for symptoms is stupid.
I’d rather be within 6 feet of a stranger, exhaling normally, without a fever or a mask, than a mouth-breathing stranger with a mask on who may have a fever.
What are you talking about
Still 10K showing up and leaving at the same time, packing the subway as they do it.
I’m not an NYC resident though have traveled to NYC dozens of times. I was flabbergasted when I heard that not only was the Subway not closed, they limited service (increasing the number of rider per Subway car). One has to wonder how many civil and criminal complaints will come from that decision.
The subway is often the only way to get to work for those that work in a hospital or other critical facility. Particularly for those that have low paying support jobs.
My brother is on an MLB roster and I can attest they are already getting ready to start up
Good to know. Does he have any concerns about getting the virus in-season?
First, if you are waiting for a vaccine, whether you are a person or a government entity, to reopen society they prepare to be disappointed. Already seeing mutations of the spike proteins on this virus which has led to a different form of the virus predominating now vs earlier in the pandemic. But most of the vaccine trials are using the earlier virus. That does not bode well for a workable vaccine. Plus, the timeline of 12-18 months was not realistic. No vaccine has ever been developed in that short of a time frame. Too many issues to work through to get a vaccine that is safe and effective.
Second, given the first, we must find a way at some point to move forward and develop a new normal in regards to life. And sports/entertainment are part of that life. They are big businesses that employ literally millions of people. This virus is not going away anytime. How that will look is anyone’s guess at this point. Planning is good, but being flexible with those plans is also good.
I gave a thumbs up even with the phrase “new normal” in this post. Already tired of this phrase. Also tired of the “we are all in this together” phrase. The people who use that phrase are the first dialing 911 if you take out your trash without a face mask on.
We are all in this together. It is our collective responsibility to protect vulnerable groups from this virus.
Too bad some elected politicians don’t think that way. Have any other states besides NY decide placing CoVid + patients into nursing homes with CoVid – residents is a good idea?
Cuomo announced literally the opposite is being done in New York, and the state is carrying the cost burden of doing that.
Where in the world are you getting your disinfo from? Are you a Breitbart subscriber or something
Dude, that story was everywhere. I don’t even know what bretbart is.
And that’s exactly what it was, a story. Fiction sells.
Not only is cuomo responsible for every senior home death ,now its out there that he is going to try to charge all the volunteers that came into ny to help ny income tax..stop praising him… and why did my original post not go through
Cool story, Karen.
Lol y’all are doomed
Please no. Safety first.
Special fan package: 14 day quarantine at the stadium of your choice. You get to attend the games, get all your meals from the concession stands, use the bathrooms, and stadiums will set up designated sleeping areas with cots and portable shower stalls. Once you arrive at the stadium you cannot leave the premises for 14 days, then you must return home. There will be no testing, no PPE, no masks, no treatments and certainly no vaccines. Sit in the fresh air and sunshine and watch game after game of baseball, 2 to 3 games a day, every day. For an extra fee, fans will be allowed to participate in one inning of one game during the quarantine. Fans will only be permitted to play right field and will not get to bat.
Manny Ramirez just signed up.
No testing everyone? No thanks.
I think we are reopening, because MLB is enormously profitable for the owners, highly compensated for the players, and many collateral businesses rely on them. It won’t be because there’s no risk (there is) or it’s all a hoax (it’s not). There will be politicians grandstanding and there will be some infections, and some of the infected will show symptoms of the disease. There’s a harsh calculus going on right now that we aren’t seeing–which is how many casualties are acceptable? MLB’s biggest PR risk isn’t that a fan will get ill, because the PR machine will take care of that. It’s that someone on the team might get it, and hit the disabled list, etc, and then baseball would have to decide whether to disclose, and what actions needed to be taken after. You know they aren’t going to want to shut down a second time.
Hmm
I must have made a mistake.
I thought this was a baseball site.
“A week or so” puts us right around May 15… As contentious as things seem like they could get, I hope that’s enough time for the two sides to negotiate if indeed they wish to restart spring training on June 10.
Just play the games in the empty stadiums in Arizona only, the original idea. Start it in July. It will be ridiculously hot I know, but they can handle it. Start the games at 6pm, so 9pm on the east coast. Sun sets at 730 in July in Arizona. Play a 3 month season. The military is away from their families for a year, so these guys can handle 3 months away from theirs.
how gracious of you to voluntell others what they should sacrifice simply for your entertainment. You do realize these are human beings and not machines.
They’re also away half the year anyways during a normal season. It’s just a bit condensed now with this situation. I haven’t seen my family the last 2 months. Everyone is going through it.
your choices do not become obligations for others. you haven’t seen your family? ever heard of facetime or google duo or facebook portal – all tools that would enable you to see your family.
or would you like to correct yourself and mean you haven’t physically been in their presence?
Military personnel sign up to be away from their families. A baseball player with tens of millions in the bank rightfully will take a pass on being away from their young family.
And what percentage of MLBers actually have that much money in the bank? Rich people still gotta pay bills too 🙂
There also Plenty of players that will and want to play.
how many? do you know?
Yea if you want a exhibition season, not a real season that will be taken seriously.
Wait … if we just INJECT DISINFECTANT … that will work, right?
drink all the bleach. drink it up.
Works great if you don’t want to die from covid.
far less painful to die from ingesting a toxic chemical.
Cause of death: covfefe
For what it’s worth, Trevor plouffe is an absolute moron.
you did not enjoy him whining about the reaction of his twitter feed this morning?
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Love that chatter has begun.
2021 sounding better all the time.
What’s the appropriate context for advocating Lysol IV drips? Lol