Owners Say Wrap Up MLB in October; Players Say November; Anthony Fauci says September
Major League Baseball team owners have been taking a beating on social media over their approach to get baseball back on the field.
In one expert view, at least, the owners’ plan is marginally better than that of the players.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, a noted Washington Nationals fan and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the Los Angeles Times baseball, when it returns, would be best served by having the season conclude in September.
Major League players have said they could see their way to playing long enough to have the postseason end in November. The owners, on the other hand have set October as the end date.
With the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic continuing to impact the country, Fauci says the best way a baseball season could be utilized to combat the spread of the disease would be bring things to a close in September. Failing that, he suggested the earlier in October the season could wind up, the better.
“If the question is time, I would try to keep it in the core summer months and end it not with the way we play the World Series, until the end of October when it’s cold,” Fauci said in a telephone interview with The Times on Tuesday. “I would avoid that.”
The Oakland A’s find themselves in the middle of a coronavirus quandary. California as a state is seeing the number of newly reported COVID-19 cases surge. Among the current suggestions for reopening is the suggesting that American League West teams and National League West teams play only each other during the regular season.
An analysis by the Times says that nine of the 10 MLB teams that call a West Division home are located in states that have seen newly reported coronavirus cases jump more than 10% in the last two weeks.
Those would include five California teams – the A’s, the Angels, the Dodgers, the Giants and the Padres – as well as the Astros and Rangers in Texas, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Seattle Mariners. The only West team located in a state were coronavirus cases are declining is the Colorado Rockies.
The plans being put forward include playing in stadiums without fans.
"This virus is one that keeps fooling us. Under most circumstances - but we dont know for sure here - viruses do better when the weather starts to get colder and people start spending more time inside, as opposed to outside," Fauci said. "The community has a greater chance of getting infected."
Fauci isn’t in the negotiations between owners and players, but it seems likely that he’d get the sport on the field now in order to get the season in before the cold weather comes back.
“Even in warm weather, like in Arizona and California, we’re starting to see resurgences as we open up,” Fauci said. “But I think the chances of there being less of an issue in the end of July and all of August and September are much, much better than if you go into October.”
Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3
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