False positive put Dickerson, pregnant wife through chaos
Giants outfielder Alex Dickerson said Sunday he and his pregnant wife have been through an emotional roller coaster since he was told he had contracted the coronavirus — only to find out later it was a false-positive test.
Dickerson learned Friday just before the Giants were scheduled to play the Padres that he had tested positive for COVID-19. That led to the immediate postponement of Friday’s and Saturday’s games at Petco Park.
With Dickerson OK, the teams were cleared to play a doubleheader Sunday. Dickerson was in the lineup for
both games, playing left field and batting second.
“It came as a complete shock,” Dickerson said of the test result.
“I was confident it was a false positive. But at the same time, you have moments of doubt just because it seems to be happening a ton around the league.”
Dickerson, 30, had cause for greater concern. His wife, Jennifer, is 39 weeks pregnant. The baby boy is due this week.
When the initial test result came in, Dickerson was on the field, warming up for the game. He was immediately put in isolation and, along with other members of the Giants’ traveling party, given a rapid test. The Giants travel with a rapid-test machine and further expedited the process by using one provided by the Padres.
All the tests came back negative, including that of Jennifer Dickerson, Giants executive Farhan Zaidi said. She had joined her husband Thursday at the team hotel when the Giants arrived in San Diego.
After the first good test result, the Dickersons went to the UC San Diego hospital Friday night to have another test. Those also came back good.
Overall, Dickerson said he was tested at least a half-dozen times.
“It was very stressful,” he said, adding that he was “also worrying about her going into labor.
“I didn’t sleep much. That’s the year we’re having. A lot of people have it very tough right now. It’s where you find out how to get through things.”
On Saturday morning, the Giants’ traveling party was tested again, this time by Major League Baseball. Those tests were sent off and came back negative late in the evening, Zaidi said.
At that point it was determined by MLB and team doctors that games could be played Sunday.
When the teams will make up the third game of the series is not known. The Giants and Padres finish the regular season with a threegame series Sept. 25-27 at Oracle Park. Given the likelihood that the series will hold playoff implications for multiple teams around the league, another doubleheader could be in the offing.