League hopeful to play season
The NFL remains hopeful that its plans for dealing with the novel coronavirus pandemic will enable it to conduct a complete and ontime 2020 season this fall and winter, according to its chief medical officer, despite the concerns raised Thursday by Anthony Fauci, the nation’s most prominent infectious diseases expert.
President Donald Trump took to Twitter to comment Friday on the remarks made by Fauci, a member of the White House’s coronavirus task force, to CNN, in which Fauci said it might not be possible to hold a football season if players are not isolated from others in a “bubble” environment.
mound for the Clippers just in time for the Division I postseason. It probably would have been unrealistic for Wright to step on the mound and expect him to pick up where he left off prior to going under the knife.
“I always thought that when the season was coming down the stretch and there was a playoff opportunity, I wanted to get in there,” said Wright, “but I also knew those close to me [parents Matthew and Michele along with Cumberland head coach Andy Tuetken and assistant coach Jared Cardoso] would never put me in harm’s way.”
Due to the pandemic, Wright never had to wrestle with the conundrum of pushing himself just so he could once again pitch in a highschool setting.
“At this point, I realized there was no chance I would throw this spring,” said Wright. “A few weeks out of surgery, I thought I was going to be able to bounce back fast. Then I would have days when I felt like I was only a week out of surgery. There were good days and bad days where everything felt awful.”
“Maybe a little bit of pressure was taken off,” added Wright about having his final go-around in a Cumberland uniform unexpectedly taken away. “I still wanted to be with the team and try to play in the field [at first base], which would have been awesome. My fellow seniors … I think this whole thing helped to bring us closer together in a special way. We really wanted to have a season.”
All is not lost as baseball is in Wright’s future. Before his sophomore season at Cumberland, Wright supplied a verbal commitment to join the Army West Point program. He signed his National Letter of Intent last November, yet he still needed to receive an official appointment.
On March 17, Wright officially accepted the appointment.
“At first, it was nerve-wracking. You never know what can happen,” said Wright, whose older brother Chris starred at Cumberland and Bryant before getting selected by the San Francisco Giants in the 12th round of last year’s MLB Draft.
“What I came to find out was that I was one of the earliest guys to get appointed,” said Wright. “It was awesome and definitely a long time in coming.”
Ask Wright about what drew him to West Point and the answer may surprise you. In short, it had nothing to do with baseball.
“When I was in sixth grade, I remember watching the Army-Navy football game and said to myself that I wanted to be like one of those guys,” said Wright. “My great grandfather was in the Navy and my grandfather and his brother were in the Air Force. I was thinking about [applying to Air Force], but I also like my feet on the ground. West Point became a place that I really liked. To have the opportunity to play baseball there made it complete.”
Wright has reached the phase of his rehab where he can throw fastball-only bullpens. By next weekend, he expects to graduate from his initial mound work phase and transition to an increased workload that includes mixing in off-speed pitches.
Pretty soon, he will head to New York to embark on a college experience that figures to serve him well in the long run. West Point is coached by Rhode Island native and former URI dugout boss Jim Foster.
“I hope to work hard and play well in the fall so I can earn a spot for next year,” said Wright, a member of the 2014 Cumberland American Little League team that made national headlines thanks to Dave Belisle’s famous speech that was captured by ESPN cameras.
“Baseball has been very good to me,” said Wright. “No matter what happens in college or afterwards, I can never be mad at baseball. It’s the game that’s kept on giving.”