The Return of Masks as COVID Cases Rise Shows that it is Déjà vu all Over Again

Posted on July 30, 2021 by Ryan Anderson

In the words of the late, great, Hall of Famer, Yogi Berra, “It’s déjà vu all over again” as once more COVID-19 cases are on the rise and baseball games and other aspects of life are being rescheduled or cancelled.

The July 28, 2021 game between the Washington Nationals and the Philadelphia Phillies was postponed less than two hours before first pitch “to allow for continued testing and contact tracing involving members of the Nationals organization,” according to a statement by Major League Baseball.

The latest outbreak marks the third time this season that the Nationals have had to place multiple players on the COVID list.

The Nats began the season with nine players and four coaches impacted by an outbreak on the team plane.

Then in May, starting pitcher Erick Fedde tested positive and reliever Tanner Rainey was forced to quarantine for being a close contact.

In response to rising cases of the Delta COVID-19 variant, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued revised guidance for a return to wearing masks indoors for both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals after an internal document showed that the variant is far more infectious than previously thought.

Additionally, on July 29, 2021 President Joe Biden mandated that all federal employees and contractors either be vaccinated or submit to regular testing as a condition of their employment.

Yes, Yogi, indeed it is déjà vu all over again as cases rise and some people still refuse to wear masks or get vaccinated.

To quote another Yogism, “you can observe a lot by watching.” And watching the number of cases climbing, one can observe that instead of saying mission accomplished and getting on with our lives as they were in the before times, we are heading backwards in the battle to rid our shores of COVID-19.
Photo R. Anderson

To quote another Yogism, “you can observe a lot by watching.”

Watching the number of cases climbing, one can observe that instead of saying mission accomplished and getting on with our lives as they were in the before times, we are heading backwards in the battle to rid our shores of COVID-19.

In many ways the return of a world where mask mandates and potential shutdowns are being talked about boils down to the fact that more people did not get vaccinated back in May when vaccines were plentiful and the Delta variant was barely gaining strength.

In hindsight, lifting mask guidance in May and trusting that the unvaccinated would continue to wear masks was a lesson in foolishness since many in the anti-mask and anti-vaccine crowd will never wear a mask even if their lives and the lives of their children depended on it. Which it does, but more on that in a bit.

But instead of looking back at the mistakes of May, one must look at the present and decide how to move forward with the current conditions.

I get that people can have concerns about getting vaccinated and understand that some people require more data before they are willing to let someone stick a needle in their arm.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could likely put a lot of minds at ease by lifting the Emergency Use Authorization of the COVID-19 vaccines and stating that they are safe and effective for every day use and fully vetted and approved.

Educational outreach is critical to reaching the unvaccinated and showing them that the risks of dying from COVID-19 far outweigh any potential side effects from a vaccine.

But while people are parsing through the data to achieve a comfort level to get the vaccine, they should be wearing a mask at the very least to protect those around them from getting sick.

The politics of being anti-mask and anti-vaccine is another thing I don’t understand. While many politicians are touting the need to get educated on masks and vaccines, too many others are having their “let them eat cake moments.”

Instead of being at the forefront of encouraging their constituents to mask up and vax up, several politicians seem willing to let people die from a largely preventable disease just so they can score political points among a small minority of the country as part of a pandemic of stupidity.

I am all for adults having the freedom to educate themselves on the vaccines, but I am not for putting children at risk in the process. Currently all children under 12-years-old are not eligible to get vaccinated.

Those too young to get vaccinated must rely on those who are old enough to provide a bubble of protection around them to keep them healthy until a vaccine is approved for their age group.

That is the thing I do not understand, many people are so anti-mask and anti-vaccine that they are willing to risk their own children getting sick, or dying, just to make a point and to stay “on brand.”

In 1985 musician Sting told his band mates of the Police to not stand so close to him as he ventured off on a solo career. His first solo album, Dream of the Blue Turtles featured a track called Russians. While the song was written in response to Cold War tensions between the then U.S.S.R and the United States, one can see parallels in the lyrics to the current standoff of related to the vaccinated and unvaccinated in the battle against COVID-19.

Children’s hospitals are filling up with patients who are too young to get vaccinated and became infected through contact with someone who most likely was old enough to get vaccinated but didn’t.

In 1985, musician Sting told his band mates of the Police to not stand so close to him as he ventured off on a solo career.

His first solo album, Dream of the Blue Turtles featured a song called Russians. While the song, Russians, was written in response to Cold War tensions between the then U.S.S.R and the United States, one can see parallels in the lyrics to the current standoff related to the vaccinated and unvaccinated in the battle against COVID-19.

Russians opens with the lines, “In Europe and America there’s a growing feeling of hysteria. Conditioned to respond to all the threats. In the rhetorical speeches of the Soviets.”

Fast forward to 2021 and one could say that the rhetorical speeches of some governors who are anti-mask mandates in school are fueling the rising tensions.

Turn on the local news in many southern states and one is likely to see angry parents berating local school districts who are trying to keep their kids safe by telling them to mask up.

Unfortunately, those anti-mask, anti-vaccine parents have governors willing to back them in their anti-science rants.

In keeping with our Russians theme other lyrics state, “I don’t subscribe to this point of view. It’d be such an ignorant thing to do. If the Russians (or in our case unvaccinated) love their children too.”

Masks and vaccines have become so politicized that people are talking past each other instead of to each other.

Going back to the Russians well once more, “There is no monopoly on common sense. On either side of the political fence. We share the same biology, regardless of ideology.”

As noted many times over the past year and a half, COVID-19 does not care if you are a democrat or a republican. It does not care if you think it is “Fake News” or just a flu.

People are still getting sick, and even if they don’t die, many will have long term health effects.

Having to cancel, and/or postpone baseball games, or other sporting events due to COVID-19 is one thing.

Being willing to risk that a child may never get to play sports at all due to long haul COVID because their lungs got trashed when they were at a summer camp full of unvaccinated counselors is another thing.

But what might save us, me and you is if the unvaccinated love their children too.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I am off to dust off some Sting CDs and party like it is 1985.

The 2020 MLB Season is Rolling on Like a Tarpaulin Over a Wet Field

Posted on August 10, 2020 by Ryan Anderson

To say that the 2020 Major League Baseball (MLB) season has been full of challenges would be an understatement.

The season has consisted of one challenge after another with little sign of slowing down.

For starters Spring Training was shut down in March. Then, when the season resumed two months later, teams were faced with a grueling 60-games in 66 days schedule.

Due in no small part to a shortened Spring Training, several marquee players have had their season cut short due to injuries.

To make things even more interesting, a handful of teams are battling outbreaks of COVID-19 that are causing games to be postponed at an alarming rate.

Those teams that are lucky enough to play games are doing so in empty Ballparks in front of cardboard fan cutouts and the sounds of pumped in Ballpark noise.

This is even the type of season where no hitter bids are ended by routine fly balls getting lost in the air by normally competent outfielders.

To put things mildly, this is a season where anything can and will happen.

With all of those challenges, the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals likely were just happy to be at the Ballpark on Sunday.

The Orioles were ahead 5-2 when the tarp started rolling Sunday in a game against the Washington Nationals. Normally that would mean that the game would be called and the Orioles would be declared the winners. Nothing about the 2020 season falls under normal conditions. So, of course the game fell under a little used wrinkle in the rule book related to faulty equipment and was suspended instead of called official.
Photo R. Anderson

That all changed in the sixth inning when a rain shower in the Nation’s Capital provided some comic relief; while also showing just how crazy this season, and for that matter entire year, really is.

Raise your hands if you had, ground crew struggles to cover the field with a tarp on your 2020 Bingo card.

If you did have that on your Bingo card, congratulations since that is exactly what happened at Nationals Park.

In perfect conditions, the grounds crew can roll out a tarp and cover the field with the precision of a well-choreographed ballet.

In less than perfect conditions, like Sunday’s Orioles and Nationals game, a grounds crew can struggle for more than 15 minutes to get the tarp across the infield while allowing the field to turn into a muddy mess.

After a two-hour, eight-minute delay to try to get the field back in playing condition the umpires declared the field unplayable and suspended the rest of the game.

Under normal circumstances, the game would have been deemed official. According to the MLB rule book, any contest that is called after 15 outs have been made when the visiting team took the lead in the previous inning or earlier is deemed an “official game.”

If the rain delay comes before 15 outs are made, when the game is tied or in the same inning that the visiting team took the lead, it is suspended until a later date.

The Orioles were ahead 5-2 when the tarp started rolling. Normally that would mean that the game would be called and the Orioles would be declared the winners.

Nothing about the 2020 season falls under normal conditions. So, of course the game fell under a little used wrinkle in the rule book related to faulty equipment.

Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose, and sometimes the grounds crew forgets to turn off the timer on the sprinklers on game day.
Photo R. Anderson

The tarp that the Nationals’ grounds crew attempted to use was tangled up in its roller like a string of Christmas lights. As such, it fell under Rule 7.02 of the MLB hand book which reads that any game that is called as a result of “light failure, malfunction of, or unintentional operator error in employing, a mechanical or field device or equipment under the control of the home Club” must be picked up at a later date.

The tarp and the roller are considered a field device and as such due to the inability to deploy said device properly the Nats live to play another day.

“We couldn’t get the tarp on the field. I feel bad for our grounds crew because, personally, these guys, to me, are the best or, if not, one the best. It’s just unfortunate that that happened,” said Nationals manager Davey Martinez during the postgame Zoom video call. “For me, honestly, it’s part of this 2020 season. It really is. There is going to be days when you don’t know what to expect. This is part of it. So, we just got to keep moving on.”

As part of that moving on, the game will resume Friday at Oriole Park at Camden Yards as part of a scheduled series in Baltimore. Despite changing venues, the Nationals will remain the home team for the suspended game. When the game resumes, the Orioles will have two men on with one out in the top of the sixth and leading 5-2.

If I were the type to peddle in conspiracy theories, I might suspect that the Washington Nationals grounds crew tangled the tarp on purpose to allow the Nats the chance to climb back from their three-run deficit.

Where are Mulder and Scully when you need them?

Of course, since this is 2020, and there is a global COVID-19 pandemic where up is down and down is up, I will give the grounds crew a pass and say that the 15-minute tarp deployment really was just an unfortunate accident, and not a premeditated act, or a conspiracy, to help the home team avoid a loss.

However, if the Nationals end up winning the game Friday, they should definitely thank their grounds crew for the assist.

I learned many life lessons from the movie Bull Durham. One of the most important ones being, everyone needs a rain delay now and then. The way 2020 keeps rolling on I am sure a lot of us wish that someone would turn the sprinklers on and give us a break from this tumultuous year.

Of course, if that were possible, the way this year has gone, I am sure someone would find a loop hole that says we would have to make the year up due to equipment failure. Once through 2020 is plenty, so maybe it is best not to use the rain delay clause just yet.

If one wanted to apply deep thought to the tarp situation in Washington D.C. they could say that 2020 is a lot like that grounds crew trying to cover that field. This year is a muddy mess and a struggle. However, if we all work together as one, we can roll out that tarp and tackle the raging COVID-19 storm that is washing away 2020.

I guess the key is to Tarpe Diem, err Carpe Diem that is.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a spot on my 2020 Bingo card to fill in.

Dodgers Show That Even in a Global COVID-19 Pandemic Revenge is a Dish Best Served with Some Chin Music

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Ryan Anderson

Earlier this week the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros faced off for the first time since the Astros were caught cheating with their hands in the proverbial trash can.

The cheating goes back to the 2017 season when the Dodgers lost to the Astros in the World Series. Looking back at those games, an argument can definitely be made that the Dodgers could have added another oversized World Series Ring to their plaza of honor at Dodger Stadium had it not been for a video camera, a bat, and a trash can.

With many people thinking that the Astros players got off way too easily in terms of punishment for their cheating, the 2020 season was expected to be a season long opportunity for players and fans who felt wronged by the Astros to show their displeasure.

As I noted a few months back, the fan-free season during COVID-19 made the Astros the biggest winners of 2020, since fans cannot boo them when they come to town. On can only imagine how loud a completely full Dodger Stadium would have been with fans booing in unison with every Astros at bat.

A year after being cheated out of their first World Series title in nearly 30 years, a lone trash can is seen in front of a mural commemorating the titles the Dodgers have won. It is quite possible that were it not for the sounds coming off of a trash can, the Los Angeles Dodgers would have a fresh coat of paint on the World Series title mural, as well as a new entry for 2017. Instead, they are left with wondering what might have been had the playing field been level.
Photo R. Anderson

While fans in Ballparks have been limited to cardboard representations, the players for the other teams are still free to enforce the unwritten rules of the game, which made the Astros versus Dodgers game must see TV.

After Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly threw a pitch in the area of the head of Alex Bregman, and later taunted Carlos Correa in the sixth inning in game one of a two game series, a good old-fashioned bench clearing brawl occurred.

For his part in the somewhat masked, but totally not socially distanced melee, Kelly was suspended for eight games by MLB. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts received a one-game suspension.

The Dodgers ended up with the last laugh as they won both games of the series by scores of 5-2 and 4-2, respectively.

While the Dodgers won the series, they also exposed the mismanagement of the cheating scandal by MLB. Yes, to be fair, three MLB managers lost their jobs due to ties to the scandal, and the Astros fired their General Manager. But many fans and players maintain that the punishment did not go far enough since former Astros skipper, A.J. Hinch, wasn’t the one playing a trash can in the dugout like a bass drum to let hitters know what pitch was coming.

Just to make sure this point comes across, players who were caught cheating for an entire season were given zero suspensions for their actions, but a pitcher for the team that many argue was cheated out of the 2017 World Series title is given an eight-game suspension. To put that in perspective, eight games equates to around 13 percent of the shortened season. Kelly has appealed his suspension.

Jose Altuve, and his 2017 Astros teammates, were found by MLB to have benefited from an intricate cheating technique that involved a camera, a bat and a trash can. While the world will never know whether the cheating is why the Astros won the World Series, the world does know that none of the players were punished for their actions during that season. That fact, as a lot of fans and players from other teams mad enough to kick a trash can.
Photo R. Anderson

These truly are strange and mysterious times, and show that in many ways MLB is just making things up as they go along. More on that thought in a bit.

The rules for the 2020 season outlaw bench clearing brawls. However, writing something in a health manual, and actually following what is written, are two entirely different things; as demonstrated by the fact that the dugouts and bullpens emptied in a fan-free Ballpark.

Besides the benches clearing brawl, players have been breaking the guidelines involving walk off celebrations, and high fives among other things.

But while MLB seems quick to enforce the rules for what it sees as retaliation pitches, it is downplaying the wildfire of COVID-19 that is inching closer to bringing the 2020 season to a screeching halt.

The Miami Marlins were suspended for an entire week after a COVID-19 outbreak impacted nearly 20 players and staff, however the teams not impacted by games against the Marlins were left to continue to play ball. Of course, nothing happens in a vacuum.

The St. Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers became the latest teams to have games cancelled after two Cardinal players tested positive for COVID-19. The Cardinals and Brewers join the Marlins, Blue Jays, Phillies, Orioles, Nationals, and Yankees as teams who have had games either postponed or played with different opponents than scheduled.

That means that at the time of this writing, nearly a third of all MLB teams have been impacted by COVID-19.

In response to the growing list of games that will need to be rescheduled, MLB has decided that all doubleheaders will be 7-innings, instead of 9-innings, in order to cram as many games as possible into the schedule in their drive to crown a World Series Champion. Nothing like changing the rules of a season after the season has started.

While they are at it, why not just have all games decided by a home run derby? The Sugar Land Skeeters are using home run derbies to settle extra inning games in their four-team, fans in the stand independent baseball summer league.

If MLB needs to crown a champion in order to call the season a success, why bother with the games? Just line the teams up for a home run derby to decide who the best team is? After all, launch angles and the long ball seem to be all the rage these days.

I will take it a step further and say that a home run derby approach can even eliminate team travel. Just have retired pitchers travel to the Ballparks and throw batting practice to decide the games. Teams can choose from a selection of retired pitchers and the same pitcher has to pitch to both teams to make it fair.

Of course, with different ballparks having different outfield dimensions considerations will need to be made for how to assign a weight to each home run.

Maybe, teams can be reward style points for launch angle.

Prior to the start of the 2020 MLB season, Washington Nationals Pitcher Sean Doolittle, aka Obi-Sean Kenobi Doolittle on Twitter, weighed in on the wisdom of playing baseball in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo R. Anderson

The remarks below appeared in USA Today in early July, and are chilling when looked at through the lens of hindsight after a week of MLB action.

“We’re trying to bring baseball back during a pandemic that’s killed 130,000 people,” said Doolittle. “We’re way worse off as a country than where we were in March when we shut this thing down. And look at where other developed countries are and their response to this. We haven’t done any of the things that other countries have done to bring sports back. Sports are like the reward of a functional society, and we’re just like trying to bring it back even though we’ve taken none of the steps to flatten the curve or whatever you want to say. We did flatten the curve for a little bit, but we didn’t use that time to do anything productive. We just opened back up for Memorial Day. We decided we’re done with it.

“If there aren’t sports, it’s going to be because people are not wearing masks, because the response to this has been so politicized. We need help from the general public. If they want to watch baseball, please wear a mask, social distance, keep washing your hands. We can’t just have virus fatigue and think, ‘Well, it’s been four months. We’re over it. This has been enough time, right? We’ve waited long enough, shouldn’t sports come back now?’ No, there’s things we have to do in order to bring this stuff back.”

Since Doolittle made that statement in early July, the COVID-19 death toll in America has risen by 23,000 to over 153,000 dead and counting, with no signs of slowing down.

Sadly, there are those who will say, “But hey, at least two thirds of the MLB teams haven’t missed any games yet, and the MLB has shown that it is going to come down hard on pitchers who throw at members of the trash can symphony club.”

Yes, there are live sports to watch now, and the NCAA seems determined to ensure that college football returns in the fall despite us not acting anything like a functional society. Why worry about a global pandemic when there are sports to watch?

Sometimes, real life truly is stranger than fiction.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to see if my seeds from China arrived. As crazy as the world is getting, they may grow a magic bean stalk. But that is a story for another day.

MLB Gives the Miami Marlins Some Time Off as the Grand Social Experiment of Playing Baseball in the Midst of COVID-19 Rolls On

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Ryan Anderson

This week the Major League Baseball (MLB) social experiment season reinforced the fact that we are in a season like no other in the middles of a global COVID-19 pandemic.

After over a dozen players and staff tested positive for COVID-19, the Miami Marlins had a week’s worth of games postponed. As a result of the Marlins outbreak, the Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and Philadelphia Phillies also had games postponed based on their proximity to either the Marlins, or the clubhouse in Philadelphia used by the Marlins.

In a statement announcing the move to basically quarantine an entire team, MLB noted, “that it is most prudent to allow the Marlins time to focus on providing care for their players and planning their Baseball Operations for a resumption early next week.”

The fact that a team would have an outbreak of COVID-19 in and of itself is not surprise. In fact, each team as a pool of 30 “break glass in case of emergency” players to handle just such an event. Of course, I am sure most teams thought they would be able to get further into the season without having to deal with an outbreak.

The Marlins were shut down while the other teams either continued to play, or rearranged their schedules to avoid games against the Marlins later in the week. One has to wonder whether the entire MLB season would have been called if one of the more popular teams with higher payrolls became infected.

The Miami Marlins are in quarantine in Philadelphia after over a dozen players and staff tested positive for COVID-19. Games in Philadelphia were cancelled after other teams voiced concerns about using the same clubhouse that the Marlins had just left. The Phillie Phanatic could not be reached for comment.
Photo R. Anderson

That is nothing against the Marlins, I like the Marlins. In fact, I still have a program, shirt and hat from their first season in 1993.

Also, Don Mattingly, the current manager of the Marlins, was one of my favorite baseball players growing up.

But there is certainly a difference in parking a team that likely was not going to make the 16-team cutoff for the playoffs, versus parking a team like the Yankees or Dodgers that many people consider World Series bound.

The Marlins will spend their week off trying to find enough players to field a competitive team but there is a chance they may not be able to continue the season. Before the series was cancelled, the Washington Nationals voted unanimously to not travel to Miami for games since it is one of the hottest of hot spots for COVID-19. So, even if the Marlins do resume the season, it is possible they may find that no one wants to play them at Marlins Park.

That calls to mind the biggest flaw of the MLB season. While most leagues that are resuming competition are doing so in a bubble environment to mitigate virus spread, MLB owners basically demanded that games be played in their home ballparks even if those Ballparks were located in the middle of a COVID-19 hot spot.

As mentioned previously, the Toronto Blue Jays, will play the season as a team without a country after the Canadian government nixed their plan of letting ballplayers cross the U.S. and Canadian border freely. So, with the exception of the “Buffalo” Blue Jays wandering the East Coast like a hiker on the Appalachian Trail, the remaining team owners are recouping some revenue by using their home Ballparks versus sharing a bubble, while counting on players to police themselves and stay in the hotel on road trips instead of hitting the town.

While the source of the Marlins outbreak has not been traced the Associated Press reported that at least one Miami player left the team hotel when the team was in Atlanta and could have been exposed there.

The actions of the Marlins players to decide via a group text that they would still take the field even after some players tested positive show that COVID-19 is not going to be corralled under MLB’s plan since it relies too much on the players for enforcement.

With the Marlins outbreak, it becomes more and more likely that the 2020 MLB social experiment will be cut short due to forces outside the control of the owners; allowing them to play the victim card instead of showing real upfront leadership.

If MLB is bound and determined to crown a 2020 World Series Champion, just cancel the season and give the title to the team that ends up with the fewest COVID-19 infections on their roster.

The season never should have started. MLB could have been a beacon of responsibility by saying that baseball is not an essential business, and it is too risky to players and employees to try to crisscross the country creating made for television games. Airing Public Service Announcements with players wearing masks and encouraging social distancing would have been so much more responsible than a few hours of baseball a night.

It is time for the adults in the room to shut the MLB season down and try again next year. Of course, those adults are the same people who insisted on playing in their home ballparks with advertising covered tarpaulins over many of the empty seats. I doubt owners will do much in the way of canceling the season despite the growing evidence that players are going to be sick and ignore the safety protocols since it would cause them to admit they were wrong.

The 2020 MLB season will continue to roll along, and players will continue to get sick. Teams will be placed in timeout, and the schedule will continue to get reworked to ensure that teams are able to get those precious 60-games in, so that 16-teams can earn some of that sweet playoff television revenue.

The Baltimore Orioles traveled to Miami for a series against the Marlins. The only problem being the Marlins were in quarantine in Philadelphia after over a dozen players and staff tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the Orioles to turn around and fly back home. The Marlins are still stuck in Philadelphia after MLB cancelled a week’s worth of their games.
Photo R. Anderson

The optics MLB is projecting come across as “player health be damned, there’s baseball to be played.”

That approach sounds an awful lot like a guy in Washington D.C. who is ignoring the science since he wants the economy and schools to reopen, and for people to act like there is nothing to see here; since it would benefit him in November.

With blinders on, and the distraction of watching baseball, it is easy for some people to ignore the over 150,000 Americans who have died due to the lack of a centralized plan to combat the COVID-19 virus.

Those 150,000 and counting Americans are not just numbers. They were fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, sons, daughters, grandparents, husbands, wives, coworkers and friends. Some of them were baseball fans, and some of them probably even voted for that guy in Washington D.C. who listens to the “Demon sperm” doctor who claims she cured COVID-19, instead of listening to real science.

For some people, it is easier to play the victim than the hero. Even if one wants to blame someone on the other side of the world for allowing COVID-19 to come to our majestic shores, and spread from sea to shining sea, the fact is the virus is here. It is going to continue to rage against the machine of indifference and spin. COVID-19 does not care if someone is playing the blame game, or wondering out loud why they aren’t as popular as other people.

But by all means, play ball and tout drugs that the legitimate scientists say don’t really help with COVID-19, like a fiddle playing Roman emperor, instead of standing up and actually trying to be part of the solution by leading with a national strategy.

I don’t know how we got here as a country. America used to be looked at with a level of respect by the majority of the world. Now, those same countries are likely either pitying us, or shaking their heads in disbelief. It is time for people to wake up and take COVID-19 seriously.

Baseball can always come back next year. If we do not get a handle on COVID-19, there will be a lot fewer fans around to watch it. You know, because they will be dead from that virus people got tired of and decided to try to ignore. Those are facts and not self-serving conspiracy theory laced spin.

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol showed old Ebenezer that he had the power to change his ways to ensure that Tiny Tim’s chair was not empty the following year. However, it seems that many people are content to decrease what they view to be the surplus population by ignoring COVID-19, and saying “bah humbug,” while they engage in self-serving activities and worry about filling their money vaults.

Now if you’ll excuse me, that’s enough Dickens for one day.

Lightning on MLB Opening Day Reminds us That We are Still in the Middle of a Storm

Posted on July 24, 2020 by Ryan Anderson

After months of negotiations, Major League Baseball (MLB) started the 2020 season that they were bound and determined to have despite cases of COVID-19 surging from coast to coast, and more specifically surging within several cities that have MLB teams.

While I was watching the Opening Day game Thursday night, between the Washington Nationals and New York Yankees, an eerie sight of potential foretelling took place to remind us all that this is not a season like the others.

No, I am not talking about Dr. Anthony Fauci’s “just a bit outside” first pitch. I can only hope that I am in as good of shape as he is when I turn 79. While, Dr. Fauci is not the best at throwing pitches, thank goodness for all of us that he is adapt at not sugar-coating things and giving us the facts we need in the middle of a COVID-19 pandemic.

The eerie moment occurred during an on-air interview with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred when the Washington D.C. skyline was filled with lightning. Manfred was unaware of the light show since it happened behind him, but he became aware of it when the thunder reached his ears.

Lightning, and related rain, led to the first game of the 2020 MLB season being called three innings early. At the time, I thought that it was fitting that a long-delayed season would have its first game end that way.
Photo R. Anderson

The lightning, and related rain, led to the first game of the 2020 MLB season being called three innings early. At the time, I thought that it was fitting that a long-delayed season would have its first game end that way.

By the time I was watching the Los Angeles Dodgers game, I had forgotten about the lightning. Instead, I was making preparations to write about the wayward Toronto Blue Jays finally finding safe harbor after being told that they could not play in Toronto or Pittsburgh due to concerns related to COVID-19 spread.

While the Baltimore Orioles offered to share their nest at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, a Triple A Ballpark within the Blue Jays organization in Buffalo, New York was chosen as their home for the 60 game in 66 days season; despite the players noting their desire to only play in an MLB Ballpark.

With my sights set on chronicling the plight of the Blue Jays in mind, I sat down at my computer in the Gigaplex and was ready to let the words fly from my fingers onto the screen. That was until the giant thunder clap briefly knocked out the power, and took out the Wi-Fi and cable connections.

The storm lasted all of 60 seconds, and included only that single bolt of lightning and related thunder. As quickly as the sky turned dark as night, the sun returned. It was as if the storm had never even been there aside from the lack of Wi-Fi and cable to remind me.

As I was resetting all of the Gigaplex clocks, suddenly the lightning in Washington, D.C. the night before was back in my mind. I realized that the lightning was a metaphor for the season of baseball in the middle of COVID-19. Much like Commissioner Rob Manfred, I did not see the lightning because my back was turned, but I heard the thunder.

The Texas Gulf Coast was under a Tropical Storm watch for much of the day, but when the storm track shifted south of me it became an out of sight out of mind event. I went about my day as if there was not a storm churning in the Gulf of Mexico with the possibility of rain bands stretching to my side of Texas.

So, when that lone lightning bolt did arrive, and leave as quickly as it popped up, there was no one more surprised than me. I have lived through many storms, and as far as I can recall I have never seen a storm of a single lightning bolt but as my mother said, “it only takes one.”

COVID-19 is a lot like lightning. We can try to turn our backs on it and play baseball, or go out to eat, or do whatever else we used to do when the world was open, but even if we have our backs turned and ignore it, the thunder will remind us of its presence.

While we cannot fully control the strength and ferocity of lightning, there are some pretty easy steps that we can take to starve the COVID-19 virus of the fuel it needs to spread. Thinking of these mitigation steps as medical lightning rods if you will.

Wearing masks, washing hands, socially distancing, and avoiding large gatherings are such simple steps to stop the spread. Sadly, despite the simplicity of these things, there are still people who feel they are immune to the CVOID-19 virus, or that they would rather die free than be forced to wear a freedom stealing mask.

I have said it before, and it bears saying again, you know what steals a person’s freedom? Being dead from the COVID-19 virus because they refused to wear a mask, and just had to go to that house party, or whatever other gathering was deemed so important.

The Baltimore Orioles offered to share their nest at Oriole Park at Camden Yards with the Toronto Blue Jays. Ultimately, a Triple A Ballpark in Buffalo, New York was chosen as their home for the 60 game in 66 days season Time will tell whether the Blue Jays, and the other 29-MLB teams, are able to get through a season played in the middle of a global health crisis.
Photo R. Anderson

There are a growing number of stories of younger people infecting their grandparents, and in some cases leading to the death of their loved ones.

That is certainly something you would not want to put in the annual Christmas letter, “Hello friends, this year I was selfish and went to a house party in the middle of a pandemic, and as a result Grandpa is dead.”

Personally, I do not want to risk the guilt of thinking that my actions of needing to socialize led to someone else’s death. But if someone feels that they absolutely have to go out, I hope they remember how thunder and lightning work. By the time you hear the thunder, the damage has already been done by the lightning.

The MLB season was greeted by lightning on Opening Night. Time will tell whether the pandemic’s lightning of cases among the players, or hot spots where games are to be played, allow for the full season to take place.

MLB really wants to be able to unfurl the proverbial “Mission Accomplished” banner after crowning a 2020 World Series Champion.

I just hope when the dust settles it was all worth it, and they aren’t having to write about anyone dying as a result of being hellbent on playing baseball in a time of COVID-19. From where I am sitting right now, the risks of trying to crisscross the country far outweigh any benefits.

That is not to say all is doom and gloom. The COVID-19 storm will pass and there can be joy in Mudville once again. One of the best things about a thunder storm, is the double rainbow that is left behind to remind us that storms are temporary and there are better days ahead.

Of course, those better days will only come if we all do our part. So just wear a mask, and practice social distancing. Laying off an off speed pitch is hard, wearing a mask is easy.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I am off to ponder why there are so many songs about rainbows.

Dr. Fauci to Throw Out First Pitch for Nationals as MLB Social Experiment Begins

Posted on July 22, 2020 by Ryan Anderson

The 2020 Major League Baseball (MLB) season is set to begin tomorrow as cases of COVID-19 continue to rise from coast to coast like a perverse purple mountain majesty.

If one is convinced to play baseball in the middle of a global COVID-19 pandemic, it makes sense that Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, would throw out the first pitch in the home opener for the Washington Nationals tomorrow as they begin the defense of their World Series title, and MLB begins a social experiment on whether baseball can be played outside of a bubble.

While the role of throwing out the first pitch in the Ballpark closet to the White House historically falls to the President of the United States, it is fitting that the man polls show is trusted by more Americans to lead them out of the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic would be the one throwing out the first pitch of a season that promises to be like no other season that has come before it.

It should be noted that until the current administration ended the tradition, every president since William Howard Taft had thrown out a ceremonial first pitch. Taft started the tradition on April 14, 1910, at National Park in Washington, DC. during a game between the Washington Senators and the Philadelphia Athletics with a pitch to Walter Johnson. The Nationals invited the current administration to continue the tradition in 2017 but they declined, and the team stopped asking.

While the over a century tradition of presidential first pitches came to an end, it is a great gesture by the Nationals to bestow the honor upon Dr. Fauci who, as a true fan of the team, has been wearing a Washington Nationals mask for weeks now.

While there are likely to be detractors who will try to discredit Dr. Fauci, or say he should have better things to do with his time than go to a Ballpark, I say let the man pitch, and I hope he throws a strike to someone dressed up like baby shark.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, will throw out the first pitch in the home opener for the Washington Nationals tomorrow as MLB begins a social experiment on whether baseball can be played outside of a bubble as COVID-19 cases spike. Here’s hoping he throws the ball to Baby Shark.
Photo R. Anderson

I also say that we need to continue to listen to his science-based guidance to help us navigate these turbulent politically charged waters where even the act of wearing a facial covering, or mask, has become politicized. COVID-19 does not care if people have grown tired of it or choose to ignore it.

The same group that popularized red hats with white lettering as a way to self-identify as an ardent fan of the current administration could have done a world of good early on in this pandemic had they designed their own red mask with white lettering to “make masks great again.”

I have no doubt that had masks been embraced early on from the occupants of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., we would have had fewer deaths from COVID-19, and we would not be leading the world in cases while having to watch sporting events on television instead of the Ballpark.

Instead of thinking of a mask as something the hinders personal freedom, people should think of a mask as a ball cap for their face.

Just like wearing a ball cap protects your scalp from the sun, a mask protects both the wearer and those around them from catching a disease.

Speaking of the consequences of not wearing masks, and following public health guidance, thanks to the virus spiraling out of control like a kayak trapped in an eddy, there likely will not be any football this fall.

Sure, some leagues are not willing to say that yet, but all signs point to no fall sports which will result in billions of dollars in lost revenue from industry tied to professional and collegiate football.

One of the great joys I get each fall is waking up and watching Lee Corso and the ESPN College Game Day crew every Saturday morning. But, thanks to COVID-19 there will likely be no College Game Day this year. Or, if there is, it will look vastly different from years past.

I mean there is no way that students are going to be packing in like sardines waving their signs in the middle of a public health emergency that currently has the upper hand based on a lack of consistent coast to coast containment steps. It is also highly probable that many of those campuses will not even have students on them as schools are likely to continue remote learning as a way to keep students and staff safe.

It should be noted that it did not have to be this way. While, looking back and playing the if only game, is rarely productive, just think if only people had worn masks back in April how much more likely it would be that there would be football come September.

While the jury is still out on whether football will happen in the fall, starting tomorrow there will be 60 MLB regular season games in 66 days. The Toronto Blue Jays have still not announced where they will be playing their home games, but virus willing, a full World Series Champion will be crowned at the end of the shortest MLB season ever. Let the asterisking of the record books commence.

Aside from accepting a shortened season as being equivalent to a full-length season, MLB fans are being asked to swallow a lot this season. From empty ballparks with pumped in crowd noise and cardboard cutouts of fans, to a universal designated hitter, it is clear this season amid the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t like the seasons of old.

One other change to the season involves the unmistakable presence of a Nike swoosh logo on the player uniforms.

Despite minoring in Advertising and Public Relations in college, I cringe every time a new revenue stream is created that distracts from the game. Granted, a Nike swoosh in and of itself is not that different from what other sports leagues show. However, a swoosh is a slippery slope to the MLB embracing soccer style uniforms where team names are replaced by corporate sponsors. I truly hope MLB does not head that route.

I am all for sports leagues making money, but there need to be limits to just how far they are willing to go lest a baseball uniform turn into a NASCAR style driver fire suit.

Speaking of revenue streams, with fans unable to go to the Ballpark to buy some peanuts and Cracker Jacks, it seems fitting that a new seventh inning stretch song be selected to properly capture the ambiance of what the 2020 MLB season is all about since there is little sense in singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” when going to the Ballpark is not an option.

With that in mind let me suggest a classic song from the 1971 Academy Award nominated musical Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. The song, which I believe totally captures the current response to COVID-19 in the United States, is titled, “Wondrous Boat Ride.”

It goes as such. Feel free to sing along.

The current COVID-19 climate and lack of a coordinated national response makes it feel like we are all on a “Wondrous Boat Ride” with Willy Wonka.
Photo R. Anderson

There’s no earthly way of knowing

Which direction we are going

There’s no knowing where we’re rowing

Or which way the river’s flowing

Is it raining, is it snowing

Is a hurricane a-blowing

Not a speck of light is showing

So the danger must be growing

Are the fires of Hell a-glowing

Is the grisly reaper mowing

Yes, the danger must be growing

For the rowers keep on rowing

And they’re certainly not showing

Any signs that they are slowing

Yes, COVID-19 is showing little sign of losing steam, yet the rowers who want to act like there is nothing to see here keep on rowing and trying to reopen at full speed.

A few weeks back, I mentioned the need for us to feed the right wolf if we are to get out of the current situation. Perhaps, instead of feeding the wrong wolf, people who are denying the existence of COVID-19 are listening to the wrong Oompa Loompa.

As for me, I am going to listen to Dr. Fauci and the other scientists who know a thing or two about pandemics and infectious diseases.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go see a man about a Golden Ticket.

Blue Jays Told to Find a New Nest as MLB Tries to Move Forward with Baseball in the Middle of a Pandemic

Posted on July 20, 2020 by Ryan Anderson

As Major League Baseball continues full steam ahead towards their goal of playing baseball in the middle of a global COVID-19 pandemic, the Toronto Blue Jays are scrambling to decide where they will play their home games after being kicked out of their nest days before the season is set to begin.

The reason for the scramble comes courtesy of the Canadian government telling the Blue Jays that they cannot play games in Toronto. In making the decision to ban MLB games in Toronto, a statement released on Saturday by, Marco E. L. Mendicino, P.C., M.P., Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, noted that “the cross-border travel required for MLB regular season play would not adequately protect Canadians’ health and safety.”

For anyone who has been watching the number of COVID-19 cases in the United States rise like a phoenix, the news that Canada has said the MLB players are not welcome inside their borders is not shocking. The border between the United States and Canada has been closed for to all but essential travel for months and playing baseball in the middle of a pandemic is not essential.

Let that sink in for a moment, the COVID-19 pandemic is so out of control in the United States that countries are closing their borders to Americans in order to protect their own citizens. If that does not light a fire under people to try to get a handle on the virus within the United States, I don’t know what will.

The Toronto Blue Jays are scrambling to decide where they will play their home games after being kicked out of their nest days before the season is set to begin.
Photo R. Anderson

While some people may try to just wish the virus away, the fact remains, COVID-19 is not going to just magically disappear if we stop talking about it.

At press time, over 140,000 Americans have died due to COVID-19. That is not a hoax, that is not fake news, those are the sobering facts that are getting more sobering by the day.

Of course, if people would wear masks and social distance, we could get a handle on this pandemic. However, it seems that no matter how many people die, some people will never take COVID-19 seriously. As I have said many times, and many ways, COVID-19 does not care who you voted for, and it does not care if you are tired of talking about it.

Unlike the United States, Canada has employed a nationwide strategy to battling the COVID-19 virus. Under Canada’s Quarantine Act, any person entering Canada from the United States is subject to a strict 14-day quarantine. Gatherings of more than 10 people are also prohibited in the city of Toronto.

While cases in the United States seem to hit record levels every day, the situation in Canada is substantially different.

“Canada has been able to flatten the curve in large part because of the sacrifices Canadians have made,” Mendicino said. “We understand professional sports are important to the economy and to Canadians. At the same time, our government will continue to take decisions at the border on the basis of the advice of our health experts in order to protect the health and safety of all Canadians.”

That is not to say that Canada has said “sorry” to all professional sports wanting to play within their borders. The National Hockey League (NHL) is set to resume the pursuit of the Stanley Cup in August with eligible teams divided between hubs in Toronto and Edmonton.

Similar to the bubble approaches used by the NBA and MLS in Orlando, FL, the NHL plan seeks to keep the players and communities as safe as possible by limiting travel and keeping teams sequestered.

Months ago the Tampa Bay Rays offered to share the Trop with the Blue Jays all season long. The Rays even went so far as offering to build the Jays their own locker room. In the end, the Blue Jays gambled on getting to play in Toronto and lost.
Photo. R. Anderson

MLB is the only league bound and determined to ensure that every team gets to play in their home ballpark during the 60-game in 66 days season.

Early on when MLB was developing their plans to return, there was talk of teams being based at their Spring Training Ballparks which would have put 15 teams in Florida and 15 teams in Arizona. That plan was later changed in favor of the home Ballpark for all approach. With the change, came added potential risk for virus transmission.

Arizona and Florida are now major hot spots of the virus along with Texas. Instead of keeping teams sequestered in Arizona and Florida, teams are now free to move about the country and potentially spread COVID-19 from hot spot to hot spot. Five MLB teams are located in the hot spot areas of Arizona, Florida and Texas.

With this as the path MLB chose, I can totally see why the Canadian government made the decision they did. Why would they want to risk the headway that they have made in corralling COVID-19 just to see cases spike in and around Toronto because some baseball had to be played there?

In case one wonders how seriously Canada is taking their 14-day quarantine requirements, consider this, although the Blue Jays were granted an exemption that allowed them to train in Toronto for Spring Training 2.0, players were confined to the hotel attached to Rogers Centre in order to establish a quarantine environment. The players were not allowed to leave the stadium or hotel. Any violations of quarantine conditions would lead to fines of up to $750,000 Canadian ($551,000 U.S.) and up to six months in jail.

The United States can’t even get everyone to wear masks, since some people think it infringes on their freedoms. Worse still, governors are suing mayors who try to mandate that people wear masks. It has been a while since I took U.S. Government in college, but I don’t recall studying the Amendment about the right to be selfish and risk infecting others during a global pandemic.

While Americans continue to resist simple steps that could slow and ultimately stop the spread of COVID-19, it is refreshing to see a federal government in Canada providing a unified strategy to combating the COVID-19 pandemic and showing real concrete steps to flattening the curve. The United States could learn a lot from our neighbors to the north.

In fact, most countries not named the United States have a unified strategy for combating the COVID-19 virus. Instead of attacking science and scientists who are trying to stop the spread, most countries are listening to science and making informed decisions on a national level.

With Toronto ruled out as a place to play their home games thanks to Canada treating COVID-19 seriously, the Blue Jays are considering using either their Triple-A Ballpark in Buffalo, New York, or their Spring Training Ballpark in Dunedin, Florida.
Photo R. Anderson

So, with Toronto ruled out as a place to play their home games thanks to Canada treating COVID-19 seriously, the Blue Jays are considering using either their Triple-A Ballpark in Buffalo, New York, or their Spring Training Ballpark in Dunedin, Florida. At the time of this writing, a decision on where they will play had not been made.

Toronto’s first regular season game is slated for July 24 against the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Blue Jays’ home opener is scheduled for July 29 against the Washington Nationals. So, time is definitely running out for the Blue Jays to nail down the logistics for where home games will be played.

While I am not going to go so far as boycotting the 2020 MLB season, I remain steadfast in my belief that a 2020 season should not be played in the middle of a global pandemic. I also remain hopeful that between now and opening day the MLB will decide to pull the plug on the season. Of course, I doubt that will happen.

The Blue Jays’ home opener is scheduled for July 29 against the Washington Nationals. So, time is definitely running out for the Blue Jays to nail down the logistics for where home games will be played.
Photo R. Anderson

With all signs pointing towards a season taking place, the Toronto Blue Jays should have been more proactive and removed Canadian home games from the table months ago.

There are enough issues with spreading COVID-19 from state to state. There is no need to make an international incident out of it.

I enjoy traveling to Canada and look forward to when I can go there again. In order to do that, Americans need to show the resolve that was shown during World War II and unite against the common enemy of COVID-19. If we don’t, we will remain an isolated island with the rest of the world closing their borders to us and shaking their heads wondering how the richest nation in the world could screw up a response to a global pandemic.

We should have been out front leading the way to curtail the virus instead of blaming others and saying, “oh look at the shiny object over there” while Rome burned around us.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to wash my reusable masks.

Ryan Zimmerman Among Players to opt Out of Shortened MLB Season Amid Global COVID-19 Pandemic

Posted on June 29, 2020 by Ryan Anderson

Fresh off of earning a World Series ring with the Washington Nationals, Ryan Zimmerman, has said, thanks, but no thanks, to the idea of playing baseball during the 2020 MLB season of COVID-19 induced uncertainty.

In making his announcement Zimmerman said, “After a great deal of thought and given my family circumstances – three young children, including a newborn, and a mother at high risk – I have decided not to participate in the 2020 season. I cannot speak for anyone else, but given the unusual nature of the season, this is the best decision for me and my family.”

Zimmerman’s Nats teammate, pitcher Joe Ross, also announced that he will be opting out this year.

On the same day that Zimmerman and Ross, opted out, the Minnesota Twins announced that two of their coaches, Bob McClure and Bill Evers, would be excused for the 2020 season based on concerns about their health and the risks that playing baseball in the middle of a global pandemic could expose them to.

I applaud Zimmerman, Ross and the Twins for realizing that there is more at stake this year than trying to squeeze in 60 baseball game in 66 days. I have said it before, and I will say it again, the idea that the MLB is going forward with a plan to play baseball in the middle of a global health crisis is asinine.

With the number of cases of COVID-19 rising from coast to coast on a daily basis, the last thing we need is to have people traveling from place to place potentially spreading the virus.

I totally get that there are millions, if not billions, of dollars at stake if the MLB does not play ball this year. But, by them deciding to go forward with this plan they are potentially putting lives at stake just to stage a made for TV event.

Of course, with owners like Jim Crane, whose Houston Astros are literally located in one of the hottest of COVID-19 hot spots at the moment, saying that they need to sell beer and nachos to fans in order to make money, one can clearly see where the priorities sit for some people.

Nearly a third of the MLB teams are located in some of the areas that are experiencing hospital bed shortages, increased COVID-19 positivity rates, and rollbacks on business openings as they try to wrangle the COVID-19 monster that is spreading with reckless abandon like a water-soaked Gremlin.

At the time of this writing, the Toronto Blue Jays have not received permission to train and host games in their home Ballpark based on concerns of hosting 30 home games with teams from other areas that are not following the 14-day quarantine requirements for travel from the United States to Canada. In the event that games in Canada cannot be played, the Blue Jays would likely host games at their Spring Training Ballpark in Dunedin, FL.

In the event that games in Canada cannot be played, the Toronto Blue Jays would likely host games at their Spring Training Ballpark in Dunedin, FL. The Blue Jays shut down their spring training facility in early June after a player exhibited COVID-19 symptoms, demonstrating the pitfalls of trying to play ball in the middle of a COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo R. Anderson

The number of Canadian officials needing to give the green light for the Blue Jays to play ball should stand as a glaring reminder that there is a lot at stake, and a lot of risk that is needing to be accepted, in order to play baseball.

The proponents of getting to go to baseball games, packing their churches full of shoulder to shoulder parishioners, not wearing masks, and basically doing whatever they want to do, usually roll out the First Amendment of the US Constitution and tie it all together in a pretty bow of freedom of speech, religion and expression as their get out of jail free card to do whatever they want by calling it a hat trick of protections.

As a refresher for those who may have taken Government class many years ago and have forgotten the words of the First Amendment they state that, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

In Journalism school, and throughout my career, I along with many of my fellow journalists, have clung to the First Amendment freedom of the press clause like Linus clung to his blanket. In fact, one year my high school newspaper staff t-shirt had the first amendment printed on the back of it to remind us of the great freedom we had.

Of course, just because you can do something, that doesn’t mean you should do something. As Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben was fond of saying, “with great power comes great responsibility.”

As part of that responsibility, in Journalism school we were also taught that there were potential limits to free speech insofar as they interfered with the freedoms and the rights of others. In particular, we could not knowingly libel or slander someone and call it protected speech merely by waving the First Amendment in their face.

This is where the calls form elected officials, along with public health officials, for responsible social distancing and use of face coverings come in.

Sure, as a society we could kick and scream and say that it is our God given inalienable right to not social distance and not wear a mask as the rest of the world laughs at how the United States failed to contain the virus because we had too many freedoms.

But the more God like, and for that matter the more American, behavior would be to protect ourselves and others by wearing a mask. COVID-19 doesn’t care who you voted for. COVID-19 doesn’t care if you lean to the right, lean to the left, or if you stand up straight in the middle.

Without a proclamation from state or federal government officials saying that MLB cannot gather to play ball in their particular jurisdiction, they are free to do so. The question then becomes, just because they can, it doesn’t mean they should. There is also the non-uniformity related to which Ballparks can have fans, and which ones cannot.

I miss baseball, but I am perfectly content to have the 2020 Season cancelled, and wait for a return to action in the spring of 2021. One of my first stops when baseball does return next spring will be Publix Field in Lakeland, FL.
Photo R. Anderson

I am still hopeful that between now and the scheduled first pitch on July 24th, the MLB season will be cancelled. MLB could make such a bold statement by telling their fans to stay home and wear a mask, by having its players staying home and wearing masks when they go out, instead of trying to put on the farce of what will amount to a shortened A Ball season.

One of the biggest mistakes that sports fans can make, and I was certainly guilty of it at times, is to elevate the players on the field to mythical god-like levels and see them only as players, and not people. When we do this, we fail to realize that every athlete is just a person like the rest of us. Granted, a person who can throw a ball a lot harder than most of us, but still just a person.

Athletes have families, and they have pursuits beyond just playing the game. Athletes, like the rest of us are also not immune to catching COVID-19, even if they adhere to over 100 pages of MLB guidance for how to play baseball in the middle of a pandemic that has, at the time of this writing, killed over 128,000 Americans.

Ryan Zimmerman, and any other players who decide to sit out the season, know what is important, so why shouldn’t they sit out the season? Sports careers are fleeting, and the greatest trait an athlete can possess is knowing that there is a life to be lived outside of the lines.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I am off to see what classic baseball movie the MLB Network is airing tonight.

Astros Owner, Jim Crane, Just Made One of the Most Tone-Deaf Statements Ever Uttered

Posted on June 26, 2020 by Ryan Anderson

As I mentioned the other day, after much soul searching, I have decided that I am done supporting the Houston Astros. I have lost all respect for them as an organization, and I really do not see them earning my respect back any time soon.

This was not an easy decision for me to reach. I have a lot of great memories of supporting the Astros, however statements like the one made by team owner Jim Crane on June 24^th, only reinforce the stance that is time for me to retire my Astros fandom, just like the new owners retired poor Junction Jack as their mascot.

I really want to stop writing about the Astros, but when they throw a fast ball down the middle of the plate, I have no other choice but to knock it out of the park.

To set the stage, with Major League Baseball set to return in the middle of a global pandemic with a 60-games in 66 days mini season, and the Houston Astros already facing scorn for getting caught cheating, it is almost like Crane said to the person standing next to him at one of the golf courses that he owns, “hold my nachos, I am going to say something so absurd that they will forget about the fact that we cheated in 2017.”

In one of the most tone deaf, failing to take the temperature of the room, comments that I have ever heard, Crane was quoted by many news outlets as saying that in order to recoup some of the money that he has lost by the Astros not playing a full season, he wants to have fans at games at Minute Maid Park this season in order to raise revenue selling concessions and team tchotchkes.

Houston Astros Owner Jim Crane is eager to recoup some of the money that he has lost by the Astros not playing a full season, having fans at games at Minute Maid Park this season in order to raise revenue selling concessions and team tchotchkes.
Photo R. Anderson

Crane’s ludicrous comments also come amid the backdrop of Houston health officials warning that they’re running out of ER space because of a surge in COVID-19 cases.

That means that even someone who does not have COVID-19, but needs to go to the ER because of something like a car accident, may not be able to get the lifesaving treatment that they need.

Crane’s remarks are like giving a single foam finger salute to Houston and the surrounding region by saying I want your money more than I want you to be safe.

Crane’s “let them eat cake” moment translated in Ballpark parlance as “let them eat garlic fries” as a COVID-19 pandemic surrounds Minute Maid Park is so out of touch with reality. A better optic would have been created if Crane offered up the meeting space inside the Union Station area of the Ballpark as a potential surge hospital for COVID-19 patients instead of wanting to open up the Ballpark to potentially create more patients for an overtaxed health district

At 71-years-old, Dusty Baker, is the oldest manager in MLB. Baker, who also happens to manage the Astros, told the Associated Press that, “I’m a bit nervous. I’ve seen the reports in Houston how COVID’s going up so I’m going to have to really be careful.”

Houston Astros owner Jim Crane’s “let them eat cake” moment translated in Ballpark parlance as “let them eat garlic fries” seems a bit tone deaf in light of the raging COVID-19 pandemic that surrounds Minute Main Park. A better optic would have been created if Crane offered up the meeting space inside the ballpark as a potential surge hospital instead of wanting to open up the Ballpark to create more patients for an overtaxed health district.
Photo R. Anderson

Part of that need to be careful involves Baker’s age which puts him in the higher risk category. But, it seems that Crane is willing to expose Baker to more people in order to make a buck.

While Crane is ready to go full speed ahead as soon as possible, Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, is hitting the pause button on reopening the state amid a “massive outbreak.”

Abbott is urging all Texas residents to stay home unless they absolutely have to go somewhere to try to corral the deadly virus that is rolling through the state like floodwaters indiscriminately affecting everything in its path.

If the Governor, who was once one of the most pro reopening advocates in the country, is saying it is time to slow down and stay home, sorry Jim, going to watch a baseball game is not an essential function.

To be fair, there are likely fans who will be willing to go to games and risk their health in order to see some baseball in a Ballpark so quiet you can hear a trash can drop. But, in order to have fans buying food and tchotchkes, you need to have, ticket takers to let the fans in, security to protect the fans, concession workers to make the food, workers to sell the food, and workers to man the cash registers at the gift shops.

Oh yeah, and you need to have workers to empty the trash cans that are full of the trash generated by those fans, as well as workers to disinfect the Ballpark from top to bottom to get ready for the next game. Perhaps the players can help with the cleanup since I hear they know their way around a trash can.

It really shouldn’t be a shock that the owner of the Astros is the most vocal in wanting fans and their money to return. His entire tenure has been one big monetizing of the ballpark. Who can forget the time the view of downtown was blocked by huge billboards that would make a Minor League Ballpark manager say, “that is a step too far.” Thankfully the eyesore was relocated prior to the 2014 season.
Photo R. Anderson

Each of the people who enter the Ballpark will run the risk of getting infected, and in turn, they run the risk of infecting others when they go home. I am sorry, but no helmet full of nachos, or team shirt, is worth that amount of risk.

If I do not want players in the Ballparks due to potential risk of virus spread, I definitely do not want fans adding to the number of potential super spreaders.

Of course, as noted last week, the Sugar Land Skeeters are also looking to host about 1,700 people a game in a mini summer four-team league they are running at Constellation Field starting in early July. It is entirely possible that Crane thought that if the Skeeters can make money during a pandemic, he should be able to as well. Any fans allowed at either Skeeters or Astros games would need to be socially distanced and wearing a mask.

I totally get it; people are tired of being locked up inside. I would love to run free outside the walls of the Gigaplex, eat fried catfish on my favorite restaurant patio with a half and half tea, and act like the world is back to the way it was in the olden days of pre-March 2020.

But wishing it to be true, and going out there and acting like it is true, does not make it true.

The only thing acting like everything is fine, and there is nothing to see here does, is risk my health, and the health of those I love and care about.

And yes, it even risks the health of those I don’t care about. But, I care enough about people I don’t care about to not want to get them sick either.

Based on his comments, billionaire Crane appears to care mostly about back filling his pockets like a money vault diving Scrooge McDuck. I am used to stories of sports owners trying to fleece taxpayers to get better deals on their Ballparks. Crane used those tactics when he was negotiating for a new Spring Training site for the Astros to share with the defending World Series Champion Washington Nationals.

The Sugar Land Skeeters, of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), recently announced their intention to form a four-team professional baseball league at Constellation Field, beginning July 3 and running through Aug. 23 with up to 1,700 fans allowed inside the Ballpark for each game.
Photo R. Anderson

However, one could argue that being greedy about tax breaks on a Ballpark is far less Ebenezer Scrooge, pre-visit by the three spirits, then encouraging people to risk their health to watch a game in order for the owner to make a few bucks on food and souvenir sales.

Ultimately, Crane’s desire to have fans in the Ballpark could be declared dead on arrival by local officials in Houston and Harris County, who will most likely get the final say on allowing gatherings like fans at a ballgame.

Based on previous statements made by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, I am fairly convinced that Crane’s pitch to have fans at the games will, in the words of Harry Doyle in Major League will fall, “Just a bit outside.”

Still, the fact that the statement was even made in the middle of a pandemic, and on a day that Houston reported nearly 1,000 new cases of COVID-19, which is around 1.3 times higher than it was a week ago, either demonstrates Crane has a total lack of situational awareness, or is aware and has a total lack of empathy.

COVID-19 has killed over 122,000 Americans, and even the people who recover from it may end up with long-term effects, like holes in their lungs. That is not a political statement that is a medical fact.

Sadly, uniting against a common foe for the common good, does not seem so common anymore. At least that is the case when it comes to public health and COVID-19. The simple act of wearing a face covering, or mask, to protect others has turned into a litmus test of whether you vote blue or red. Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott of Florida get it. Mitt Romney gets it. Masks save lives.

Even Governor Abbott is able to show that he needs to take the virus more seriously than he once did. It is time for everyone else, regardless of political affiliation to do the same. At the end of the day COVID-19 does not care if you vote red or blue. It also isn’t going to give anyone a day pass because they are tired of being inside and want to catch a ballgame and eat some nachos.

As for the comment made by Jim Crane, perhaps he was only kidding. I hear that is the thing people say these days after making a seriously tone-deaf remark in public.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a sudden urge to watch Major League.

Houston Astros are Potential Biggest Winners in Shortened MLB Season

Posted on June 24, 2020 by Ryan Anderson

Well, it is finally official, after three months of tense negotiations, the 2020 Major League Baseball season will take place as a 60-game sprint, instead of a 162-game marathon.

Players are expected to resume Spring Training activities at their home Ballparks by July 1, with Opening Day of the truncated season of teams playing a mostly geographical schedule occurring on July 24.

Baseball purists, players, owners, broadcasters, and all other interested stakeholders, are likely to debate the merits of playing the shortest season in MLB history in the middle of a global pandemic that is exploding like an uncontrolled wildfire in an oxygen rich environment.

While those debates occur, the Houston Astros can breathe easy knowing that their season of atonement tour where they were set to feel the brunt of angry fans, and fellow ballplayers on 29 other teams in response to the trash can banging cheating scandal, will only last about 37 percent as long as it would have during a full season.

With the delayed 2020 MLB season set to launch in July Jose Altuve, and the rest of the Houston Astros can breathe easy knowing that their season of atonement tour tied to the trash can banging cheating scandal, will only last about 37 percent as long as it would have during a full season.
Photo R. Anderson

Heck, the Astros don’t even have to worry about fans in the stands heckling them since the 2020 MLB season will be played in empty Ballparks.

Additionally, the players on the other 29 teams, who would have likely made it extra difficult for the Astros by enforcing a whole slew of unwritten rules of baseball between the foul poles, are likely going to have other things on their minds, like not catching a virus that has no cure and has killed over 121,000 Americans.

It is doubtful that anyone is going to want to have a bench clearing brawl in the middle of a pandemic. Although a socially distanced mound charge could make for good television as the batter tries to voice his displeasure at the pitcher from six feet away.

For those who may not be aware, or have forgotten about the Astros high crimes and misdemeanors against baseball, the MLB commissioner’s office completed an investigation at the end of the 2019 season into cheating allegations levied against the Houston Astros by a former player and whistleblower, related to games played in the 2017 season, which also happened to be the same year that the Astros won the World Series.

According to the report, the Astros used a video monitor of a camera feed from center field, and a trash can in the dugout to relay signals to batters about what pitch was coming in order to give the Astros hitters an advantage at the plate.

As Kevin Costner’s Crash Davis demonstrated in Bull Durham, when the hitter knows what is coming, the ball coming off of the bat travels so far that it ought to have a flight attendant on it. Or to use the sabermetrics lingo, “advanced knowledge creates epic launch angle, and equals the ball traveling many feet.”

The Houston Astros won the World Series in 2017. In 2019, it was revealed that some players on the team cheated that year which taints the first Championship in team history. Using a trash can to tip off the batter to what pitch is coming is less obvious than the two bats and a glove technique demonstrated by Jose Altuve during Spring Training in 2016.
Photo R. Anderson

As one might expect, the players on teams who lost to the Astros in 2017, in particular, the Dodgers and Yankees, feel cheated, because as it turns out they were cheated.

Every victory by the Astros in 2017, including the World Series title, has a stigma attached to it despite all of the protestations by Astros players that they only used the trash can banging system in the regular season, in order to win enough games to get to the playoffs, and then played fair and square after that once they were in the playoffs.

The world will never know whether the claims of postseason innocence are true or not. What is known, is that through a system of cheating that lasted for a portion of the 2017 MLB season, all members of the 2017 Astros, whether they benefited from the trash can signals or not, are forever tainted in the eyes of fans and other players.

Although the Astros are likely to face less retaliation due to the current climate where people have real things to worry about like COVID-19, and seeking social justice reform, I am not going to let them off so easily.

I will no longer root for the Houston Astros, since I do not respect the organization, nor do I feel it is worth my time, or money to support them based on the actions of players who cheated the system, and the actions of other players who remained quiet about the cheating.

In the big picture, I am sure that the $500 or so I used to spend a season on the Astros is a drop in the bucket to the team. But, if enough people like me take the same action, the team will realize that actions have consequences. That is how quickly the actions of members of an organization can affect the overall bottom line. That is why it is so critical that sports organizations instill an ethical culture and swiftly address any employees found acting unethically.

It takes years to build a reputation, and mere seconds to tarnish it. Just ask all of the MLB players who were linked to the steroids era and are on the outside looking in of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

I have always respected Dusty Baker, who at the age of 71 years old, has the herculean task of trying to rebuild the reputation of the Astros as the new team skipper. I hope he succeeds, but it will still be a few seasons before I can think about supporting the Astros again. Also, there is no guarantee that I ever will decide that the Astros are worthy of my time and money. As Robert DeNiro once told Ben Stiller, “The circle of trust is broken, Greg.”

Dusty Baker, pictured with A.J. Hinch, the man he replaced as Astros skipper, has a tall order in front of him as he looks to try to rebuild the reputation of the Houston Astros.
Photo R. Anderson

From the time I moved to Houston, I embraced the Astros and supported them through some very lean seasons.

In fact, some of my best memories of going to games at Minute Maid Park occurred during the seasons where the Astros had some of the worst records. I knew the players were trying their best, and I was there to support them win or lose.

I do not care if a team I support wins every game. If I did, I would have given up on my beloved Baltimore Orioles years ago. I mean, think about it, only one team wins the World Series each year. That doesn’t make the other 29 teams total losers, it just means one team played better than the rest, or had a few more lucky breaks fall their way. And no, a trash can dugout drum is not a lucky break, that is just cheating no matter how you try to bang it.

I want the teams I support to play hard and to play fair. That shouldn’t be too much to ask. Teams will now have 60 games to earn a spot in the playoffs and try to unseat the Washington Nationals as World Series Champions.

The Washington Nationals will start their defense of their World Series title next month.
Photo R. Anderson

I stand firm in my opinion that the 2020 season should not be played under the current cloud of COVID-19. I do not see a scenario where I will waver from that position.

But, now that a season seems inevitable, I will hope and pray that the number of people involved in putting on the made for TV season that become infected with COVID-19 is low, and that those who do catch the virus make a full recovery.

I am especially concerned for some of the older managers, like Baker, and Joe Maddon, who fall within the high-risk category, based on their ages, for needing to be extra careful about not catching the disease.

When the dust settles, and this season that everyone was so gung ho to have played is over, I really hope people will say it was worth all of the risks to player health and the overall health of baseball in general, instead of saying, why in the world did we do that?

One of the great constants in the world is that hindsight is always 20/20. So far, the year 2020 has been one for the ages, and sadly there are still six more months to go before we can put a fork in this year. There will be plenty of time for hindsight when the year is over, but the time to make good decisions to look back on is now.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I am off to order some more face masks since the COVID-19 cases in Texas are rising faster than a 95 mile per hour brushback pitch.

J. Ryan Anderson

A Journalist telling stories one column at a time

Tag Archives: Washington Nationals