The league would possibly be forced to close the season. The new existing coronavirus pandemic has shaken all strata of society and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Major League Baseball is no exception. The following is a calendar of how the epidemic affected MLB, which not long ago provided us with the routines and assumptions comfortable of spring training. Now, the only sure thing about the 2020 season is the insecurity around her.
That’s how they gave us this dubious, difficult position in baseball.
Dec. 31, 2019: The China offices of the World Health Organization (WHO) are informed of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan City of unknown origin.
January 7, 2020 – The Chinese government isolates and identifies a new type of coronavirus, which COVID-19.
Coronaviruses are a giant organization of viruses that can cause diseases as mild as colds, or as severe as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), according to who. The COVID-19 virus can cause symptoms such as fever, cough, and shortness of breath, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While some patients have symptoms and heal, others spread life-threatening complications, such as pneumonia.
January 13, 2020: Thailand reports the first case of coVID-19 imported and laboratory-tested COVID-19.
January 20, 2020 – The first U.S. case COVID-19 is reported in Washington state.
February 10, 2020: Pitchers and receivers begin appearing in the spring in Arizona and Florida.
February 14, 2020 – Positioning players begin showing up for spring training.
February 22, 2020 – Cactus and Grapefruit League spring matches begin.
February 28, 2020: WHO raises the overall COVID-19 risk point from “high” to “very high”, placing it in the same category as the existing risk point for mainland China.
3 March 2020: WHO confirms the first United States of COVID-19.
4 March 2020 – WHO confirms the US case of COVID-19.
March 9, 2020: After a convention call-up with all 30 teams, MLB announces its goal of continuing to play in the spring practice games and opening the normal season on March 26 as scheduled. The press release notes that MLB has been in normal contact with fitness officials. However, MLB restricts the club’s venue to players and must-have staff. In particular, this means that the media is no longer allowed in spring education clubs.
March 10, 2020: The Mariners are exploring the option to play regular season games at their spring facility in Arizona, Evan Drellich of The Athletic reports.
March 11, 2020- Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, whose status was the oldest and most affected through COVID-19, announces a ban on meetings of giant organizations until at least the end of March. Soon after, the Mariners announced that they were “working with the Commissioner’s Major League Baseball workplace on election plans for our games, which were scheduled for last March at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.”
The City and County of San Francisco also announce a two-week ban on gatherings of more than 1,000 people. The Giants soon after announce that their scheduled March 24 exhibition against the Athletics in Oracle Park in San Francisco has been cancelled.
The City of Oakland and Alameda County likewise announce a prohibition on public gatherings of 1,000 people or more people through the end of March. The A’s announce they are working with MLB to reschedule the affected games.
MLB is exploring the option of having teams from the most affected locations play games at alternative sites as opposed to playing in empty home ballparks, Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal reports.
The NBA suspends its season indefinitely after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tests positive for the virus. The preliminary positive test result is learned moments before the Jazz tip-off against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The news and the NBA’s swift response to it will lead to the shuttering of other major sports leagues and events.
WHO declares the COVID-19 outbreak to be a global pandemic.
March 12, 2020: MLB announces that spring training games are cancelled as of 4 p.m. ET and that the start of the regular season has been pushed back two weeks. Opening Day had originally been scheduled for March 26. MLB’s decision comes after the NBA, NHL, and MLS all suspended their seasons, which were already in progress.
The NCAA cancels the all spring and winter championships. Most notably, that means neither the men’s nor women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament will be held in 2020. It also means that the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, has been cancelled even though the event isn’t until early June — almost three months away. For the first time, the MLB Draft had been scheduled to be held in Omaha during the College World Series.
March 13, 2020: MLB announces that spring training camps have been suspended. Major league players have the option to return home, remain near camp in Arizona or Florida, or return to their team’s home city. The Yankees vote unanimously to remain in camp.
The Mets announce that director of player relations and community outreach Donovan Mitchell Sr. has tested negative for the coronavirus. Mitchell is the father of NBA star Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz, who had previously tested positive.
WHO confirms the 1,000th U.S. case of COVID-19.
March 15, 2020: The Yankees verify that a minor binder in their formula has tried the coronavirus. The unnamed player becomes the first MLB-affiliated player to be a proven coVID-19 case. The team quarantines all minor leaguers for two weeks.
On an internal note, MLB advises players who are not on the list, those who are not on a team’s list of 40 players, to come home. MLB also advises organizations not to hold educational sessions of the organization. With respect to players on the 40-player list, the note states that “according to our agreement with the Players Association, players on the 40-player list will have to remain on the club’s spring education site and are eligible to get their same previous spring education (players who currently have an optional assignment get payment according to practice beyond the club). We notice that many players on the 40-player list have chosen to stay in the camp to this day, however, we hope it can be replaced in the coming years. as the occasions continue to spread and players are better informed about the existing conditions.”
March 16, 2020: MLB announces that the start of the 2020 normal season will be postponed until at least mid-May. Commissioner Rob Manfred said the team’s owners are still hoping to play a full schedule for the normal season, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Also on that day, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel tweeted that he heard that in early July the date for the normal season begins, the most productive case scenario. Yankees manager Aaron Boone, in an appearance on MLB Network Radio, said the games will be added to the end of the existing regular season schedule.
MLB and MLBPA announce a $1 million joint donation that will be similarly distributed between Feeding America and Meals on Wheels America.
March 17, 2020: The Yankees verify that a time when a lower-level player in their formula has tested the virus. The team claims that the player has been quarantined and sees that his symptoms are minimized in severity.
Each of MLB’s 30 groups commits $1 million to help the cash register staff with the delay.
March 18, 2020: The Reds announce that an employee based in Arizona has tested positive for COVID-19 and that all team employees who came in contact with that person are self-quarantining and being tested.
As well, MLB is considering skipping the 2020 draft and international signing period as cost-saving measures, according to the Associated Press. The AP also notes that players and owners are discussing the issue of service time for 2020. Normally, 172 days on an MLB roster are required for a player to earn a full year of service time, which affects things like arbitration eligibility and free agency. If the 2020 season is heavily abbreviated, which seems highly likely, then MLB and the union must hammer out what will constitute the service time cutoff. This has the makings of contentious negotiations.
On this same day, the number of worldwide COVID-19 fatalities surpasses 10,000. The number of known cases in the U.S. surpasses 16,000.
March 24: The Red Sox announces that an unnamed prospect in their formula has tested positive for COVID-19. The team’s spring education services are closed and cleaned, and all workers who must touch the player are quarantined. The team says the player most likely contracted the virus after leaving the Red Sox camp.
March 25 – Commissioner Rob Manfred makes his first public comments since the league closed in an interview with ESPN. On the eve of the 2020 campaign, Manfred says “there’s nothing on the table” for the season and hopes groups can return to spring education in May.
March 26 – The 2020 MLB draft, originally scheduled for June in the University World Series, will be postponed until July and will consist of five to 10 rounds of the same 40 old men, according to ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel. In addition, McDaniel reports that bonuses for recruited players will be deferred and bonuses for unselected players will be limited.
March 27 – MLB still expects to play a 140-game season with a playoff race extended to 14 teams, Heyman reports. In addition, the league expects to start the season at the end of May. While MLB expects to play gambling in empty ball parks and other places, it is open to doing so if needed.
MLB and MLBPA are also finalizing an agreement that sets a forward-looking framework for the 2020 season. Players will get a service in proportion to service time by 2020, and if no season is played, they will be credited with the service time they recorded in 2019. For a future 2020 season, players and owners are able to stretch the Playoffs through November to maximize the number of games.
While both sides hope to play games only when mass gatherings are allowed and after medical professionals say it’s safe to conduct games, players and owners reportedly are also willing to play games without fans in attendance and at alternative sites such as spring training facilities. As well, in order to accommodate a more compressed game schedule, rosters may be expanded, and the All-Star Game could be cancelled.
March 31 – MLB announces money that is extinguished for minor league players. These players will continue to get weekly bills of $400 each until the end of May or until the start of the minor league season, depending on the first possibility.
Dr. James Andrews announces that he will avoid performing Tommy John’s surgeries at his Florida clinic during closing, in accordance with the governor’s orders to suspend elective surgeries.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that starting the 2020 season without enthusiasts providing is a developing possibility.
The AP reports the main points of MLB bills to closing players.
April 1: MLB announced the 2020 London Series between the NL Central rival Cardinals and Cubs, originally scheduled for June 13-14, has been canceled due to the pandemic.
Webster Garrison’s fiancé, a former primary league player and current junior league manager with athletics, told AP that Garrison is hospitalized and with a COVID-19 fan. She also says Garrison “turn the corner.”
April 7: MLB and the MLBPA reportedly discuss a plan to play all games — or at least all games to start the season until stay-at-home orders are lifted — in the Phoenix area, primarily at spring training sites and at Chase Field, home of the Diamondbacks. One possible timeline has regular season games starting as early as May. The plan, though, has many logistical hurdles, and MLB eventually says it’s just one of many options being discussed.
April 10: MLB would use spring education services in Arizona and Florida for regular-season games. To do this, groups deserve to be placed in leagues founded in spring education locations rather than on the classic American and National League charts.
April 13: ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that the “Arizona Plan,” in which all groups would start in the normal season through the phoenix-area game, is the maximum likely to begin the 2020 season.
April 20: R.J., CBS Sports. Anderson reports that MLB plans to start the normal season with 3 group “groups” at 3 other locations in Arizona, Florida and Texas.
May 8: MLB and MLBPA would agree to the 2020 draft of the same 40 rounds prior to five rounds with signature bonuses for unselected players limited to $20,000. The plan would not save MLB more than $30 million in total.
May 9– MLB would focus on starting the season in early July on as many house house courts as possible. The purpose would be a normal season of approximately 80 games followed by an expanded postseason. Schedules would be organized at the regional point to minimize and allow players to isolate themselves with their families in their home cities.
Included in the proposed protection protocol through the league: the baseball workers’ body undergoes coronavirus testing several times a week, with effects within about 24 hours and which do not require player quarantine or automatic suspension of the game if a player is a positive result Temperature checks and symptom investigation would take up position daily and lockers would stick to social distance patterns.
May 24 – The Yankees and Mets are kind enough to host the New York governor’s spring training at home.
June 4: MLB informs advertisers (on television and radio) that they will not travel this season and will broadcast road games remotely.
June 4: MLB could allow fans at Astros, Rangers games in 2020 due to policy from Texas governor. The league is reportedly inclined to follow local guidelines for attendance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the state intends to allow sports stadiums (and other companies) to operate at 50% capacity, compared to 25% of capacity.
June 5– The Oakland Athletics cancels out its original resolution to suspend minor league benefits amid the closure of the coronavirus. The club planned to avoid sending minor league players their weekly $400 allowance after May 31. Minor league season planned.
June 10-11: The 2020 MLB Draft takes place remotely via video conference and is televised live. The Detroit Tigers selected Arizona State slugger Spencer Torkelson with the No. 1 overall pick.
In the past, MLB had reached an agreement with the Players Association to reduce the 2020 Major League Baseball amateur draft to five rounds.
June 15: Several Major League Baseball players and the team’s workers’ corps tested positive for COVID-19.
June 16: The Texas Rangers become first known MLB team to have front-office employees back to work despite Texas’ COVID-19 spike.
June 19– The Philadelphia Phillies close their spring education facility in Clearwater, Florida, after 8 positive coronavirus tests. Five Phillies players and three team workers tested positive.
Soon after, the Toronto Blue Jays closed their spring facility in Dunedin, Florida, after a 40-player pitcher experienced COVID-19 symptoms and awaits verification results. The pitcher had recently spent time with players in the Phillies’ minor league system.
Astros and Angels also verify COVID-19 instances among players.
June 21: After the COVID-19 outbreaks at spring training sites, MLB ordered all spring training sites closed and disinfected Friday night, and personnel were required to test negative for COVID-9 before being allowed to return. The league also allows clubs to have the option to hold training camp in their home city or at their spring training site.
June 23 – The Phillies announce that two other players tested positive for COVID-19 after the outbreak at their spring facility.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred imposed a 2020 season of 60 games after months of negotiations between the league and the MLB Players Association.
Rockies All-Star outfielder Charlie Blackmon, left-hander Phillip Diehl and minor league pitcher Ryan Castellani have conducted coronavirus tests after a recent practice at Coors Field in Denver.
June 24 – MLB and MLB Players Association extend the 2020 Operations Manual, a 101-page document detailing the league’s aptitude and protection protocols, to be implemented in the 2020 season.
June 26: Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman shares that he is undecided about playing in the 2020 season.
The Blue Jays are granted access to travel back to Canada from Dunedin, Florida. Canada’s COVID-19-inspired travel restrictions forced them to remain in Florida for the time being. But, no final decision has been made for the team’s regular season home games, though they hope to play at Rogers Centre in Toronto.
MLB team canceling games due to COVID-19 outbreak may not end the 2020 season. According to a report, MLB has three conditions that would cause the season to stop: 1) if restrictions on travel throughout the country are imposed; 2) if the season poses “an unreasonable health and safety risk to players or staff to stage those games,”; and 3) if the competitive integrity of the season is compromised by the number of players who are available.
June 27: Several Texas Rangers employees test positive for COVID-19, less than two weeks after the team’s mandate to return to the office.
June 29 – Diamondbacks’ Mike Leake becomes the first MLB player to retire from the 2020 season.
Nationals’ Ryan Zimmerman, Joe Ross become the latest players to sit out 2020 MLB season over COVID-19 concerns.
MLB finalizes 2020 rule changes, including universal DH and a runner on second base to start extras.
June 30: Minor League Baseball announces the cancelation of the 2020 season.
July 1: Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy says he ‘got crushed’ by coronavirus during MLB shutdown.
July 2: Commissioner Rob Manfred, while clarifying negotiation comments, says MLB will be ‘lucky’ to complete 60-game season. “We’re going to be lucky if we get 60 games now given the course of the virus,” Manfred said.
July 3: Major League Baseball announces that the 2020 All-Star Game, which will be held through the Los Angeles Dodgers, is canceled. With the 2021 All-Star game already awarded to the Atlanta Braves, the Dodgers have been assigned accommodation functions for the upcoming Mid-Summer Classic to be held in 2022.
Angelinos star outfielder Mike Trout expresses fear of the game in the 2020 MLB season amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Trout and his wife are expecting their first child in August. “I still don’t feel comfortable, ” said Trout.
MLB announces the first set of COVID-19 verification effects with 1.2% of the 3185 collected samples that yield positive results.
July 4 – Dodgers left-hander David Price announces he will be flying the 2020 MLB season.
Twins’ Miguel Sano, Royals’ Salvador Perez and Braves’ Freddie Freeman are among players to test postive for the coronavirus.
July 5: Braves’ Felix Hernandez opts out of 2020 MLB season because of COVID-19 concerns.
July 6: Braves’ Nick Markakis opts out of 2020 season, says conversation with Freddie Freeman, who was symptomatic with COVID-19, was eye-opening.
Major League Baseball is its 60-game schedule for the 2020 season.
COVID-19’s first MLB circular tests delays and forces groups to cancel educational sessions. The league declared “unforeseen delays” and attributed the delays to the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
July 7: Nationals’ Juan Soto has to isolate away from the team after coming into contact with a teammate who tested positive for COVID-19.
July 10 – Bigs catcher Buster Posey retires from the 2020 season.
July 12 – Yankees’ Aroldis Chapman examined COVID-19 and has mild symptoms.
The Blue Jays are asking their Triple-A team to play home games in Buffalo in 2020 while they still await government approval to play in Toronto.
July 13 – Some MLB clubs continue to revel in delays in COVID-19 controls, forcing them to cancel training.
July 14 – MLB referees withdraw from the 2020 season.
July 17 – Nationals are allowed to play in the National Park in Washington, D.C., after considering coronavirus protocols.
July 18 – The Canadian federal government rejects the Blue Jays’ request to play in Toronto. The club is looking for a ballpark by 2020, his favorite home being an MLB baseball stadium.
In the latest round of COVID-19 testings, the results show small number of positives one week before 2020 Opening Day.
July 23: Juan Soto tests positive for COVID-19 ahead of the Washington Nationals’ Opening Day matchup against the Yankees.
The Blue Jays are denied permission to play in Pittsburgh’s PNC Park for 2020 MLB season. The club begins discussing a plan to share Camden Yards with the Orioles for the 2020 MLB season.
Angels’ Mike Trout says he’ll play 2020 MLB season, but plans to leave Angels for birth of child in August.
Major League Baseball, an expanded playoff series (16 teams) for the 2020 season of 60 games.
July 24: The Blue Jays announce that they will play their 2020 home games in Buffalo at their associate Triple-A baseball stadium.
July 27: The Miami Marlins revel in a COVID-19 outbreak with a total of 20 reported cases. As a result, the Game of the Marlins-Orioles and the Yankees-Phillies was canceled and the 2020 Miami season was temporarily suspended. The league is reviewing the 2020 calendar for the East and East NL groups amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez confirms he’s dealing with heart issue stemming from COVID-19 infection. A sports cardiologist explained to CBS Sports the potential impact of COVID-19 on the heart before the season resumed.
July 28 – Dr. Anthony Fauci warns that the Marlins COVID-19 outbreak may put MLB season “at risk.”
Marlins CEO Derek Jeter announces that the team will move to a test schedule after the COVID-19 outbreak.
July 29 – After the Marlins outbreak, the Phillies players were reviewed by COVID-19. The effects of the test for the Phillies players were negative, but two members, a coach and a member of the house club, came positive. As a result, MLB announced the postponement of the Phillies series next weekend in opposition to the Blue Jays. The schedule change came here some time after the Phillies announced their lacheck circular of the coronavirus verification effects. MLB then said two of the verification effects were “false positives.”
Juan Soto de los nationals is allowed to play after the COVID-19 negative tests. The gardener missed the start of the 2020 season after testing positive for coronavirus.
July 30: Major League Baseball would require each team to have a compliance officer to ensure that team staff and players comply with the league’s fitness and protection protocols.
July 31 – The St. Louis Cardinals are two positive players in COVID-19. The MLB 2020 calendar has been replaced again.
Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred told MLB Players Association head Tony Clark on Friday that the league could be forced to shut down the season due to COVID-19 if infections continue to rise over the coming days.
MLB investigation finds Marlins players failed to follow coronavirus protocols on Atlanta trip. The players were found to have engaged in risky behavior, such as congregating at the hotel bar and going out.
August 1: At least 4 other members of the Cardinals organization tested positive for COVID-19, with one of the new positive single-player tests. Saturday night’s Cardinals-Brewers game in Milwaukee is postponed.
Miami Marlins baseman Isan Diaz retires from the rest of the major league season. Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Lorenzo Cain announced his resolve to retire from the 2020 MLB season.
Eduardo Rodríguez of the Red Sox, who developed a center with COVID-19, is closed for the 2020 MLB season.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said the 2020 MLB season will progress despite COVID-19 issues. “We’re playing,” Manfred told ESPN. “Players have to be better, however, I’m not a general abandonment and there’s no explanation why prevent it now. We had to be fluid, but it’s manageable.”
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