Normally, today would be Opening Day ... but sadly it’s not

In a normal world, Thursday would have been Opening Day for the Miami Marlins and the rest of Major League Baseball. The Marlins would be hosting the Philadelphia Phillies at Marlins Park. Sandy Alcantara most likely would have thrown the first pitch to usher in the third season of the Marlins’ rebuild. When the game ended, fans would meander over to the ballpark’s new Biscayne Bay Brew Hall, the latest enhancement to the stadium over the past two years.

Things are far from normal right now.

The novel coronavirus pandemic has put sports and most aspects of day-to-day life on hold, meaning teams are having to adjust to a new way of life for the foreseeable future.

Games are on hold indefinitely, with mid-may seen as the earliest that teams can resume what would be even a semblance of normal baseball routine and June likely the best-case scenario for the season to start in earnest (although even that seems uncertain). It’s the first time since 1995 that an MLB season did not start as originally scheduled.

Marlins Park is now serving as a drive-thru testing site for people 65 and older with possible symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The Florida National Guard is helping manage logistics at the ballpark, which already has surrounding streets closed and a parking lot marked off with cones for a staging area.

There are more than 54,000 confirmed cases in the United States according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including more than 1,600 confirmed cases in Florida alone. Two New York Yankees minor-leagues have tested positive for COVID-19, as has a spring training employee for the Cincinnati Reds.