MLB safety protocols include interesting rules
PHOENIX — We no longer have to hear the words “prorated” or “pro-rata.”
We don't have to l i sten to players ripping owners, owners sniping at the union, or fans trying to choose sides eitheer.
It has been 104 days since baseball was shut down — three months of name-calling and bitterness followed — and while there may be 30 teams fighting this summer to be the World Series champion, everyone has the same ultimate mission. Overcoming COVID-19. Major league players will st art gathering t his week for the resumption of spring training in their home cities. The greatest challenge now will be staying healthy enough to play 60 games over 66 days.
Last week, there were about 40 positive tests from players and staff members in baseball.
And only minutes after MLB and t he union announced Monday the season would officially commence on July 23 or July 24, it was reported Rockies All-Star outfielder Charlie Blackmon and teammates Phillip Diehl and Ryan Castellani tested positive for COVID-19.
No wonder MLB's 2020 Operations Manual consumed 108 pages, trying to give the sport the best possible chance to get through the season, with guidelines from how to washing your hands to where you can shower.
“The C OVID -19 pandemic hash ad an enormous and unprecedented impact on our daily lives, our families and our communities,'' the manual's introduction reads. “This is a challenging time, but we will meet the challenge by continuing to work together. Adherence to the health and safety protocols described in this manual will increase our likelihood of being successful.
“We hope that
resuming baseball will, in its own small way, return a sense of normalcy and aid in recovery.''
Players have been instructed to report to their team's home ballpark by July 1, with spring training to commence July 3, but all players must undergo an immediate temperature check and two COVID-19 tests — a di agnostic t est and an antibody test.
Players then must quarantine for 24 to 48 hours awaiting test results.
Spring training will be divided into three phases, starting with individual and small groups, full team workouts, then no more than three springtraining games.
Once the season starts — ooh boy — get ready for restrictions.
Players, who will be prohibited from entering the stadium if their temperature is above 100.4,
will have their temperature and symptoms checked at least twice a day. They will have saliva tests every other day. And once per month, players will be given antibody tests.
There will be no lounging in the clubhouse. No buffet. No showers either.
When players walk onto the field, they must stay six feet away from everyone — teammates, coaches and opponents — and when the game starts, not everyone can sit in the dugout. Some players will have to sit in the stands, spaced out between not only seats, but entire rows.
There will be no fans anyway.
And no more spitting. Tobacco is forbidden. Ditto for sunflower seeds. Gum is permitted, but you can't spit it out.
Sorry, pitchers, don't even think about licking your fingers.
This season will be a survival of the fittest, and perhaps the luckiest, with the healthiest team the last one standing.
It's a scary time. Every player has the option to not play, and those considered “high- risk'' candidates, such as Philadelphia shortstop Didi Gregorius ( kidney di s order) and Oakland pitcher Jake Die km an ( ulcerative colitis), will still be paid.
This is no time to be a hero. These are not first-responders. They are ballplayers. They are just trying to play a game they love, at a time we could desperately use some entertainment, with MLB and the players union trying to do everything to make it as safe as humanely possible.
We're about to find out if it can work.