Pandemic delays World Series party for Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are delaying a public celebration of their long-awaited World Series championship because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This season was everything we believed it could be. It was just missing one thing: The best fans in baseball,” the team said in a statement issued Wednesday. “We can't wait to celebrate together!”
The Los Angeles Lakers, who won their first NBA title since 2010 earlier this month, also are waiting for their celebration. And star LeBron James tweeted shortly after the final out of the World Series — a 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 6 — that he's ready for a party.
“Man can we PLEASE have a parade!!! I know I know we can't but DAMN I wanna celebrate with our @Lakers & @Dodgers fans!!! LA is the city of CHAMPIONS,” he wrote.
The how and the when remain to be determined. Los Angeles County continues to lead the nation in confirmed coronavirus cases with 302,077, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.
MLB criticizes Turner for field return after positive test: Major League Baseball on Wednesday issued a scathing rebuke to Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner after he returned to the field with his teammates after their World Series-clinching Game 6 win having tested positive for COVID-19.
Turner was removed from the field during the eighth inning and placed in isolation after MLB said it learned mid-game he had tested positive for the coronavirus.
“Turner chose to disregard the agreed-upon joint protocols and the instructions he was given regarding the safety and protection of others,” MLB said in a statement. “While a desire to celebrate is understandable, Turner's decision to leave isolation and enter the field was wrong and put everyone he came in contact with at risk.
“When MLB Security raised the matter of being on the field with Turner, he emphatically refused to comply.”
U.K. government's treatment of clubs `galling' and `deeply unfair':
Soccer clubs in England are at best being ignored and at worst victimized by the U.K. government during the COVID-19 pandemic, English Football League chairman Rick Parry has said.
Parry made the comments in a letter to Oliver Dowden, the secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport.
“For some reason, football is being regarded as a peculiarly undeserving case and ... we are at best being ignored by a government that doesn't understand our national sport and at worst being victimized by it,” Parry wrote.
The EFL has said it needs $326 million if its clubs are to survive a season where fans are barred from attending, but the government has insisted the top-flight Premier League come to the EFL's aid.
Emilia Romagna Grand Prix to run without spectators: This weekend's Emilia Romagna Formula One Grand Prix at Imola will be held behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers said on Wednesday.
Promoters had previously been given permission for more than 13,000 spectators a day, but issued a statement on the circuit website.
“The government has banned our fans and we are very disappointed for that,” motorsport.com quoted Imola boss Uberto Selvatico Estense as saying.
2021 Boston Marathon pushed back:
Next year's Boston Marathon will not be held in April as it usually is and will be moved to the autumn due to the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers said on Wednesday.
The race had been held annually since 1897 until it was cancelled this year. Organizers will try to announce a new date for the 2021 race by the end of this year.