Series champs get opener
Forecast calls for rain as Nationals start delayed season
Opening day, at last.
A baseball season that was on the brink before it ever began because of the virus outbreak is set to start Thursday night when excitable Max Scherzer and the World Series champion Washington Nationals host prized ace Gerrit Cole and the New York Yankees.
When it does get underway — the Washington, D.C., forecast calls for thunderstorms, the latest rocky inning in this what-can-go-wrong game — it’ll mark the most bizarre year in the history of Major League Baseball.
A 60-game season, stars opting out. Ballparks without fans, players wearing masks. Piped-in sound effects, cardboard cutouts for spectators. Spray-painted ads on the mound, pitchers with personal rosin bags.
And a rack of strange rules. DHS in the National League, well, OK. An automatic runner on second to start the 10th inning? C’mon, now.
“Gosh, it’s going to be fun,” Cole said. “It’s going to have fake crowd noise, and going to be 2020 coronavirus baseball.”
We’ll see.
Opening day brings a tasty doubleheader: a marquee pitching matchup in Washington, followed by the nightcap at Dodger Stadium when star outfielder Mookie Betts, fresh off a $365 million, 12-year contract, and his new Los Angeles teammates take on the San Francisco Giants.
One player Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw won’t face: six-time All-star, three-time champion and former
MVP Buster Posey. The Giants catcher and his wife have adopted twin identical girls who were prematurely born, and he’s among about a dozen players who have chosen to sit out this year.
Dodgers pitcher David Price, Washington infielder Ryan Zimmerman and Atlanta outfielder Nick Markakis also are sitting out.
Tossing out the first ball at Nationals Park to begin a schedule clobbered by COVID-19 will be Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert.
“I used to play baseball as a young boy,” Fauci, 79, told CNN. “I hope I don’t bounce it too much.”
Elsewhere around the bases this year:
Social justice
MLB players traditionally haven’t been as outspoken as those in the NFL and NBA on social issues. Until this year, former Oakland catcher Bruce Maxwell was the only baseball player to take a knee before the national anthem — he did that in 2017 and felt it cost him a future spot in the majors.
New Giants manager Gabe Kapler and several of his players knelt during the national anthem before an exhibition game this week. A group of Reds did the same in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
“I wanted them to know that I wasn’t pleased with the way our country has handled police brutality, and I told them I wanted to amplify their voices and I wanted to amplify the voice of the Black community and marginalized communities as well,” said Kapler, among 10 managers starting new jobs.
Said Yankees star Aaron Judge: “That’s the beauty of America, is freedom of speech and freedom to express yourself.”
MLB players can put a patch with “Black Lives Matter” or “United For Change” on a jersey sleeve during opening day.
Masked men
Didi Gregorius and Clint Frazier homered in exhibition games while wearing masks —those aren’t mandated on the field, but many other rules and guidelines are in place.
Social distancing in the dugout. Skip tossing the ball around the infield after strikeouts. Keep the Phillie Phanatic and mascots off the field.
No high-fives, either. Not a problem, Phillies slugger Bryce Harper said.
“I think the air high-five is going to come back and be the coolest thing in baseball this year and be the coolest thing in sports,” he said.
Still, a lot of protocols to keep in mind for players who’ve been doing things the same way since their were kids.
“Is it going to be perfect the very first day?” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “Probably not.”