MLB PUSHES BACK start of season; NBA’s Gobert apologizes.

NEW YORK — Baltimore slugger Chris Davis was driving down Florida’s west coast on Interstate 75 from Sarasota to Fort Myers for an exhibition game against the Minnesota Twins when he got the call.

No game tonight. No games for a while.

“Pretty shocked,” Davis said, “just how quickly things have escalated.”

Major League Baseball delayed the start of its season by at least two weeks because of the coronavirus outbreak and suspended the rest of its spring training schedule.

Opening day had been scheduled for March 26. The decision announced by Commissioner Rob Manfred on Thursday left open whether each team would still play 162 games.

“It’s unfortunate but I think it’s the proper measure we need to take now given the situation the country’s in and the world’s in,” New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton said. “It’s important to know that some things are bigger than baseball, bigger than sports at the moment. Once we’re able to hopefully get a hold on some things and get some questions answered we can figure out when things can continue.”

The announcement came while some spring training games in Florida were still in progress.

The minor league baseball season, which was to start April 9, also will be delayed along with qualifying in Arizona for this year’s Olympic baseball tournament and for next year’s World Baseball Classic.

“We’re ultimately all people. We all love the game of baseball, but this is a far bigger issue for all of us right now, and we’re trying to work our way through it together,” Seattle Mariners owner John Stanton said at the team’s camp in Peoria, Ariz.

“I believe that this is going to be something that will have a lot more twists and turns to it. I don’t have a high degree of confidence that we will start on April 9,” he said.

CWS CALLED OFF

The cancellation of the NCAA basketball tournaments shook the nation Thursday, but 27 other men’s and women’s championships won’t be contested this winter and spring, either — and that doesn’t include all the sports in Divisions II and III.

The biggest of those events is baseball’s College World Series, which will not be held for the first time since 1946.

Omaha, Neb., has hosted the Division I baseball championship every year since 1950. The CWS has a $70 million annual impact on the local economy each year and produces 10 days of programming inventory for ESPN.

The eight-team College World Series is held each June at TD Ameritrade Park and is the culmination of the NCAA baseball tournament, the No. 2 revenue producer for the NCAA. The event draws more than 300,000 fans per year from across the country and is one of Omaha’s most anticipated events of the year.

GOBERT APOLOGIZES

Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz confirmed Thursday that he tested positive for the coronavirus, saying that he is personally dealing with the pandemic that has temporarily shut down the NBA and other major sports leagues.

Later, Jazz teammate Rudy Gobert — the first NBA player to test positive, which prompted the league to suspend the season — also confirmed his status and apologized. “I was careless and make no excuse,” Gobert said in an Instagram post.

Mitchell’s positive test was not known until early Thursday, the first full day of the NBA’s hiatus. Jazz players, staff and some beat writers covering the team were tested Wednesday night in Oklahoma City, where Utah was to play the Thunder in a game that was called off moments before tipoff once word about Gobert’s positive test was received.

Also Thursday, the Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics, Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors — teams that have all recently played against Gobert, Mitchell and the Jazz — all said that they were having some players and staff self-quarantine for as many as 14 days. The Cleveland Cavaliers, another team that has recently faced Utah, said they are not mandating quarantines yet but would if any of their players exhibit symptoms.

NFL SCOUTING

NFL teams are curtailing or completely stopping scouting operations as a safeguard against the spread of the coronavirus.

The Washington Redskins, Minnesota Vikings, Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans, Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Jets are among those that have ordered their scouts and assistant coaches to return home in what typically is a busy time for evaluating college players. The NFL Draft is scheduled for April 23-25 in Las Vegas.

The Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs have instructed all nonessential team personnel to work remotely for a minimum of 14 days beginning Monday. They also have suspended business travel and all nonessential travel for coaches and scouts.

The University of Michigan, Penn State, Vanderbilt and Texas A&M are among schools that called off or suspended pro days on Thursday. Other schools still plan to hold theirs — or make decisions pending developments.

NFL MEETINGS

The NFL has canceled its main owners meeting scheduled for later this month in Palm Beach, Fla.

Commissioner Roger Goodell notified the 32 teams “after careful consideration and consultation with medical experts,” according to a league statement. Goodell said the decision was made out of “concern to protect the health of club and league employees and the public while enabling the league to continue with its essential business operations.”

Further changes could be coming for the draft, scheduled to be held in Las Vegas from April 23-25.

Major football issues, including playing rules, bylaws and resolutions, as well as other business matters on the agenda for the March meetings will instead be handled at the May 19-20 spring meeting in Marina del Rey, Calif.

XFL

The XFL will be suspended for the rest of the 2020 season. The news happens just over five weeks into the latest iteration of the XFL, a reboot of a league that played only one season in 2001.

AUTO RACING

NASCAR has put strict regulations in place for this weekend’s race at Atlanta, which will be held without spectators.

Photographers will not be permitted at the event beyond a pool photographer, and media will not have access to the garage area or pit road. All driver availability will take place via teleconference, fed into the media center.

The NASCAR Cup Series race winning team and secondand third-place finishers will be available via teleconference.

Formula One organizers canceled the season-opening Australian Grand Prix hours ahead of the first official practice sessions because of concern over the spreading coronavirus.

MLS

Major League Soccer is shutting down for 30 days.

In addition, the U.S. Soccer Federation canceled exhibitions in March and April for its men’s and women’s national teams as a precaution.

The men had been scheduled to play the Netherlands in Eindhoven on March 26 and Wales four days later in Cardiff. The women had been slated to face Australia at Sandy, Utah, on April 10 and Brazil four days later at San Jose, Calif.

LPGA

The LPGA Tour has postponed golf’s first major championship of the season and two other events.

The tour called off the Volvik Founders Cup in Phoenix on March 19-22, the Kia Classic in Carlsbad, Calif., on March 26-29 and the major ANA Inspiration in Rancho Mirage, Calif., on April 2-5.

LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan said in a statement he’s “fully committed to rescheduling these important events on our 2020 schedule,” especially the ANA Inspiration.

HOCKEY

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced the pause of the NHL season.

The NHL has not said any player has tested positive for the coronavirus. The league is halting play with 189 games left in the regular season, sparking uncertainty about how many more, if any, could be played before the playoffs.