Legion season canceled
Wisconsin’s American Legion Baseball season has been canceled because of concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
The American Legion Department of Wisconsin announced the decision Saturday. For the first time since 1927, an American Legion Baseball champion won’t be crowned in Wisconsin.
At least 24 other states have canceled their American Legion baseball programs for 2020.
Wisconsin American Legion Baseball Association Commissioner Roger Mathison calls the cancellation “a necessary decision.” Mathison said the association expects Legion Baseball to return in 2021.
The association’s all-star game scheduled for Aug. 9 at Miller Park in Milwaukee also has been canceled.
Wisconsin’s American Legion Baseball program had 217 teams participating in 2019, making it the fourth-largest program in the country.
BASEBALL
Just 0.7% of Major League Baseball employees tested positive for antibodies to COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus.
Results were based about about 5,600 completed records from employees of 26 clubs. Samples were obtained on April 14 and 15.
“It allows us to get a peek of the nation-wide prevalence,” said Jay Bhattacharya at Stanford, one the study’s leaders, said Sunday.
The start of the baseball season has been delayed because of the virus outbreak.
Sixty people tested positive in the raw data, and adjustments were made for false positives and false negatives. Bhattacharya said the survey had a 0.5% false positive rate.
Antibodies are produced by a person’s immune system if they have been infected by a virus. SOCCER
The risks involved in resuming the English Premier League were underscored Sunday after a Brighton player contracted the coronavirus as clubs prepare for fresh talks on how they can create safe conditions to play again during the pandemic.
Brighton chief executive Paul Barber said the club’s COVID-19 case was “a concern,” with players still training individually at the club. It reinforces how players could potentially spread the coronavirus if the government approves the reintroduction of group training and lifts the shutdown of sports that has been in place since March. The 20 Premier League clubs will hold a conference call on Monday.