SUMMER BASEBALL TEAMS BACK IN ACTION
Law enforcement unlikely to step in, chiefs say
The scoreboard was operational.
The sun broke through light cloud cover typical of a midJune day in Humboldt.
Lawn chairs decorated the spaces in-between mostly vacant bleachers. Mothers and fathers with video cameras sat in them, attempting to rein in energetic young ones, emblematic of an impromptu family reunion — commonplace at any small-town summertime baseball game. It felt normal.
It looked normal.
After more than three months of vacant dugouts and powereddown scoreboards due to mass cancellations of sporting events, including the whole of the high school baseball season due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was anything but.
Between the players and coaches — half from the Humboldt Eagles 17-Under summer travel baseball club and half representing the Northern Humboldt Giants — and the families there to support them, around five dozen people gathered at Redwood Fields in Cutten on Thursday afternoon to play some ball.
Officially, it was a scrimmage. Officially, the gathering is still on the list of banned activities according to orders given by county health officer Theresa Frankovich — depending on how it’s classified.
Youth sports, spectator sports and even fitness centers “continue to be prohibited by the state’s gathering size limitations,” a news release from the county’s Joint Operation Center stated earlier this week.
Eagles Board President Alan Fischel told the Times-Standard on Thursday that he believes the organization which he oversees doesn’t fall under the category of “youth sports,” still banned under county order, but rather fits into the category of a traveling recreational club, more similar to a hiking or other kind of outdoors club. Bans on recreational activities were lifted last week by the county.
“We believe we fall under the outdoor recreation category, which was approved last week. We submitted a plan to the county and see no reason why it won’t be approved. Until it is approved, we will follow the rules and remain doing informal team activities,” Fischel said.
Thursday’s game was not the first baseball to be played in Humboldt this summer. And it won’t be the last. Over the weekend the Northern Humboldt Giants hosted a team out of Red Bluff in what was the first sporting action in the county since early March.
The Giants’ jump-start prompted the Eagles organization, which fields three teams, 19-U, 17-U and 16-U clubs, to start to get back to normal.
So they scrimmaged the Giants on Thursday. And they plan to scrimmage more teams until given the OK by the county health officer to get back official games.
Enforcement does not appear to be a problem: The teams made it clear they will continue to play regardless of how county orders are interpreted.
Arcata Police Chief Brian Ahearn, whose jurisdiction covers the Giants’ home field, said he has no plans to enforce the county order.
“I don’t have the staffing or resources to shut down a baseball game,” Ahearn told the TimesStandard Thursday. “We have crime to fight and lives to save. It’s the people who are putting on these games’ responsibility to make sure it’s a safe event. But we’re not going, we don’t have the staffing to do that.”
Eureka Police Chief Steve Watson, who’s jurisdiction covers the Eagles home field at St. Bernard’s, said much of same — the EPD has no plans to roll down to a baseball game and shut anything down.
“It’s not the priority of my department to enforce these orders at outdoor recreational events like baseball,” Watson told the Times-Standard Thursday. “I think as a department there are better ways to spend our time. We would ask, however, that people remain respectful of the county’s orders and continue to do as much distancing as they can.”
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, which has jurisdiction over Redwood Fields, did not return request for comment.
On Thursday, the state mandated everyone wear masks when in public spaces.
At Redwood Fields, a few folks wore face masks Thursday. Many didn’t.
A few players distanced themselves from teammates when possible. Many didn’t.
But as of Thursday no Eagles players or coaches or family members have reported to have contracted COVID-19, according to Fischel.
“When the kids start to get lax, I will shut it down, we won’t need (law enforcement)
to do so. I’m a physician, we have a nurse on our board. I take this seriously, we take it seriously. It’s very important to me that we do this safely. … If we thought or knew we were putting anyone at risk, we will shut it down. But so far we haven’t had anyone on the team show symptoms or test positive for (COVID-19), no parents either…Mass gatherings at our events will not be allowed, spectators won’t be allowed.”
Same goes for the Giants.
“We have a sign, a reminder on our table at home — one case and we are shutting the whole thing down. But these kids are dying to play, so we’re doing everything we can to make that happen safely,” Giants head coach Troy Ghisetti told the TimesStandard Thursday.
So, the kids are going to play ball. And for now, no one is going to tell them to stop.