Freeman, 3 other Braves test positive
When Orlando City and Inter Miami meet for the first time Wednesday, it will be with the same sentiment on both sides —
The rivalry between the two clubs has been simmering for more than two years. That time has been filled with a slow burn of resentment between two clubs separated by 250 miles on Florida’s Turnpike.
Ever since David Beckham exercised his option to buy an MLS expansion team in 2014 and began discussions about playing in Miami, Orlando and Miami fans pelted each other with barbs online and in person, with front office staff even getting in on the action. The Lions notably have unified behind “built not bought” taunts. Commentators and pundits built up the rivalry as a must-see event.
Now, it’s finally here — the first battle in a war over Florida soccer supremacy.
Whether they were raised in Central Florida or just moved here this year, Orlando City players understand the stakes of the first rivalry match. For the Lions, this one is a must-win.
“We have to respect all teams, but for us this is special,” mid
Braves four-time All-Star Freddie Freeman, premier reliever Will Smith and two teammates have tested positive for the coronavirus, a jarring hit to the NL East champions less than three weeks before the start of the pandemic-delayed season.
“It will be a while before we can get him back,” manager Brian Snitker said Saturday about Freeman.
Snitker said the four players, including right-hander Touki Toussaint and infielder Pete Kozma, agreed to have the team disclose their positive tests.
Snitker said Freeman had a negative intake test early in the week before having a positive test on Friday. Snitker said the first baseman has a fever and “is not feeling great.”
Major League Baseball has scheduled the 60-game season to start on July 23. Freeman, above, is the biggest star in the sport so far to have his positive virus test publicly announced by his team.
It is too early to know if Freeman’s status for the start of the season could be jeopardized.
“It’s a serious matter,” Braves outfielder Nick Markakis said. “I hope Freddie heals up quickly. I know he’s young, healthy. I hope he heals up and gets back as quickly as possible because as you know with 60 games, one week can change things quickly.”
The 30-year-old Freeman set career highs with 38 home runs and 121 RBIs last season to help the Braves win their second straight NL East title. He placed fourth in the NL MVP voting in 2018 after hitting .309 with 23 homers and winning a Gold Glove.
Snitker said concerns will remain even after the four players return to workouts.
“Guys have gotten it more than once,” Snitker said. “We’re going to have to be careful all year and it’s going to be the new normal for the next three months.”
Snitker said it was important for baseball and society to know even one of the game’s biggest stars can test positive.
“It sobers everybody up that this is real,” Snitker said. “It shows that this is a real deal and no one is immune to it.”
MLB and the players’ association announced Friday that 31 players and seven staff members had tested positive for COVID-19, a rate of 1.2 percent. Snitker said he was surprised the numbers were not higher.
fielder Junior Urso said. “It’s important to win that game. Orlando have a history now. We have been here five years, and until last year Florida was purple. We want to make a good game and win to keep it that way.”
During its five years in MLS, Orlando City has formed its own rivalries, most notably with Atlanta United. But this new rivalry with Inter Miami will be different.
Whenever two teams are battling for the same patch of land — whether a city or a state — the contention is always more heated and more bitter for the fans, players and clubs as a whole. In Spanish, these rivalries are known as a reflection of the consistent competition year after year.
Other clubs throughout MLS have proven it doesn’t take long to build a heated relationship between two clubs located close to one another. Matches between LAFC and the Los Angeles Galaxy became must-watch events within their first year. The annual face-offs between the Seattle Sounders and the Portland Timbers are consistently some of the most heated matches of the year, regardless of either team’s success.
In the two years since Miami officially was awarded its MLS expansion bid, Orlando City players have waited eagerly for the clubs’ first match.
Wednesday’s match will look much different than the way both teams visualized their first meeting at the start of the season, taking place at ESPN Wide World of Sports without a rowdy crowd.
But the match will carry weight for the Lions, regardless of where or how it’s played.
“It’s always gonna be the classic for us,” Orlando City’s Santiago Patiño said. “It’s always that one game that you always look up to play.”
“We have to respect all teams, but for us this is special. It’s important to win that game. Orlando have a history now. We have been here five years, and until last year Florida was purple. We want to make a good game and win to keep it that way.”
The two clubs have more than just geography in common.
Inter Miami signed two former Lions to build their inaugural roster — defender Mikey Ambrose and defensive midfielder Brek Shea. The Inter Miami front office is full of familiar faces for Orlando City fans, including former general manager Paul McDonough. He left Orlando on bad terms after his front office duties were reduced and now is Miami’s chief operating officer and sporting director.
Even the fans share ties, with many former Orlando City supporters based in South Florida changing allegiances to follow the new club.
Lions fans have spent years teasing Inter Miami on social media, calling the club “Inter Fort Lauderdale” because of the location of its interim stadium.
Orlando City even created a video for April Fool’s Day last year, with several players including striker Benji Michel and Dom Dwyer spoofing “The Blair Witch Project” to poke fun at Inter Miami’s difficulty securing viable stadium land.
While the back-andforth jabs have been entertaining, the teams have yet to see how they match up on the pitch. The fact that the first meeting will kick off the MLS is Back Tournament only raises the stakes for both sides.
“Look, it’s almost too perfect that this game was the first game of the tournament,” Inter Miami midfielder Wil Trapp said on ESPN’s “Banter.” “Nothing’s forged yet, nothing’s really been put together yet. We obviously, as players and as a club, are very passionate about winning this first game, not only for the tournament but also for the legacy moving forward of what that rivalry will become. Twenty, 30, 40 years down the line, we hope that we’ll be on the right side of history.”
Both teams enter Wednesday’s match with hopes that stretch beyond the fledgling rivalry. Inter Miami will look to wrangle its core of young talent into a contender after Atlanta and LAFC set high standards for expansion teams in recent seasons.
For Pareja and Orlando City, the goal for the MLS tournament is the same as it was at the start of the season — rewriting the narrative of soccer in Orlando.
Orlando City hasn’t fared well against rivals. Over the course of three years and eight matches, the Lions have never beaten Atlanta United, with each meeting becoming increasingly bitter.
Against Inter Miami, the Lions have the chance to turn the tables and become the dominant force in a rivalry, forging a true restart under Pareja.
“This will come naturally,” Pareja said. “We can’t manufacture it. It comes with tradition — it comes with time, it comes with confronting each other — that comes from histories between the two teams and players and clubs. It’s going to build with the time, and we are all excited to be the first to do that building.”