LOS ANGELES (AFP) – No chewing tobacco, no fighting, no fans and instead of a sprawling 162-game regular season marathon, an abbreviated 60-game sprint to the playoffs.
The sport affectionately known as America’s pastime makes its long-awaited return on Thursday when the 2020 Major League Baseball season gets under way.
But as the Washington Nationals prepare to host the New York Yankees in a marquee opening day match-up, baseball is still adjusting to its new reality.
After nearly torpedoing the new season altogether, the impact of COVID-19 will loom large when infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci tosses the first pitch at Nationals Park on Thursday.
Unlike other professional sports leagues in North America, which have reopened by basing multiple teams at single locations, baseball’s new season will start with teams playing in their home ballparks.
It comes at a time when swathes of the United States are struggling to control a resurgence in the coronavirus which has left more than 140,000 dead.
Already MLB’s strategic decision to require teams to travel has run into difficulties. The Toronto Blue Jays were told by the Canadian government last week that they will not be allowed to stage home games.
”We have concluded the cross-border travel required for MLB regular season play would not adequately protect Canadians’ health and safety,” Canada’s immigration minister Marco Mendicino announced.
A number of players, meanwhile, have already decided to skip the new season citing concerns over the pandemic.
For the Nationals, COVID-19 has already claimed Ryan Zimmerman and Joe Ross, who played key roles in the team’s World Series-winning campaign last year.
SAFE AT HOME
Zimmerman and Ross have both decided to opt out.
”I’ll be staying safe at home and pulling as hard as anyone for the guys to defend our championship,” said Zimmerman, who has three young children and a mother who has multiple sclerosis.
Zimmerman’s misgivings were shared by Colorado Rockies outfielder Ian Desmond. ”The COVID-19 pandemic has made this baseball season one that is a risk I am not comfortable taking,” the two-time All-Star said.
”With a pregnant wife and four young children who have lots of questions about what’s going on in the world, home is where I need to be right now.”
The players who have opted to embark on the new season will find themselves subjected to a range of strict health and safety protocols designed to prevent outbreaks of COVID-19.
